Vacation 2016

September 5-11, we went on our annual beach vacation. I think I would've preferred late September or early October (cooler temps and fewer people), but we had a good time.

We arrived in Morehead City on the 5th - a Monday. After eating supper at Texas Steakhouse (it was better the last time we were there, in 2013, but the chips and queso was really good), we went over to the beach in Emerald Isle. We spent a little time there (less than 30 minutes) and then went back to Morehead City.

After eating breakfast the next morning, we drove to Harkers Island, where we saw dolphins swimming nearby, and then took the ferry over to Cape Lookout. We had been there once before and I really wanted to go back. It's so beautiful there. Especially on the ocean side of the island. 

We saw some of the wild horses on our way to and from Cape Lookout while we were on the ferry. I've wanted to see them for years and was thrilled to finally get to.

Sean and Kelly went to the top of Cape Lookout Lighthouse (Kelly's first time) and seemed to really like that. Then they met Charlie and I on the beach on the ocean side of the island.

 Click on the picture to see Sean and Kelly waving from the top.

We were surprised by the tons of seashells on the beach. We'd never seen so many before. Many of them were quite large. Including a lot of whelk shells. We couldn't carry every shell we saw that we liked, so we had to be really picky. We still came back with a lot of them though. lol

We were going to eat supper that night at Roma Pizza in Atlantic Beach. It's kind of a tradition to eat there when we're in the area. But they were closed for some reason. So we went to a place called Luigi's in Morehead City that had good reviews and 4+ stars. The pizza was really good. The guy running the place had a thick northern accent (Long Island maybe?) - "Two slices of pepperoni with soysage." lol The two guys at the table next to ours had the same thick accent.

On Wednesday after breakfast, we went to Fort Macon. We've been there a few times before. It's a really neat place.

 Sean, Kelly, and Charlie.

After leaving Fort Macon, we headed south to Southport, over 2 hours away. It was so nice to be back in my hometown.

We ate at Fishy Fishy Cafe early that evening. We sat at a table outside overlooking the yacht basin, Intracoastal Waterway, and Cape Fear River. Beautiful views and delicious fried flounder.

We then went to the waterfront and watched the sun set while Charlie and Sean fished.

Kelly and I walked down to the waterfront park as it was getting dark. There are several swings for people to sit on and enjoy the view. A lot of people bring their dogs. We stopped to say hello to a cute doggie (some kind of spaniel) and her owners. They were a nice older couple from Pennsylvania who had retired in Southport last year or early this year. We talked for a long time.


Thursday was a day I was dreading. My uncle Mike, my dad's youngest sister Robin's husband of 37 years, had died unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism on Wednesday, August 31st (he was only 58) and the funeral was on Thursday, September 8th. Sean didn't want to go and stayed at the hotel while Charlie, Kelly, and I made the trip to Fayetteville. (He ordered pizza from Domino's while we were gone.) Charlie and Kelly waited in the car. I stood outside until just a few minutes before it was supposed to start. It was really hard to go inside. I loved my uncle Mike so much.

After the funeral, we went to the cemetery at Fort Bragg for the graveside service. The whole thing was hard - funeral and graveside. I cried so much. We then went to my aunt Robin's church in Fuquay-Varina for a dinner the church prepared (spaghetti, rolls, salad, desserts) and to spend time with family.


We got back to the hotel after 8:00 PM and then had supper at Atlantic Seafood.

Charlie and Sean went fishing on Friday (after we all had breakfast at Local's - love their French toast) while Kelly and I browsed a few of the shops and antique stores. The two of us also went to a bookstore (mostly used books) that we've been to several times and a clothing store (Peeble's) near our hotel. I got a pair of sandals. I can't remember if Kelly got anything or not. We then went to Frosty's Ice Cream on Oak Island before returning to the Southport Pier where the guys were fishing.

Early Friday evening, we went to Caswell Beach to watch the sunset, enjoy the water, and collect seashells. Always my favorite thing to do on vacation.

Kelly.

We had supper at Famous Subs and Pizza that night. They have really good pizza. :-)

After we went back to the hotel, Charlie and Sean went to the pier again to do some more fishing. It was around 1:45 AM when they got back.

Saturday after breakfast (at Local's, of course), we took the ferry over to Fort Fisher and went to the aquarium. I hadn't really planned on going this year (we've been so many times), but the kids really wanted to go. Especially Kelly. Sean and I busted out laughing when this little boy (probably around 4 years old) said loudly to Sean, "Don't touch it!" when Sean touched a horseshoe crab in the touch tank. The little boy sounded like he was afraid it might hurt Sean. lol

We took the ferry back to Southport after leaving the aquarium and I really don't remember what we did after that. lol

For supper that night, I didn't feel like going anywhere, so I had Charlie pick up some KFC for me (he got some, too) and Sean and Kelly got Quizno's.

The next morning, we packed up the car and were going to eat breakfast at Local's, but they weren't serving breakfast by the time we got there. Made me sad. :-(

We took the ferry over to Fort Fisher, drove into Wilmington, ate at a pizza/Italian place I can't remember the name of (the restaurant we wanted to eat at - Nicola's - doesn't open until 5 PM :-/ ), and then came home.

