Saturday, June 13, 2009

Vacation

Since I was not able to get online with Wi-Fi at the motel, I was unable to post like I wanted. I was able to get connected with Wi-Fi there, but when I tried to open a webpage, I kept receiving a message saying the page couldn't load and it didn't matter what browser I used. Really made me mad. Our 'neighbors' (Suzanne and Rodney) also had problems getting connected.

Saturday, May 30

We left very early - had planned to leave by 4:30 am, but that didn't happen. We were on the interstate by 5 am. We made it to Wytheville, VA for the night. My former boss lives very close and he said to contact him and even talked about stopping by the motel to have dinner with us. I sent him a text message saying "Greetings from Wytheville". He sent a message saying to have a wonderful time, but they couldn't stop by since they went to Bristol, TN.

Sunday, May 31

Headed out early for Nags Head, NC. When we got there, it was a beautiful day, not overly hot, was sunny and just plain gorgeous.







Monday, June 1


All of us (except Mother) went to Mutiny Bay mini-golf. The boys had a fabulous time. They loved it. Dad and Lloyd both had at least one hole-in-one, but they didn't win. And neither did the boys. Yep, I beat them all. lol. I had 15 holes in 2 shots and the other 3 in 3 shots. I almost had a hole-in-one a couple of times, but the ball just wouldn't go in. I had to tease them by saying "the girl beat the guys". lol. All week, Avrey said he wanted to play mini-golf again. We never did go again. Next year, we'll go and try a different place - probably Jurassic Putt which is dinosaurs. Spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and in the ocean.

Tuesday, June 2

We got an early start to the day and headed south to Ocracoke Island. We were almost the last vehicle on the ferry, there were two more after us. It turned out to be the front of the ferry because they turn it around after it leaves. We drove to Silver Lake and stopped at the Park Service Visitor's Center and also looked at all the yachts and sailboats in harbor. I have always wanted to go to the other side of Silver Lake, and since I was the driver, we did. It dead ends but now I can say I've been on that side. lol. We stopped at the Ocracoke Light and right after we got there, a ranger with the park service pulled in and she opened the lighthouse so you can get in but you can't climb. We then headed back to the ferry landing to head back. When we got to the ferry landing, there were no cars waiting and they had just finished loading one. We waited no more than 30 minutes for the next one to arrive and was the first vehicle on and the second to get off. I didn't get out of the van as I didn't need to get anymore sun than I already had, just stayed in there with the seat reclined and the sliders open and the windows down. Had a nice breeze most of the time. We stopped at Hatteras Landing and did a little shopping in some of the stores. Next stop was the Cape Hatteras Light. Headed back towards Nags Head and had to stop by the house (Serendipity) house in Rodanthe featured in the movie "Nights in Rodanthe" to get a photo. Wasn't able to really stop but my brother grabbed my camera for a quick photo. We got back to Nags Head and had a little time for the beach.

Wednesday, June 3

It was a day for the beach and relaxation. Mother and I did a little shopping and then went back to get some beach and ocean time. That evening, played Spades with the 'neighbors'. My brother and Suzanne were partners while Rodney and I were partners. Suzanne and Lloyd beat the crap out of us. lol. But it was a lot of fun.



Thursday, June 4

Went to the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island. I love it there, but there was at least one school trip with lots of kids around the 5th or 6th grade age that were irritating. Very loud and raucus. Always in the way. In the hands-on section, you are able to 'pet' skates, horseshoe crabs and guitarfish in one 'pool' and another one you are able to touch sea stars, urchins, hermit crabs, anemones and other small creatures. You are able to touch the sea stars but not pick them up and these kids kept wanting to pick them up. The hermit crabs you can pick up but not take them out of the water, but they kept doing that also. The lady working the pool was getting mad at these kids and they were warned over and over. Some of the kids were good about it and did like they were supposed to.

This was the only night we went out for dinner. We went to our favorite restaurant - Miller's Waterfront. They have the best crab cakes and hush puppies. It's the one meal that I always pay and this year my brother chipped in. Over the years we have gotten to know the owners or at least the ones that run it. The Miller's daughter, Whitney, runs it with her husband the chef and her sister, Alex, also works there. Unfortunately, Whitney had already gone home for the night but Alex was there.

Friday, June 5

It was laundry day. YUCK. The laundromat is hot and is going downhill. Every year, at least one more dryer is not working properly. There were 4 dryers that were marked as 'no heat' and one was marked as 'does not work'. One customer was outside on the phone and I heard him say that out of 24 dryers only 4 were working. I thought he was on the phone with a friend but it turned out that he was complaining to the people that run the laundromat. I doubt if it helps. There is not much of a choice in laundromats, in fact, I don't know if there is another one nearby. A few others that I knew about are closed. Afterwards, did a little shopping and some exploring. Mother has a new boss that has several boats for hire around the country. She says that she has one at the Kitty Hawk Marina. We tried to find the Kitty Hawk Marina, but never did. She thought maybe it was on Colington Island, but we drove around and never found a marina. What I thought was a harbor turned out to be a gated community. We gave up trying to find it and then headed for Nags Head Woods. I have always wanted to go there, but never knew where it was. It's actually in Kill Devil Hills and not in Nags Head. The Nature Conservancy has a place there on a pond that appears to be scummy but is actually covered in some kind of water lettuce or something. It is very peaceful. Drive a little bit into the Woods, but not very far. The road is a very hard packed dirt and is quite narrow, places really couldn't get two vehicles through.

All day it kinda rained and later the wind picked up and the ocean was a little too rough to get in.

Saturday, June 6

After breakfast, had to run through the Kill Devil Hills post office to mail a card and then we headed to Nags Head Woods and drove through. Actually, couldn't drive completely through, you could go so far and then had to turn around when the signs said "No Trespassing" and it appeared the road ended. Drove by the "Yellow House" where a guy lived for around 40 years alone. Mother, Lloyd, the boys and I did a little shopping. One of the stops we had to do was the Brew Thru for our yearly t-shirts. After the stops, we headed back to the motel but really wasn't able to get in the ocean. The water was horribly rough due to a storm system off shore. It was kind of chilly and very windy with rough seas. Mother and I headed back out for a few stores that the others didn't want to stop at. Of course, Avrey was complaining about shopping.

Sunday, June 7

Awoke to a beautiful sunny and warm day. Blasted and we were leaving. :( Loaded the vehicles and said our goodbyes to Suzanne and Rodney their kids. They were also loading up. They had to get home that day since Jonathon still had 3 days of school left.

We drove to Morganton, NC for the night.



Monday, June 8


We left the motel and headed for Asheville to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at the Folk Art Center and then drove to the new visitor's center. It was quite nice. They have a 'green' roof with grass growing on top. We headed south on the Parkway and stopped along the way at some of the overlooks. First time we stopped at the overlook for Cold Mountain. Made our way to Maggie Valley, NC for the night.

Tuesday, June 9

Our plan was to make it to Williamstown, KY for the night. There's a nice Days Inn with a nice pool. When we got into Tennessee, instead of taking the interstate, we headed up Hwy 25E and stopped at Cumberland Gap National Park on the way. When we got to the motel in Williamstown, the pool was closed. They couldn't open the pool until the state inspector came out for the inspection. Second year in a row that the pool was not open. The boys were very disappointed. I was a little disappointed with the motel this year. It wasn't as nice as it usually is.

Wednesday, June 10.

Back home. Headed for home. It was a very stormy day. Went through several bad storms.


I did make some friends while in Nags Head. Our 'neighbors' (Suzanne and Rodney) were from Pennsylvania and have two kids - Jonathon, 8, and Camryn, 2-1/2, (she is adorable). Had a lot of fun with Suzanne and Rodney. They mostly spent their time on the beach or down at the pool with the kids. We would sit on the deck outside our rooms and talk and talk. We shared food and drink. Rodney makes a mean Pina Colada.

Normally, we talked with the 'neighbors', but it never went farther than that. I really liked them and even thought that it would be fun to do have dinner with them or something. The room they stayed in is rented Saturday to Saturday and we are Sunday to Sunday. They moved to another room for Saturday night. Mother, Lloyd, the boys and I had gone out to do some shopping and when we got back, I noticed they were down on the beach laying out. Avrey was wondering where Jonathon was and Papa said they were down there on the beach. He yelled down to them. Jonathan got up and came running up to the deck. Suzanne looked up and waved. She then got up and walked up to the deck also. She came and sat down on the wall and talked. She asked what our dinner plans were for the night because they were hoping that all of us could go out. We were going to clean out the fridge of baby back ribs and chicken tenders and I was ordering a pizza. I was tired of the other stuff since we'd already had the ribs and either fried chicken or chicken tenders 3 nights. No more for me and it had already been planned to order pizza for Saturday night. Arley and I ordered the pizza.

Suzanne and I exchanged our contact information. She actually called Wednesday right after we got home and had just started unloading. We are now Facebook friends also.

Wish I was still in the Outer Banks. I love it out there and would love to move there sometime.

2 comments:

Alice said...

Sounds like the kind of vacation I could enjoy. Glad you had a good time.
Alice

Kathy said...

Sounds like you all had a great vacation.

Actually I am going to the Outer Banks July 4th week. My brothers and sister are renting two houses for 20 some-odd people. :) (Just a few of the family.) Almost all adults. Do you recommend any place special that's a must see?
Kathy
katkiley@aol.com

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