Our Outer Banks Trip, September 2008

Saturday, Sept 13, 9:30 am

Me, Bob, Annie and Andrew left for our trip south to NC—with plans to take a more scenic route and stop along the way. We went into VA and drove down RT 3 through Colonial Beach. Our first stop was at George Washington’s birthplace. Very pretty there—right on the Potomac. As with Mt. Vernon, I could easily picture myself living there.

We spent a little time there then got back on the road.

Our next stop was in West Point, VA, off Rt 17 for lunch at the Pizza Hut.

We took a short break at the VA/NC border. Shopped a bit, had some ice-cream and headed for Duck, NC. We took one more quick break at a roadside fruit and veggie market and bought some tomatoes and apples.

We arrived at the house around six or a little after and got settled into our rooms. Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing around the house/pool.

9-14-08

I got up early on Sunday—about 5.30 -- although it was still sleeping in for me. I spent a half hour on the exercise bike—went about 12 miles and then walked for over an hour.

We’ve all had breakfast now, cleaned up and I think everyone has scattered to different areas of the house to relax and enjoy their vacation. Sit by the pool, walk, shop—just whatever they want to do.

More later!

Just a little after 7 pm. Had a great day. Bob and I went to the beach around 11, waded in the water a little bit, then went shopping. After shopping, we had lunch, sat around a bit then went back to the beach. The first time we just waded. The 2nd time we actually went into the ocean. I love the ocean—and watching the people in the water earlier was too much for me. So, I knew I had to go in! It was great—a little rough—but great. I got knocked down quite a bit. We had so much fun. When we got back to the house I had to take a shower to get all the sand and rocks off me. The water is so rough that it pushes and shoves you. It kept knocking me down and I could feel the sand and pebbles inside my suit. That isn’t very comfortable. But, I don’t care—I love it and can never get enough of the ocean.

We also spent quite a bit of time looking for shells and found quite a few. We found some pretty ones with purple in them.

It was a great day. Since then I’ve been working on the computer and just relaxing.

Before dinner, we all went up to the roof to what is called the widow’s walk—basically a deck on the roof to look at the view.

Then we had dinner and after that, Bob and I went for a short stroll, followed by sitting around the pool for a bit. It was a fabulous evening, it had cooled off a bit, wasn’t as humid and there was a wonderful breeze. There was a beautiful, bright full moon.

It had been a full day and I finally went to bed around 11.

I haven’t been sleeping very well here. The bed and pillows on our bed are very uncomfortable, Bob snores, people are up late at night and sit out here in the living room talking or down by the pool talking and it’s noisy for me. But, I still get up at the same time, so by around this time of day—11:00—I’m feeling very sleepy.

In spite of the lack of sleep, I have been having a wonderful time. I love the beach. It is so refreshing to walk along a beach at the Atlantic Ocean and see just houses and nature. It is so different from the commercialized areas of Virginia Beach and Ocean City. No hotels or restaurants in site. Very nice. It was like this in Cocoa Beach, FL. Although I believe there were some hotels along the beach, part of it was a state park, which was nice. It gives the locals and general public a place to park, have lunch, use the facilities. Where as in Va. Bch and Ocean City, it is so commercialized, locals and folks who aren’t staying in a beach side hotel are out of luck with parking and bathrooms and it isn’t fair. Those cities really should have done like this area and left some of open to public parks so all people had equal access to the beach.

This beach is less crowded and more peaceful. Most of the homes here are large, rentals. I like renting a house over going to a hotel. You feel like you are in your own home, can spread out and don’t feel cramped like you do in a small hotel room. We only have to share the pool with the others in the house.

I think I would drive the 2 extra hours and rent a house or apartment here for a week rather than go to VA Beach.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Another early day for me. I was up and out walking by 6. The sun was just starting to hint at getting up—the sky in the east was slightly pink. The moon was still out. I got pictures of both the sunrise and the moon all on the same walk.

