I haven't written about our trip back to North Carolina yet because I needed time to heal from the emotional wounds. Okay, that's a little dramatic. But as the title implicates, it was not what I would consider a vacation. Lets just say that within 24 hours before we left, Bean caught a cold, she started teething her molars and then there is always the time difference and being in a completely new environment with new people. I wish I were exaggerating, but during her waking hours I believe she screamed/whined more than not. Rough.
But now that it has been a month since we were there, the positives are starting to outweigh the negatives and I'm realizing that we really did have fun. So I'll approach this post in much the same way. I got the awful over with and now I can tell you all about the rest of our trip in a more positive light.
Last December S's parents proposed that we all take a trip back to the Outer Banks in N. Carolina, meet up with S's brother and his family (who live in VA,) and rent a beach house. We were totally game! S's parents, his sister B and the three of us left mid-June for an 8 day trip to the beach.
Day 1.Our flight left around 8 that morning so we had to get going pretty early. I was surprised by how well Bean handled it. It was her first time flying and she loved seeing the planes and "tractors" (i.e. those little tarmac trucks) up close.
*note* most of these pictures are mine but I stole some from my IL's camera, too.
Our total flight time to Norfolk VA was about 5 hours but we had a 2 hour delay on the runway in Atlanta due to lightning storms. Out of 7 hours total she only cried (um, I mean screamed) for 20 minutes. Not bad in my opinion!
On the SLC-ATL flight she loved being able to cross the aisle of the 767 and go play with Gma and Gpa. (S and I loved that too!)
During our layover, Bean discovered that it is much more fun pushing a stroller around rather than being pushed in it. She loaded Mickey up and we spent the majority of the time pacing the hallways of the airport.
Because of the delay we got into Norfolk around 9 that night. And we still had an hour and a half drive to Kittyhawk. Bean fell asleep in the van right away but, unfortunately, woke up with still a half an hour to go. I'm guessing the bad luck started right then because she screamed the entire rest of the way. We finally made it to the beach house and crashed after a long day.
It was dark when we got there, but here is a view from the back porch of our beach house. I didn't realize until later that I never actually got a picture of the house we stayed in, but it pretty much looks like the other ones in the picture. It wasn't right on the beach but had direct access. Awesome.
Day 2.We woke up early to go to church in Nags Head. It was a small building but, wow, it was packed. Had we been 1 minute later we would have ended up sitting in the stand behind the bishopric.
We got back and headed straight for the beach. Sunday afternoons should always be like this.
Day 3.After another morning at the beach, we went to Kill Devil Hills and toured the Wright Brother's memorial. It was fascinating! This stone structure we are standing in front of is on top of the hill that they used to initially fly their gliders. It was really windy, so it made sense that it would have been the ideal spot.
This loooooooong sidewalk ran parallel to the track that they used to actually fly the first airplane. They had granite markers marking the length of each flight. I can only imagine how that must have felt to go airborne for the first time!
That evening we went and ate seafood at this place called Dirty Dick's. While we were waiting for our food, we found this. Think of that arcade game in which you manipulate a giant claw to win a stuffed animal. Except in this case you won a live lobster. (What would we have done with a lobster?!) Naturally we had to play it. S managed to get one but the slippery sucker got away.
The food was okay. Everyone else ordered wierd (to me) food: soft shell crabs, frog legs, alligator. I got the tuna. Oh, and of course they had novelty t-shirts.
Day 4.We took the really, really long drive to Cape Hatteras to see the famous lighthouse. It is really tall (but probably not worth the drive.) Here is our attempt at a family picture.
Here is Bean pushing her stroller again. The day took a turn for the worst after we told her she couldn't push the stroller into the house. I'm pretty sure people on the other side of the island could hear the tantrum that she threw!
She got a really long nap as soon as we got back. I think everyone was feeling a little sluggish at this point so we ended up staying home and ordering THE BEST pizza I have ever eaten. So, a good end to the day.
Day 5.S and I had sworn off any other tourist attractions after Cape Hatteras. However, we found out that there was an aquarium on Roanoke Island (much closer to Kittyhawk) which we decided to venture out and see. I'm really glad we did because Bean had a really good time.
Free turtle rides.
Looking out over the channel that divides the Outer Banks from mainland N. Carolina.
That night we went on recommendation to a restaurant called the Black Pelican. The wait was sort of long so we decided to make a quick trip to the beach (which was across the street.) Sunsets on the east coast seem sort of strange, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
I had my first clambake that night. Oh, my goodness! It was good! There was a ton of food but S and I (and Bean--she loved the corn on the cob) managed to put one of these away.
We pulled up Word World on Netflix that night for Bean and her cousins, though I think K spent the majority of time tickling Bean. Bean loved all of the attention. I wish they lived closer so we could have playdates!
Day 6.I have to admit I was dreading day 6. We woke up super early to go fishing. Out in the middle of the ocean. I get motion sick really easily.
But it ended up being a lot of fun! In fact, one of the best parts of the trip!
We trolled for several hours and caught, well, I lost count how many we caught but it was close to 50. I did get seasick, but a little catnap had me feeling better. It was S's dad, S, his brother A, B and I on the boat with the guide, which was nice because we kind of had more freedom to do what we wanted.
After we had caught more fish than we could ever possibly eat, our guide asked us if we wanted to go try to catch a shark. Um, Yeah!!! So we went about 5 miles further out (which, by the way feels like the middle of the ocean.) He said our chances were 50/50 but we thought it was worth the shot.
