Day 5 & 6
I know that I am SO LATE at getting this up! Once we got back from vacation things got crazy busy again! Anyway, here's the last two days of our relaxing vacation! SO....First things first...I promised pictures of Bobby jumping off of the balcony with my new camera I got while on vacation and so here they are. Let me give Bobby credit, the balcony is higher than it looks in these pictures, so he's really brave. Also under him was a bunch of broken shells and he did this barefooted....so here they are :) I hope they are not anti climatic for you!
His landing wasn't so graceful....but he isn't Evan Lysacek so give him a break. He's MY hero!
So while Bobby was jumping off the back porch on day five, Aunt Lou was inside making homemade brownies..yum yum... Looking back I probably should have only eaten one brownie.
If I had know these little yummies were going to help me gain weight on vacation and not fit so nicely into my bridesmaids dress the next week....I probably wouldn't have tried to match Bobby in our unspoken brownie eating competition.
BIG NEWS - The day we were leaving I was really bummed BUT I got a very important call from the principal of Goodpasture and I GOT THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHING POSITION! I WAS SOOO EXCITED!!!! Great way to end a vacation! So this picture is in honor of my new job. Before I knew I had it I had collected some things on the beach hoping to be able to share them with my kindergarten class one day!
On Thursday, Bobby and I decided to rent a kayak and bring it back to the house to go kayaking off of our beach.....
Getting the kayak in the water wasn't as easy as I had remembered.
But we made it....
So while we are a pretty good ways out, I turn behind us just to catch a glimpse of a fin come up and back into the water. I FREAKED OUT and told Bobby to start paddling to shore at super speed. Then suddenly we see some dolphins jump out of the water! Phewww! My mom was taking pictures of us from the porch but we were so far out and it was so bright she didn't even see all of it. This picture cracked me up...it looks like we're about to be lunch.
Then a few seconds later 5 dolphins swam up to us. Two babies and three adults. They just hung out. The neatest thing was hearing them breath, which sounds silly, I know, but it was so quiet and calm...I like to think we made a "connection" with the dolphins. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.
I'm pointing to so dolphins in the distance but I don't think mom had a clue. After we came in she decided she wanted to go out too.
The only thing we saw was a giant jellyfish. When I say giant, he was about the size of a dinner plate, which is much larger than I like to see. We didn't see a SINGLE DOLPHIN while we were out there but of course, as soon as we came in dolphins started popping up everywhere.
So after kayaking we decided to drive up to see the Currituck Beach lighthouse. It was about an hour drive, north.
This lighthouse was so different from the others. I felt like I was in Savannah, GA. It was very lush and green and beautiful. It turns out that the lighthouse keeper actually lives on the premise in a cute little house just off of the beach. Bobby decided when he grows up he wants to be a lighthouse keeper :) I could handle that!
The entrance and bottom of the lighthouse. It was very pretty on the inside as well.
This is the lighthouse keepers house...told you in was pretty great!
Some views from the top.....this is someones HOUSE
This was the Duck Club, I think. I don't remember what that was. But they do have a nudist colony on the OBX, in case you were wondering.
YEAH, MOM!
So after the lighthouse we drove up to Corolla. It's a more remote beach and you have to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get around bc they are no roads past this point. This is where I live one day. If you read my blog you're more than welcome to come visit!
I think this is the most peaceful place I've ever been
I found one of these guys on the beach. It's a type of sting ray with a skeletal structure. This is the egg that the baby lives in. I found a couple with babies still in them, kinda freaked me out!
We decided to take some pictures on the beach before we left. However, I've gained a considerable amount of weight since I've been married...so I'll only show a few. But next year when I'm a size 2 I'll most all of them....ha ha
And my mom is going to kill me for putting this one of her on here but I liked it! Sorry mom!
Days 3 & 4
The past two days have been very relaxing. On Tuesday we started the day off with a visit to some lighthouses. The first was the Cape Hateras Lighthouse. Grandma watched us off as we drove about an hour away to the lighthouse.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. We climbed 268 steps to get to the top.
Notice that in this picture (of a picture) the lighthouse is right at the coast. We came here as a family in the summer of 1998 and this is where the lighthouse stood. But, because the OBX (Outer Banks) loses 3 ft. of coastline a year, they had to literally pick it up and move it a half a mile further back from the coast. The teacher in me wanted you to know that :)
There she stands in all of her glory.
And here we stand in all of our glory. Before taking the stairs to the top... Before the burning sensation in my lower calves....Before the heavy breathing began....Before I realized I was WAY out of shape...
This reminds me of the Vatican.
I'm pretty sure we probably have a picture just like this...taken 12 years ago at the top of the lighthouse.
But these two cats weren't with us then
That spec is a person take a picture of the lighthouse.
Ok so our next stop after the lighthouse was the Scotch Bonnet Fudge Shop :) Which was in deed featured on "Food Finds" on the Food Network -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/scotch-bonnet-fudge/686.html
They have a ton of YUMMY flavors. Even some odd ones like "Fire and Ice" which had jalapenos in it....eww and orange creamsicle and key lime, which was delicious!
Butterfinger (Bobby's pick) - Chocolate fudge with Butterfinger on top
Chocolate Pecan - A classic, chocolate fudge with pecans in and on top of it
Southern Comfort - OUR FAVORITE - Chocolate fudge on bottom, Caramel and nuts in the middle, Vanilla fudge on top swirled with more caramel!