I went for a nice brisk walk, then went to the beach around 6:40—just in time for the sunrise. I love being on a beach at that time of day. It is so peaceful. There were people fishing, walking and gathering shells, taking pictures and the folks just sitting on the beach watching the sun and soaking up the quiet. I love that time of day and especially when I can spend it on the beach. I gathered up a few more shells and a couple small pieces of driftwood. I took some pictures of birds, waves, beach grass. I love it. There is something about that time of day—it charges your batteries—and you feel no stress. As you stand at the water’s edge in your bare feet, you can feel the sand under your feet being pulled out to the ocean. And for me, I feel as if all my cares and worries are being pulled right along with it. It is a moment of instant calm and peace.

After I was done greeting the sun, I went back to the house, showered, dressed and had a relaxing cup of tea and a bagel before everyone else slowly came out for breakfast.

We had fun talking to each other while we ate, then we all drifted to do what we wanted to do for the day. Some have gone to the beach, others are relaxing around the house.

Bob and I are investigating things to do in this area. We are planning to go to the Orville/Wilbur Wright museum, maybe to a wildlife refuge or a state park. Tomorrow, it may be to a nearby outlet mall.

That is all for now.

Almost 7 pm, Monday, September 15, 2008

Most, but not all of us went out and about today. We went to the Pea Island National Wildlife Reserve. That was very interesting. Sand dunes all over. I love those—I love the dunes and beach grass and the weather worn picket fences that run along the tops of the dunes. After that, we drove to the Bodie Ligththouse. We couldn’t go in it, but, it was interesting to see. Tina loves lighthouses, so I know she enjoyed that. They have several light houses in the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks is a very narrow strip of land right in between the Atlantic Ocean and the Inter Coastal Waterway.

After that, we drove back toward Duck and stopped at the Orville/Wilbur Wright museum. That was interesting, but we got there late in the afternoon and only had time to hear the lecture of the history/background of the Wright Brothers and everything they did to accomplish the feat of getting the plane to fly. Since it is a national park, our tickets are good for 7 days and so we can go back another day.

After we were done there, we stopped at the gift shop we were at the other day and decided to buy the Bob Marley shirt for Shawn. We didn’t buy him one the first time because the sizes all were huge. But, I decided I wanted to go back and buy one anyway. We did manage to find a large—so that won’t be too bad. Then we did the Wal-Mart thing and came back to the house.

Some people are out on the deck—well, the deck off the kitchen—there are quite a few decks to choose from around here. And I think Bob and Brian are cooking dinner. They are grilling hot dogs and burgers. So, I guess that’s all for now.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 6:20 pm

I did my usual early morning walk this morning.

We had a rainy day today, but that didn’t bother us—the ladies—we went shopping. It may have bothered the guys because they went fishing, but if it only sprinkled for them like it did for us then it may not have been too bad. We had a great time. It was an outlet mall and I got some good deals. Did a little Christmas shopping. We had a great lunch and stopped later for ice-cream.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 1100

As always, went for my walk this morning.

Since then we’ve had breakfast, I did the laundry and Tina, Annie and I did some vacuuming.

And, that is my morning report.

In the afternoon, we took a drive to Corolla, NC. Another charming, picturesque town. We did some shopping in the quaint shops and had a nice lunch.

When we got back to the house everyone was trying to figure out where to go for dinner. Took a while, but we finally found a place. Had a nice dinner and when we got home, we all hung around “manland extension.” We took pictures, talked, some of them played pool. Then we moved outside and had a bon fire by the pool. It was very nice. A little smoky-but still nice to sit outside, and enjoy the company and the full moon. Didn’t see too many stars, though.

Thursday, September 18, 2008, 5.30 pm

We’ve been busy today. Of course I took my usual 4 mile walk first thing and went to the beach for a little bit to see the sunrise.

After breakfast, Bob,Andrew,Annie and I finished our tour of the Wright Bros. museum and memorial. Since it’s a national park, you get 7 days to use your ticket. We were there about 2 hours and had a great time. Then we went to a gift/country store called the Cotton Gin—huge—2 floors—and I loved it, of course.