We sacrificed a few of our fish as bait and threw the lines out. This was a good point to eat lunch (eww, by the way. Eating on a fishing boat...ugh.)
Actually it was a bad idea all around because the waves started to swell bigger and bigger and we were suddenly a toy boat at sea. I felt myself turning green and went and laid back down. I started hearing some commotion.
There was something on the line.
Wait, is that a...?
I thought to myself, no freaking way! It didn't matter that the shark was only about 4 feet long. WE CAUGHT A SHARK! How many people can say that?!?!
B caught this awesome picture of S. I seriously want to enlarge it and proudly display it in our home. I have a hot hubby!
The blood is not the shark's. It's the poor fish he just ate. And we had to let him go. But I stumbled to the end of the boat and patted him on the nose so I can officially say that I have touched a shark.
After we released him we all started to get seasick so it was time to head back in.
Here is our catch for the day.
There was a guy at dock whose entire job for the summer was cleaning peoples fish. He filleted 40+ fish in the time it takes me to gut one. He also said we had the highest catch of the day so far.
That evening we cooked all the fish (blue fish and spanish mackeral) for dinner. It was yummy! After dinner we heard A say that we'd better get all of our laundry from the line in because it was going to start raining in 5 seconds. And it literally started raining in 5 seconds. The storm was CRAZY! Lightening, wind, it was awesome. And Sar and I went and took these pictures afterwards. Beautiful.
Day 7.We decided to spend our last full day hanging out at the beach.
See that tiny dot in the ocean?
Here's a closer look.
The owners of the house we stayed at had a sea kayak which S bravely took out in the ocean. I decided, what the heck, and took it out myself. It was so uncharacteristic of me. I'm not really the adventuresome type, but I really enjoyed myself! Until I realized that I was far enough out that the current was carrying me away from shore. And then I remembered that we'd caught a shark.
I paddled back to shore rather quickly.
For dinner that night we went to THE BEST BBQ I've ever had! Wow there is some good food in NC! Bean polished off her plate of BBQ and still had enough room to eat some chocolate pecan pie (YUM!)
I sure am glad we had the foresight to take her shirt off!
Day 8.One thing there isn't a shortage of in the Outer Banks is miniature golf courses. And they are impressive, too! Naturally, we had to stop and play a round before we left.
Bean during her first golf game. If you count picking the ball up and dropping it in the hole, she skunked both S and I.
We said goodbye to Sar and the kids and started making our way back to Norfolk. There are several farmer's markets between Kittyhawk and Norfolk so we decided to stop at one. It ended up being a highlight of the trip for me. This was the most amazing farmer's market I have ever seen. They let you sample just about everything.
The stands of fruit and vegetables made me wish we weren't flying back home that night. I would have loved to buy some of this stuff.
But I settled on buying a peach cider float (double YUM!) We let Bean play on the tractors for awhile and headed off.
We tried to take our time getting to the airport but still ended up getting there with hours to spare. Here's a picture of our unloaded van.
And a crapload of luggage. Thank goodness for rent-a-carts.
We ended up having about 3 hours of delays in the airports and didn't get into SLC until past midnight. As soon as we left Atlanta Bean fell asleep right away but woke up (thanks to an obnoxious laugher sitting right in front of us) with an hour to go. She screamed but I didn't feel so bad this time (I know, mature, right?) She settled down after about 20 minutes and did really well the rest of the trip. Who knew that the flights would end up being the easiest part of our vacation?
And now for my lessons learned:
(1) The owners installed one of those giant hammocks in the patio area. The fastest and easiest way to unwind from the day is in a hammock built for two.
(2) They also had a few of those retro bikes that are so popular. S and I went for a long ride. You are never too old to ride a bike wearing flip flops.
(3) Though not recommended, playing in strong riptides is a lot of fun. After we'd put Bean down for her nap one day (and Gma was willing to stay back with her) S and I went and played in the ocean for several hours (I felt like a teenager again!) B and dad ended up joining us. The waves were so strong that we got thrown into the ground several times. I had some awesome battle wounds! And I think we all ended up with sand in places we didn't know we had.
(4) It is very important to make sure that your swimsuit top is securely tied if you are going to play in strong riptides.
(5) Guess who? can be a very challenging game, not for the faint of heart (at least when it comes to S and I playing each other for hours on end.)
(6) It is worth giving up your bedroom to your toddler so she can sleep soundly through the night. S and I spent our entire vacation on the couches in the living room (how romantic, I know) but we'd do it that way again in a heartbeat. As far as sleep was concerned, Bean got some of the best she's ever had.
(7) I wish I had come up with the saying used in my title, but I actually read it recently somewhere. I had to laugh because it is so true. S and I came so close to booking a trip to Hawaii last fall for the three of us and at one point he turned to me on this trip and said, "I'm so glad we didn't do that! We would have been so disappointed!" So vacations are different than trips. We will be taking several family trips together. But if we want a vacation, (as much as we love her) best to leave the Bean-o behind for now.
(8) If you can get past the familiar shape of frog legs, they actually don't taste too bad.
(9) Sea-bands are worthless.
(10) The movie on the flight back was "Just Go With It." While the lady in front of me must have thought it was hilarious, I thought it was dumb and only watched about 20 minutes of it. However, I've had the phrase "Just go with it" stuck in my head the last couple of weeks and it's actually a good mantra to live by.
11) I want a minivan. Badly.
and
(12) It is possible for time to erase not-so-great memories because even as I'm writing this, I would love to go back sometime and do it all over again.
