Summertimes Calling Me

This past week we traveled back to the place where we can frolic on the beach, play in the sand, get sun kissed, and lose track of all time…the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For our 2nd Annual visit we chose to stay in Salvo, North Carolina where we rented a beach house two dunes away from the waves rolling upon our toes. We started out at 3 AM on Saturday, making a pit stop when I woke up at the Sage Diner, somewhere between Jersey and North Carolina. It was discovered that I am not a fan of whole blueberries in pancakes as I prefer them to be chopped into tiny bits. After my refusal to eat anything but the plain section of the pancake, we were out the door and on the road again. Our next stop was Grave Diggers Dungeon. It was here that I learned all about the different types of monster trucks and was able to climb on them. Do you know how exciting it is to see the Grave Diggers of past and the current one! Actually what was exciting was my first monster truck ride; dirt and all! For $5 a person, me and daddy climbed into the back of a monster truck that rolled over mounds of wet dirt and a bus! With speed building and dirt flying I was in a very serious mood as I wasn’t so sure about this. On top of that, the bench seat I was riding on had one large seat belt that did nothing to secure me sitting next to all these adults. To say I held on tight would be an understatement.

After the monster truck ride we pulled into the Brewery with a playground just as I fell asleep. This provided for all of us to catch a quick catnap in the parking lot. We fueled up with food and spent some much needed time on the pirate ship acting like Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Finding ourselves back in the truck, we continued on our way to check into the house.

Once we got to the house, while the parents got unpacked I found myself a nice spot in the sandbox. Just as they finished putting the last of the items away and we climbed into the pool – Todd, Barb, Anna and Kianna arrived – just in time to help us enjoy the pool. Over the week we enjoyed hanging out on the beach and having a few adventures. Of course this week couldn’t go without injury. Barb wacked her foot on the refrigerator door the first night causing her foot to swell up. The next day Anna and Kianna were swept out to sea in a rip current causing Todd and Barb to rescue them. Todd forgot the boogey board so Barb went after him. While running out she stepped into a hole and injured her calf muscle. Unable to walk and in severe pain Barb drug herself back to shore. She spent the night taking it easy. They got up very early the next morning and went to the ER where they found out it would be early afternoon before an MRI could be taken. So with that said, they headed back to the house. The last injury occurred when mommy was trying to be sneaky and scare us but all she did was stub her toe really hard on the boardwalk leaving her limping, laughing and with a black toe nail.

We ventured to a new part of the Outer Banks – Ocracoke Island. The ferry is free and with just enough to do on the island for an afternoon it was a perfect get away. We rented golf carts to tote Aunt Barb and her crutches around, grabbed some lunch and cooled off with some ice cream as we ventured around the island. We also caught up with the professional kite boarders where they showed off their stellar skills while we sat amongst the action. This was my favorite part of the whole week as I was trying to imitate their jumps. We also surveyed the local tourist traps and purchased a monkey kite to fly on the beach. We blew bubbles off the top deck and tried to see how far they would go. Two light houses crossed our path – Ocracoke and Cape Hatteras - neither of which I was able to enter. Daddy attempted the four wheel beach while mommy freaked out insisting we turn around as she thought we were sinking fast; she won! The entire week was filled with relaxing on the beach in the morning and spending the afternoon pool side or taking a nap. Our nights were filled with ghost crab hunting, bonfires and smores. And who could forget the family style dinners including a North Carolina shrimp boil.

Yet another fantastic Outer Banks vacation is in the books with dreams of the next one on the mind.