Our Bahamas vacation that turned into a trip to DC and NYC

Last Wednesday, Derek and I headed out on our highly anticipated tenth anniversary trip to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas! Sun, sand, snorkeling and swimming with dolphins were all on the agenda along with plenty of lounging and reading the new Harry Potter book for five days. 

Here we are ready for a relaxing week! 

Well, after this pic was taken, our plans were completely turned around! Our plane was boarding to Atlanta when I get the notification that the CDC issued a new warning merely hours before, which advised pregnant women not to travel there due to cases of the zika virus being spread in the country. (I suppose this is where I get to make the announcement-- we're pregnant with baby #4!). I am sure you can imagine the flow of tears that poured out as I boarded a plane knowing that we would likely never make it to our planned destination. With our free wifi on the plane (thanks T-mobile!) we researched a bit about the cases that were documented and found out that they all occurred on the island we were expected to go. At that point, we just knew there was too much on the line and made the decision not continue to the Bahamas once we landed in Atlanta. More tears, obviously. 

Before we could actually make plans, we had to figure out how much money we might actually get back from our non-refundable tickets and resort reservations. We found a Delta customer service booth in Atlanta and were treated so kindly (perhaps the sobbing pregnant lady played a part?). In a matter of minutes, they refunded our flights. I was in touch with the resort and they offered a partial refund until I could submit a letter from my doctor confirming pregnancy and was advised not to travel to the Bahamas at which they would provide a full refund. This was such a blessing and more than either company was really obligated to do! 

So, having most of our trip in pending refunds and being at the nation's busiest airport, we found ourselves with so many options! I had texted a few friends who have traveled and/or live along the east coast in flight. And the very kind man sitting next to me on the plane (who was probably wondering what he had done wrong in life to have to sit next to a sobbing pregnant woman for two hours) was from Florida and wrote out every beach he's enjoyed along with dinner ideas and hotels. It was actually a bit overwhelming. We tossed around ideas. We browsed the departure boards. We looked up flights and schedules on our phones. We stopped to eat lunch and collect our thoughts. Ultimately, we opted to travel to Washington DC and then travel up to New York city for an exciting, albeit completely opposite than what we were expecting, adventure!

An adventure that would land us in Baltimore to take a train to DC, on a boat to Virginia, on subways and uber cars around the nation's capitol, on a bus traveling back through Maryland into Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey leading us into NYC where we'd take more subways, buses and boats before flying home. Oh, and an average of 7-8 miles of walking each day and a 6 mile bike ride through Central Park.

Here we are (smiling again!) for our 10th anniversary trip 2.0

Our trip can best be summarized by visiting and doing every possibly touristy thing in a very short time frame - two and a half days in each city.

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Inside of the Lincoln Memorial-- if you look close, you can see Four making a presence. This is 17 weeks! 

White House!

Sunset boat ride on our way back from Alexandria, VA

International Spy Museum

Air and Space Museum 

Arlington Cemetery

Boarding our bus to NY!

New York pizza is the BEST (sorry, not sorry Chicago). Especially after sitting on a bus for six hours in DC/NY Friday evening traffic. 

Short cruise to check out the Statue of Liberty (the Brooklyn Bridge behind us!) 

Derek and Lady Liberty

We walked and ate lunch on the High Line

Half-price tickets-- plus, we didn't even have to stand in line because the usher was concerned about the heat and my pregnancy. :)

This show was SOOOOOO good. 

Did I mention we only packed for a week of lounging at the beach? Day 3 called for the purchase of tennis shoes after my feet couldn't handle so many miles in flip flops. Of course, these came at a Times Square premium, but aren't they super cute!?

Outside the 9/11 museum with the Freedom Tower behind us. I thought I had managed to cry all my tears at the airport on day one, but man I couldn't stop them the entire two hours we were inside the museum!

South view of Top of the Rock

 North view!

It wasn't intentional to be sporting our Royals gear around disappointed fans out east (remember, we packed for the Bahamas!), but we our Royals gear was quite the conversation starter in both DC and NY!

Night tour around Manhattan and Brooklyn

We ended the trip with what I thought would be a leisurely bike ride through Central Park. Ha! It was still a great way to explore the park, but there were a few walks of shame up some hills. 

The view from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

We ended the trip with a quick visit with a friend of my favorite New Yorker, souvenir shopping for the kiddos, and a trek to Laguardia airport. Derek and I are still working on recovering from our super crazy, exhausting trip, but it did not disappoint! We've pushed our tropical beach vacation back a year or two -- when the grandparents have recovered from watching the kids AND are up for adding a FOURTH into the mix! :) :) :)