After that, we went to Ace Hardware. I have to admit, this is the first time we have had guests ask to see Ace Hardware. Apparently Andrew had heard about and tried a brand of work jeans Ace sells. So, he came to the states in the hopes of getting to an Ace Hardware to buy jeans.

We came home, had a late lunch and I think later Bob and I are going for a walk on the beach. My last trip to the beach—well, maybe I will sneak in one more trip to the beach before we leave tomorrow.

The Wright Bros. memorial is wonderful – well worth seeing if you ever take a trip to the Outer Banks. When you look at that plane and compare it to the modern day plane and the space shuttle that they had pictures of—it is amazing to know that that little plane was the start of all that.

After dinner we have a little surprise planned for Annie. Tomorrow is her b’day and we bought a little something and a cake and will surprise her with it later.

Annie was surprised with her birthday party. She said she dind’t expect it. she liked the gifts we gave her. After dinner all of us except Bear and Dave went to the beach. It was dark, we couldn’t see very well—no one had a flashlight. But, we had fun at the beach. The waves were choppy because it was so windy. The sand was hard to walk on normally, but it was especially hard in the dark since we couldn’t see where we were going.

After we got back from the beach, Bob and I and Annie and Andrew had to start our packing because we were leaving Friday. Everyone else was leaving Saturday. We all were leaving a day early because they all were traveling again on Sunday and needed a day at home to do laundry and re-pack. Bob was going on business travel and Andrew and Annie were going to Arizona to continue their vacation. That was fine with me to leave early. It gave me an opportunity to go see Artfest at Ann Marie Gardens.

Friday, September 19th

We finished cleaning our rooms and bathrooms. We loaded the car and then we all gathered outside in front of the house to take pictures. Bob has a timer on his camera and used a trash can as a tripod. We took several group shots and some of all the guys and all the girls.

Reluctantly, it was time to say good-bye and head on out. It had been a good week—I hated to see it end—but at the same time, I’m always anxious to get back to the house. (not back to work—just back to the house)

We stopped a couple times to stretch and arrived home around 5 or so Friday evening.

We unloaded the car, ordered pizza and around 6 Shawn called to say he was coming down for the weekend.

After dinner Annie and I watched “You’ve Got Mail” and Bob and Andrew headed out to Manland for pool.

Shawn arrived much later than I thought he would but then when I found out why, I understood. He got a flat tire between Prince Frederick and Solomons Island. It was dark and he pulled over to fix the tire. A man drove by and when he realized Shawn just had a tiny flashlight, he turned around and pulled up behind him and shone (shined?) his headlights on Shawn while he changed the tire. To show his gratitude, Shawn gave one of the containers of ice-cream he was carrying to the man. He was bringing us 2 kinds of ice-cream and let the man choose one. Once I heard this story I was only too glad to share the ice-cream with him.

Shawn, Annie and I had some of the other ice-cream—mint Oreo cookie—and Shawn finished the pizza. We visited for a little bit then we went out to Manland so Shawn could meet Andrew. Andrew just happened to be showing Bob aerial views of Chichester and the area. He showed us where the ferry boats are that go across to France. And he showed us where the 100 acre wood is and the bridge for Pooh sticks.

But, it was getting late and we all were tired. Shawn had to have a new tire put on and Bob decided that rather than go with us to Artfest in the morning it would be better to take Shawn’s car in to get the tire fixed, the front end aligned and to have it looked at. Shawn had been hearing a popping sound and it needed to be taken care of. I agreed with that.

Saturday, September 20th.

Bob went out to the grocery store, and then was planning to catch up with Shawn to take care of the car. In the meantime, Andrew, Annie and I headed out to Artfest. We bumped into Linda and her friend Brenda there.

We spent a few hours there then headed back home. Bob fixed one of his typical fantastic BBQs for dinner.

We had to say good-night early since the three of them had to get up and leave for the airport at 6:30.

So, Sunday, September 21st, at 6:30, I said my good-byes to Annie and Andrew and the 3 of them left.

And at 6:30, I went back into the house to start the laundry and housecleaning. Always a telltale sign that my vacation was over.