Tiger Butter - this one was very good too, it was a mix of chocolate and peanut butter fudge
There was something very special about this fudge...Every time I opened the box I could hear angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus. That explains why it was thirteen dollars for a pound! Worth it!
Next was our lunch stop at the Sandbar & Grill. I forgot to document this meal but as much as I hate to say it, it really wasn't worth remembering. It was just a plain grilled chicken sandwich. Now BOBBY'S LUNCH was worth documenting. He had a NC style BBQ sandwich, which was the best BBQ I have EVER had! Aunt Lou had a Mahi Mahi wrap which looked really good too!
Next stop: Bodie Lighthouse Bodie is pronounced like "body". Aunt Lou said it was the Old English spelling. Want to know why it's called that??? Because dead bodies from shipwrecks use to wash up on shore here. It's true! They are doing a total renovation of the lighthouse that will open up May of 2011.
We took a walk on the beach before dinner (we actually walked to the restaurant on the beach bc we were still full from lunch...on vacations!) and we ran into some cute little seagulls...seagulls make me happy.
That cutey patootey is my husband....and that pier in the distance was the restaurant we were walking to
Obviously a great place to fish!
Ok so I've only seen this concept in the OBX. A drive through cooler, pretty much. You drive up, tell the girl what you want to drink and she grabs it for you and you drive out! It has a very creative name.....you ready? BREW THRU
This is the Jockey Ridge. The biggest sand dunes in the U.S. There were about half a million flying kites off of the dunes...maybe not half a million....maybe a quarter!
This is our beach house, from the street
So of course, when you're on vacation, you always have a to have dessert. So, while dad and grandma and Aunt Lou went to a play, Bobby and I watched "The Bounty Hunter" and ate our treats. I had some fudge and Bobby made himself a rootbeer float.
Fudge. Good. Bounty Hunter. Not Good
Needless to say, we had a pretty good Tuesday. And after every Tuesday...there's a Wednesday! We woke up at 6:00 AM to go deep sea fishing! Here is JT & Jeremy, our ship mates, fixing our bate as we cruise to our fishing spot. We were fishing for Flounder with squid and pieces of some kind of small fish
I told mom to make a fish face...she thinks fish actually smile...too much Nemo for her!
These ladies are EXPERIENCED DEEP SEA FISHERS!
This was a first for Bobby (and me too)
And this is my foot. This is a blog reminder to myself to WALK SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY ON BOATS WHERE THEY HAVE GUTTED FISH. I might have slipped twice walking around the ship on fish guts. I tore up my freshly pedicured toenail...and it hurt really bad...
This is JT again. He used a fancy pole and casted some fancy way and caught way more fish than anyone. Cheater.
This was the biggest catch of the day - 20 inches
One of the highlights of the day was that WE GOT TO SEE DOLPHINS! There were about 5 throughout the duration of our fishing that followed the boat. I have a video but I can't post it on this page so it's on the homepage if you want to see them!
SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO! Soooo for our anniversary Bobby got me a NEW CAMERA! And the coolest thing about it is that it can take10 pictures a second SO to demonstrate this Bobby has agreed to jump off of our back porch onto the sand and let me capture it on my camera...stay posted!
Days 1 & 2
Well we made it to NAGS HEAD, NORTH CAROLINA and it is BEAUTIFUL! We did have quite an adventure getting here. We put the top down Sunday after church, getting ready to leave in the convertible..and as we pulled out of the parking lot.....it started raining...and it didn't stop until 15 minutes before we arrived in Greenville for the night..
Oh and we were also in road work/construction for quite awhile. The kind where you turn your car off and walk down the interstate to see what's going on....
....until the bottom falls out and everyone runs back to their car!
We woke up the next day and drove to Swanquarter to catch a 2.5 hour ferry to Hateras Island. And the sky and blue and beautiful!
We were able to drive our car right onto the ferry
After we took both ferries we finally got to our island :)
One of the first things we had to do was get lunch! We stopped at the Atlantic Coast Cafe for some delicious fish!
I was REALLY excited when we spotted the house from the movie "Nights in Rodanthe"! They actually picked up the house and moved it after they taped the movie so that it wouldn't be washed away (The beach here recedes about 3 ft a year)
And this is our house - from the back. I had my feet in the water when I took this picture
Bobby on the back porch
View from the porch
Back porch...where my dad and Bobby have both vowed to be 24/7. There is a really nice breeze that comes off of the water and hits you on the porch. I'm debating sleeping out here just one night
The Living Room
Grandma's Bedroom
Aunt Lou's Bedroom
Study area at the top of the stairs
Mom and Dad's room
And their incredible view
Our Room
And our view!
Oh how I love the ocean!
Aunt Lou made us a delicious dinner. This was the Paella...
It was accompanied with a spinach salad with strawberries, heart of palm, hazelnuts, goat cheese and tossed in a mustard vinaigrette. SO GOOD
And she also made a yummy homemade Sangria by taking the juice of a lemon, a lime, an orange, and a can of Guayabana juice. She let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and added some thinly sliced lime, kiwi and pineapple. Right before serving it she added a bottle of sparkling white grape juice. It was perfect with the Paella.
It was a great day and we have a lot planned for the week! Lighthouses, deep sea fishing, sun, delicious seafood and maybe a little bit of being lazy on the back porch! I can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment