Leaving NC
Monday, June 30, 2008
After we sadly left the Outer Banks, the kids and I met David at the airport near Williamsburg. Rhonda had to head home, so we continued our vacation with David. The first night we were there we went to Colonial Williamsburg to explore. We ate at Chowning's Tavern and paid a whole lot of money for some pretty awful food. What a bummer! David and I wanted to explore the city a little more, but the kids weren't very cooperative about that. After a few pictures they were ready to leave.
Jockey's Ridge State Park
Sunday, June 29, 2008
"JOCKEY'S RIDGE is the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States. Located in Nags Head, it is one of the most significant landmarks on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Always changing, always beautiful…"
I have to say that the park website hit the nail on the head with their description of Jockey's Ridge State Park. It was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and had a great time exploring. I was amazed by how big the dunes were! We were climbing up one big hill and you could see NOTHING except sand and sky. It felt like we were cresting a ridge on the moon or something!
Katie, of course, found a friend as soon as we arrived and ended up wakeboarding down the side of the dune. She LOVED it! Reese tired out pretty fast. On the way back to the car she just decided to lay face down in the sand... Poor baby!
I have to say that the park website hit the nail on the head with their description of Jockey's Ridge State Park. It was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and had a great time exploring. I was amazed by how big the dunes were! We were climbing up one big hill and you could see NOTHING except sand and sky. It felt like we were cresting a ridge on the moon or something!
Katie, of course, found a friend as soon as we arrived and ended up wakeboarding down the side of the dune. She LOVED it! Reese tired out pretty fast. On the way back to the car she just decided to lay face down in the sand... Poor baby!
What happens when....
you add two kids + orange push up pops + immaculate white sheets? A nightmare!!! Reese LOVED her Scooby Doo push up pop, and apparently so did the sheets on my bed in the hotel. Enjoy the pics!
Lighthouse Day!
I've been meaning to finish up blogging about our vacation, but can't ever seem to find the time! We took one day of our trip to drive to the southern tip of the Outer Banks to check out the lighthouses.
We made it all the way down to Okracoke. That was my favorite part of the whole day. The little island just looked like such a cool place. We had to ride the ferry to the island, and just loved that. There was a woman in the car in front of us that was feeding the seagulls. They looked like they were attacking her! They were everywhere! We did actually find the lighthouse on Ocracoke, but didn't get a photo of it. :(
After having dinner in Ocracoke we decided to head back to Kitty Hawk. Let me just preface the next part of the story by saying that Katie was NOT happy about visiting the lighthouses and she made sure to let Rhonda and me know it. She'd whined and fussed THE WHOLE TRIP about missing a day at the beach. It WAS only 70 degrees, so swimming would've been awful, but we couldn't make her understand that... Well, we made it back to the ferry in time to make the 7pm boat. We promised Katie that if she'd act right we'd take her to the beach as soon as we got back to the hotel. We'd have been in good shape, but there was a huge line! Needless to say, we didn't make it onto the 7pm boat, even though there were actually two ferries. The 8pm boat showed up and we noticed that there was a box truck AND an 18 wheeler at the front of the line. We didn't make the 8pm either. We did finally make the 9pm ferry, and I got some incredible sunset photos, but Katie was on the verge of becoming fish food!!! Rhonda and I had just about had it with her! She finally cooled off when we got them some ice cream on the way home.
We made it all the way down to Okracoke. That was my favorite part of the whole day. The little island just looked like such a cool place. We had to ride the ferry to the island, and just loved that. There was a woman in the car in front of us that was feeding the seagulls. They looked like they were attacking her! They were everywhere! We did actually find the lighthouse on Ocracoke, but didn't get a photo of it. :(
After having dinner in Ocracoke we decided to head back to Kitty Hawk. Let me just preface the next part of the story by saying that Katie was NOT happy about visiting the lighthouses and she made sure to let Rhonda and me know it. She'd whined and fussed THE WHOLE TRIP about missing a day at the beach. It WAS only 70 degrees, so swimming would've been awful, but we couldn't make her understand that... Well, we made it back to the ferry in time to make the 7pm boat. We promised Katie that if she'd act right we'd take her to the beach as soon as we got back to the hotel. We'd have been in good shape, but there was a huge line! Needless to say, we didn't make it onto the 7pm boat, even though there were actually two ferries. The 8pm boat showed up and we noticed that there was a box truck AND an 18 wheeler at the front of the line. We didn't make the 8pm either. We did finally make the 9pm ferry, and I got some incredible sunset photos, but Katie was on the verge of becoming fish food!!! Rhonda and I had just about had it with her! She finally cooled off when we got them some ice cream on the way home.
