April Break, 2024 - Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn

 Nantucket-Concord-Charlotte

   Both Mark and Barbara have had serious head colds for this portion of the trip.

   We left the island on March 29 with Maggie. We returned her to Concord and went to dinner at Seoul Kitchen with Jecca and Willy.

Maggie likes puddles!

    March 30 - We drove the short drive to Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. and stayed at a Hampton Inn. We drove into Irvington and had lunch at a coffee shop and cafe.

Sitting in the sun in Irvington

     March 31, Easter Sunday. We drove to a Hampton Inn in Harrisonburg, South in Virginia. The driving was easy as the roads were quite empty due to Easter. A first - Chinese food for Easter dinner. Both of us craved chicken broths for our colds. We watched the Purdue game.

Easter Dinner!

Purdue to the Final Four!

Christian's amazingly large fort in his bedroom

    April 1 - We drove to the Wingate in Matthews, which turns out to be the same hotel, but under a new name and renovation where we stayed before had problems with keys etc. (It was then a Country Inn & Suites). But, the room is nice and new and the indoor pool is important for us to entertain Christian. We took Christian and Sebastian to the Harris-Teeter for dinner and took it back to Nick's.

New bike! 

    April 2- We were at Nick's at 6:25 when he left for work. We brought Christian back to the Wingate where we swam and then went back to Nick's to eat lunch and get Sebastian. Mark took Sebastian out for pho. We Sebastian, Christian and Barbara went to Michael's Crafts so Sebastian could get some yarn to make a blanket. Then, the three went back to the hotel and did more swimming while Mark stayed in Matthews and made chicken dinner.

Silly Christian & Sebastian after swimming

Sebastian with Mark cooking in the background

   April 3 - Mark got to Nick's by 6 a.m., leaving Barbara to sleep in as her cold seemed a bit worse. He brought Christian back to swim for a while and we went back to Nick's and ate lunch, again at the pool. Then, Barbara took the kids to Barnes and Noble to get books. Mark made spaghetti & meatballs.  Christian loves looking at the Flight Aware App to track planes which he and Mark did for quite a while.

Grandpa and Christian checking out the flights overhead

   April 4 - It was Barbara's turn to go over to Nick's early and let Mark lie in. Later, she brought Christian back to swim for an hour. Then, Mark picked up Sebastian and his friend, Andrew, and the four of them went to Urban Air. 

       And, while they were gone, there was a fire alarm and the hotel had to evacuate till the fire personnel gave the "all clear." Brrr! Barbara had wet hair, but thankfully, Mark and Christian had just left the hotel.

     

Firetrucks at the Wingate

Sebastian, Andrew, Christian

Afterwards, we drove out to Ed and Maria's house in Indian Trail. Mark had never met them before. Nick was there when we got there. Maria made a lovely Cuban meal with cherry cheese cake at the end. (Sebastian didn't come as Andrew's parents weren't picking him up till later.)