What a trip!

What a trip! I just got home from visiting the Outerbanks of North Carolina. It's always beautiful down there - views of the beach, the bay, ocean and sand... this year was no different, and despite the calls for thunderstorms all week, we had little rain, and it only came at the most convenient times (while taking a nap; both starting and finishing while we were eating a meal indoors; etc.)!

After driving down on Saturday, we hung fairly low on Sunday just enjoying the beach, the pool, and so forth. Then, on Monday, the family and I took a jeep tour around the beaches of Carolla to see the wild mustangs. What beautiful creatures! They originally swam to shore from shipwrecked Spanish ships some time ago, and today they're one of the few groups of wild horses (or "semi" wild as I call them) left on the east coast.

Tuesday was the day of the big event - deep sea fishing! We all got up around 3:30 in the morning (though truth be told, I slept little during the night) to drive across the island out to our boat which left at 5 AM. I think it must of been our job to wake both the sun and fish that day! What a view of the sun rising over the land, and then the water, though. I was pretty sick for most of the trip, but I'm telling you, seeing literally dozens upon dozens of porpoises swimming around our boat at one point during the trip made it all worth it. I didn't personally catch any fish (was more focused on sipping that ginger ale!), but our seven person family group caught about 23 mahi mahi (dolphin fish) and one 20 pound tuna. The first mate suggested that we start taking Bonine four or five days before the trip to really saturate our systems with the medication, rather than just a couple of hours prior, to help with the motion sickness. If we ever get to go again, it might be worth a try.

We kept pretty low on both Wednesday and Thursday, mostly nursing my sun burn. I put on that new Neutrogena 100+ sunblock before we left for the boat ride the day before, but I'm thinking that I should have reapplied it because boy was I toasted! I don't really tan much, so I tend to only have a few colorings - white, and various shades of lobster, as I say. Fortunately, there were lots of little shops and places for us to duck in and avoid the summer's heat.

Friday, we went to one of those all you can eat seafood buffets. It was a bit pricey, but with all you can eat prime rib, snow crab legs, and tons more; plus excellent desserts, it was well worth it for a once a year treat. Yum! Later that day, we were also fortunate enough to meet some friends who dh's father grew up with. What lovely people, and an excellent home cooked meal!

Come Saturday morning, our reservation was up, so we bunked for one extra night with dh's folks, rather than going home right away. What a nice rental - tons of sunlit windows, ceiling fans everywhere, and beach themed paintings adorning the walls (actual paintings, not just prints, I was impressed). I guess because their place was newer, the AC worked pretty well, and I couldn't have been more grateful for the ceiling fan! One night, we were driving by one of the nearby ponds, and we must of stopped the car for a good five minutes just listening to the frogs. I took a "video" with the camera just to see if I could get an audio recording - I'll see if I can extract it for you guys. They were a hoot!

Today we made our usual stops on the way home - a farmer's market that I just love, plus this general store/restaurant that makes some of the best Carolina bbq. I never like driving long distances, the monotony of it makes me sleepy and I worry about crashing when everyone around me is going 80+ mph, but we arrived home safe and sound, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again tonight, dreaming and planning our trip for next year!