Janine's B-day!

Sunday was Janine's ninth birthday. Last one in single digits!

Here she is blowing out the candle on the her birthday pie. That's right, a birthday pie. Bobbie offers to make the kids the dessert of their choice and over the years we all have chosen pies. Janine chose a peach and blueberry pie. It was great. So great in fact that it didn't last past Monday lunch.

Janine got some nice gifts including an MP3 player, some new clothes and as always Grammie and Gramps came through with some neat stuff. As you can see Sarah was having fun with the chameleon toys.


Sunday morning, Janine received a bible at the morning worship service. Our church gives each third grader a new bible. Janine got the Faith Girlz Bible. While I am not exactly sure what the title means, Janine has been reading it in the mornings and evenings, so I am not complaining in the least.

Last Day - Sunday

Because we had to take care of a few things, such as returning the rented bikes, we didn't get out of town until 10 AM Sunday. The car had half a tank of gas so I calculated that we would fill up on the peninsula on the way back into Virginia.

We stopped at a truck stop that saddles the NC/VA line. Gas was $3.10 a gallon, significantly lower than the $3.89 on the Outer Banks. What's more, gas was plentiful. There were shortages in western NC the previous week.

Even though it was only 11:15, Bobbie said it was time to stop for lunch. From experience we both knew that we had almost an hour ahead of us driving on causeways, through tunnels and shipyards without anyplace to stop for food, gas, or use the bathroom. When we got inside we found a smoke shop to beat them all. We ate pulled pork barbeque in NC vinegar sauce next to this sign. There were people leaving with grocery bags full of 10 to 12 cartons of cigarettes.

There is virtually no tax on tobacco products in North Carolina and it shows.

About 10 hours later we pulled into our driveway tired, but happy we set the time aside to spend it together at the beach.

Seventh Day - Saturday

On Saturday night we drove down to Nag's Head to have dinner at one of our favorite spots, The Red Drum. (It's named for a fish, not a musical instrument.) Here's Sarah trying to take a self portrait of the table. I like the new snap brim cap.

Sarah, Bobbie and I had a good old fashioned seafood dinner of a dozen oysters (for $6.95!), a dozen steamers, then fried oysters and clams. Nana had fried shrimp while John and Janine had chicken strips.

The place is pretty basic but a lot of fun. As we have written previously, most of the restaurants are on the main highway. The Red Drum is on the old beach road where most of the vacation homes can best be described as cottages (that's cabin back in the midwest.) Everything is cheek to jowl. People staying in the house next to The Red Drum actually walk out the front door onto the parking lot.

In the back pool room, there is an item not commonly found these days. Remember North Carolina's largest crop and you will understand why...

Sixth Day, Friday

On Friday it all seemed to come together, and here's the video to prove it. The surfers really made the most of an incoming tide.

In the morning Janine and I rode our bikes to Cravings, the local coffee shop. While she sipped hot cocoa, I had a mocha and talked baseball with the shop owner.

Later we got a second almost full day on the beach. Sarah and I took a long bike ride in the afternoon. We rode several miles south into Southern Shores almost to the intersection with Croatan Highway. It was a nice ride, good and flat!

Finally, we had leftovers for dinner because we wanted to eat as much of the food as possible as well as save up for a nice final meal Saturday evening.

Fifth Day, Thursday

On Thursday everyone spent most all day at the beach. Here's Janine testing the boogie board we found at the house. Thankfully one was there because we left ours at home! All three kids tried the board, but Sarah seemed to work it best.

After a dip, we all took to our beach reading. The weather was just right, not too hot, not too cold. We were comfortable in swim suits or t-shirts as you can see below. The perfect top off of the day was a dinner boiled blue crabs. Four of us enjoyed them while John and Nana ate hot dogs.

Fourth Day, Wednesday

On Wednesday we celebrated Mommie's birthday at one of the few fine restaurants in the Outer Banks, the Celedon Cafe. Most of the restaurants and retail are along Croatan Highway the main road leading through the island.

This place is different. It is off the beaten track on the sound side of the Wright Brothers national historical site. In fact it's just a short hike to the very site where man first took to the sky over 100 years ago. As you can see it is very kid friendly in the fact that we did not have to pay for the table cloth John is writing on in the picture.

That afternoon was stormy. In fact the lighting was striking within a mile of our house. We abandoned the beach at about 11:30 when the wind picked up and well before things got rough. We got a little wet as the sky opened up when we were about 100 yards from the house. After that it was back to the books and puzzles for the rest of the afternoon.

Third day, Tuesday

Things began to calm down enough on the third day to make the beach more inviting. Here's some video of the surf as an illustration. The beach experience is different every year. In past years Nana lead the way to the beach, excited to get in the sun. This year she needed some coaxing. In fact for the first few days she preferred the gazebo at the Schooner Ridge beach access facility. It overlooks the beach where she could enjoy the view of the surf but be out of the sun.

Second Day, Monday

The first full day there we always like to go to the beach in the morning. This year however it was quite windy and rough. The conditions were pretty bad the previous week and we were dealing with the leftovers. The rip tide flags were up and the beach patrol was out in force thankfully.

So we enjoyed reading at the house. Besides, all three kids had some light school work to do to keep up. Bobbie got into a jig saw puzzle that kept her amused if not obsessed. Sarah had some biology work for school as well as the latest installment of the Twilight series to read. John make the best of it by working in the hammock on the second floor deck.

First Day, Vacation Sunday

It's a long drive down to the Outer Banks so we like to have a layover on the way down.  In past years we stopped in Richmond to visit my Aunt Mary.  Then when she moved back to Nebraska, we still liked to stop there anyway.  This year however the Richmond Residence Inn was booked, so we drove only 30 minutes more and stayed in Williamsburg.  Here's the kids on the street outside the College of William and Mary bookstore (operated by Barnes & Noble). 

Because Duck is only three hours from Williamsburg, we had all of Sunday morning to visit the historical district of Williamsburg.  We did not go to the "Historic Williamsburg" reenactment area.  It's pricey and we didn't have the time.  A nice visit to the bookstore and the farmer's market was the perfect way to see the area inexpensively.  (Also, it was nice to see men dressed in jackets and ties who had just come from church.  I guess that's honoring tradition the way they do so well in the old south.)

After a horrible lunch experience at the McDonald's next to Busch Gardens, we were on our way.  Just a few hours later we were here...

...the Food Lion in Kill Devil Hills.  It is located less than a mile from the island end of the Wright Memorial Bridge, the causeway that connects the northern Outer Banks with the mainland.  It was great to get our week's worth of food at 4 PM after just three hours in the car instead of 7 PM after 10 hours in the car.  Fitting all the grocery bags into a crowded car is always interesting.  The secret is to avoid frozen food on your lap.

Then, it was off to the real estate office to check in.  The lady at the desk was very nice to ask if we needed directions.  I thanked her, said no and nicely told her this was the fifth time we rented the same house.  "Well I guess you're OK then."  Whew!  We passed muster with her.

After putting away the groceries and our suitcases in our rooms, we were off to dinner at one of the local Mexican restaurants.  I had fish tacos since I was less than a mile from the Atlantic.  We ended the evening with the Steelers on Sunday Night Football winning a game they should have lost.  We were on vacation, travelling in an intelligent, organized manner, eating well and ending the day with a win.  Hard to ask for a better day this side of heaven.

Vacation!!! (last week)

Yesterday we returned from a week at the beach in North Carolina. In typical fashion, here we are loading the car for the trip home. Note that the Thule box is empty. Kudos to Janine, that's her pink rolling bag in there first.

It was a long drive, and everyone was very helpful. Every year Bobbie reads a young persons' book to pass the time in the car (and keep Dad from falling asleep at the wheel). This year's book was the Teetoncey Outer Banks trilogy by Theodore Taylor. Each book is about 125 pages, so it was just about the right length. All three move pretty fast telling the tale of a young boy coming of age on the Outer Banks in 1899. Raised by a widowed mother, one night he helps the Heron Point life saving crew with a shipwreck. The sole survivor is a young girl in a state of catatonia after loosing her parents as the ship is dashed on the shoals. The boy and his mother take care of the girl and become attached to her.

It may not be Tolstoy, but it helped keep me going for 12 hours yesterday through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland (at it narrowest point), back into Pennsylvania. Bobbie even was reading by flashlight on the s-curves in the PA Turnpike just east of the Allegheny tunnel. I know my wife loves me when she does that.