First road trip with August baby

Y’all, I need your travel tips. My husband is dead set on taking a beach trip with our August ‘19 baby before the September ‘21 baby arrives.

Because of the pandemic, we’ve never traveled with her before. She has napped at her grandmother’s house a few times (which was ROUGH), otherwise never slept away from her crib. She’s also never been in the car for more than half an hour.

Now we are going to be in the car for 4.5 hours, stay in a hotel, and go to the beach. Tips for all parts of this (car trip, hotel stay, beach safety) appreciated.

How do you keep sand out of a toddler’s eyes? How do you handle sleep if everyone is packed in the same hotel room? How do you keep a 20 month old who’s never even been in a restaurant from being completely overstimulated by an entire trip? Do you bathe the toddler in the hotel tub or try to make a shower work?

I’m super anxious (and i really think it’s going to be more stress than fun, at least for me and my daughter), but feel like i owe this to my sad extroverted husband who has suffered during the quarantine and isolation of the pandemic.