Franklin, TN: day 3, grumpy baby day

Day 3. We debated our plans for Wednesday, because initially we had planned a hike on Thursday and rain was forecast for Thursday. So we thought maybe we would hike on Wednesday. However, the weather cleared, so we stuck to our original agenda. 

We spent the morning exploring another cute park with a running trail. Not only did we get our runs in and another picnic breakfast, but the playgrounds were wide open, something that is not the case at home, and the baby got to go on a swing for the first time! The rest of the morning was consumed by his nap, and then we drove to Leiper's Fork for a distillery tour. It was an absolute disaster. Overall, we did really well fitting a lot of activities into this trip even though it was a very short visit, we had to drive pretty far to everything, and we had a baby with us. But this wasn’t a good idea. It was far away from our hotel, and the baby started to have a car meltdown. He doesn’t particularly love the car, but because New Orleans is so small he never has to sit in his seat for too long. He especially did not like it on this trip, because we did not think to bring a car mirror so he could see him and he could see us. Turns out that he really likes that! So the ride there was about 50% baby crying. That sucked. And then the distillery “tour“ was a small group in a very small room looking at a still while a folksy guy in overalls made dad jokes. And actually, I was appalled by the tasting. After the tour, we went to a very small tasting room. It was completely closed off, so no ventilation. There were 12 people in the room, and we were seated elbow to elbow. And then we had a flight of whiskeys and the guide instructed us to swish the whisk in the mouth, swallow, and then breathe out heavily three times. And we were in there for about 25 minutes. Like... seriously the highest possible Covid risk activity. I knew that in this area masks were not mandatory unless you were in a restaurant, but I obviously did not do my research very well. There is no way I would’ve taken that risk. We aren’t being hyper-vigilant about COVID19 (for example, we go to church, we are doing small group outdoor social activities, and I have gone to work every single day as an essential employee) but come on. There’s no reason to actively pursue activities known to spread the disease! So that was a fail. After the tour and tasting, we got lunch in the little town, and then drove to the Natchez Trace Parkway. Mostly we wanted to see this bridge! 

And it is terrifying. Apparently it is a site of many suicides and suicide attempts, and I think the reason for that is that the railing is about waist height! Neither David nor I are particularly fond of heights, so it was a little nerve-wracking! We had given the baby a little car nap, but it was super short since he woke up when we stopped at the bridge. So he was kind of in a mood. This whole day was not really very baby friendly. And I have no problem with that, babies have to learn that they are not the center of attention all the time, but he was a little tired and cranky by the end of the day! So after some fun time in the hotel pool, he went to bed early and David and I sat quietly in the room trying to eat Thai food without making noise. I finally got some reading done since it occurred to me that I could read on my Kindle app, even though it’s not my favorite way to read (I don’t like reading on lit screens. I prefer books, but nothing beats a Kindle for travel!)