Friday, June 20, 2008
The weather was pretty cold on the day we chose to go see the lighthouses. It was much too cold to swim, for sure! Katie wasn't happy about not going to the beach, and believe me, we had to hear it ALL DAY! She did enjoy going to the Hatteras lighthouse, and she and Rhonda climbed all the way to the top! 257 steps! We also saw the Bodie lighthouse and got to ride the ferry down to Ocracoke.
It was a wonderful day until we tried to LEAVE Ocracoke. We arrived in plenty of time to board the 7pm ferry, or so we thought! When we arrived at the end of the line we couldn't see the dock. It was that long. We obviously missed the 7 o'clock, much to Katie's consternation. Then we didn't make the cut for either of the 8 o'clock ferries, either. That's when the meltdown started! We did get on the 9 o'clock, and Katie whined about halfway home about not getting to swim then finally quietened down. Believe me, we were grateful for the relative peace! I did get some awesome sunset photos while we were waiting. Enjoy!
It was a wonderful day until we tried to LEAVE Ocracoke. We arrived in plenty of time to board the 7pm ferry, or so we thought! When we arrived at the end of the line we couldn't see the dock. It was that long. We obviously missed the 7 o'clock, much to Katie's consternation. Then we didn't make the cut for either of the 8 o'clock ferries, either. That's when the meltdown started! We did get on the 9 o'clock, and Katie whined about halfway home about not getting to swim then finally quietened down. Believe me, we were grateful for the relative peace! I did get some awesome sunset photos while we were waiting. Enjoy!
Beach Day #2
You know, we've only been home from vacation a week and I'm already forgetting things! On our second day in North Carolina we played on the beach quite a bit, too. Reese was feeling a lot more comfortable around the water, but she still wasn't sure about those waves!
Our first day at the beach!!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
We made it to our beach hotel late in the afternoon, but we still decided to go out and check out some waves. Katie was so excited, but Reese was not impressed at all. She hated the sand and the waves scared her.
Travel Day #2
We didn't make it out of the hotel early, but we did get some good sleep! We left Nashville bound for Greensboro, NC, around noon. The trip was pretty uneventful. Rhonda and Katie played lots of travel bingo. Katie won most of the time... I wonder sometimes if she cheats! We stopped at a rest area for lunch and found a geocache while we were there. The girls weren't all that hungry, so we were only there for about thirty minutes. We rolled into Greensboro about dinnertime. Our hotel was HUGE! We had a little trouble finding it. I'm not sure where that extra I-40 came into play...
Dinner was a fiasco. We ate at the hotel restaurant, which was very nice, but our server didn't speak very good English. Just getting some tea in Reese's sippy cup was a chore. The food was good, and even though I almost beat Katie at the table, we did get to eat.
Our room was very interesting. They put us in a suite, which consisted of a bedroom with two double beds and a sitting area with a full sized Murphy bed. Katie chose to sleep in the Murphy bed, and Reese started out in her portable crib. Needless to say by morning they were both in the bed with me. I ended up moving myself to the Murphy bed. It wasn't nearly as comfortable, but at least I had some space!
Dinner was a fiasco. We ate at the hotel restaurant, which was very nice, but our server didn't speak very good English. Just getting some tea in Reese's sippy cup was a chore. The food was good, and even though I almost beat Katie at the table, we did get to eat.
Our room was very interesting. They put us in a suite, which consisted of a bedroom with two double beds and a sitting area with a full sized Murphy bed. Katie chose to sleep in the Murphy bed, and Reese started out in her portable crib. Needless to say by morning they were both in the bed with me. I ended up moving myself to the Murphy bed. It wasn't nearly as comfortable, but at least I had some space!
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