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I was going to write about a couple books I've read since the last entry and a few other things, but this entry is already pretty long.





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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Vacation 2013

My family and I took our vacation last week. We had a wonderful time. That last evening, as Kelly and I stood on the beach (Charlie and Sean were fishing on Southport pier), the waves rolling over our feet, I got a little teary-eyed. I didn't want to leave.

We left for our vacation on Thursday, September 5th and came home on Wednesday, September 11th. We spent the first few days in the Morehead City area and then went to Southport on Sunday, September 8th.

Thursday was mostly driving. We stopped in Holly Springs (outside of Raleigh) on the way to drop off Charlie's dog Milo with his sister Sheila so that she could take care of him while we were gone. (My mom took care of our other pets at our house.) We also went by the two houses we lived in in La Grange back '96-'97 since we were driving through there on our way to Morehead City.

We had supper that first night at Roma Pizza in Atlantic Beach. Charlie and I had eaten there a couple times years ago (before kids). It was nice to eat there again with our kids with us. They liked it as much as we did. :-)

On Friday, September 6th, we went to Fort Macon and Cape Lookout. Charlie and I had been to Fort Macon once back in '96 and I really wanted the kids to see it. It's a pretty neat place. The weather wasn't too hot and the breeze was nice, so we enjoyed walking around and on top of the fort outside. I took a lot of pictures. I'll try to narrow it down to one or two to share with y'all.

Cape Lookout is a place I've tried getting to before, but didn't make it. It was nice to finally get to go there. It's not an easy place to get to. I don't think there's an official state ferry to take to get there. We took a local ferry (a people ferry - no cars) called Calico Jack's. Since there were only about 10-15 of us riding the ferry, we took a small one that was more like a motor boat. I said later that they should change their name to Calico Jack's Speed Boat Ferry and that they should sell shirts and stickers that say, "I survived Calico Jack's Speed Boat Ferry". lol It was fast and the ride on the way back was pretty bumpy. Hold on to your stuff or you could lose it. It was fun though, even with the speed and the wind.

Cape Lookout is beautiful and the water is a gorgeous turquoise. There's nothing on the island except the lighthouse, lightkeeper's house, information/souvenir shop, and wild horses. We didn't see the horses when we were there. I think they probably stay away from the lighthouse area. Charlie and the kids climbed the lighthouse. Charlie took my camera with him and took some beautiful pictures. After they came back down, we walked across the island (it's not very wide in this spot) to Ocean Beach. So beautiful and almost no one else was there.

When it was nearly time for our ferry to come back, we walked back to the beach on the other side and enjoyed the water there while we waited. I, of course, took a lot of pictures.

When we made it back to Morehead City, we ate supper (a seafood place called Sanitary) and then Charlie and the kids swam in the motel pool.

Saturday, September 7th, we went to Ocracoke. It took about an hour to get to the ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke and then the ferry ride itself took 2 hours and 15 minutes. That's the longest I've ever been on a ferry and the first time I haven't been able to see land from a ferry. It was strange for me to be completely surrounded by water with no land in sight. Towards the end of the ferry ride, the waters got a little rough. I had to hold on to both hand rails going up and down the stairs and I couldn't walk straight. It was weird. It made me feel kind of drunk, though I've never been drunk. lol

When we finally made it to Ocracoke, we went to the British Cemetery (interesting place) and the Ocracoke Lighthouse. I was happy to finally get to see the lighthouse up close. Such a cute little lighthouse. There's a pretty lightkeeper's house with a red tin roof next to the lighthouse. A park ranger and his (or her) family lives there. I told Sean that he should become a park ranger when he gets older so that he can live there and then Charlie and I can live there with him. :-) We stopped by a lunch-to-go place (I don't remember the name of it) for sandwiches and sat in our car to eat near the water.

It was getting close to 4:30 and we thought we had until 5:30 before the ferry made its next trip to Cedar Island. Charlie and Kelly went on over to the ferry office (next to the parking lot where we had eaten our lunch) to get tickets while Sean and I stayed near the water and took pictures. Then Kelly came running back and said that the ferry was leaving at 4:30. We could've taken the 8:00 ferry (the last ferry of the day), but we wouldn't have gotten back to Morehead City until after 11:00 and that was just too late. So, after only about an hour in Ocracoke, we had to leave. Hopefully we can go back someday and stay longer.

We had supper at Texas Steakhouse (not the same as Texas Roadhouse) in Morehead City that night and the food was so good! The chips and queso was spicy and delicious, my filet mignon was good and tender, and I absolutely loved the macaroni and cheese - so creamy and delicious. I wish we had one here in Greensboro, but I think the closest one is in Raleigh or Durham.

It brought back memories as we walked to our table. Charlie and I had eaten at the Texas Steakhouse in Goldsboro (near La Grange) when I was pregnant with Sean. I still remember what I ate that night - grilled chicken and a baked potato. :-)

Sunday morning, September 8th, we checked out of our motel, ate breakfast at Cox Family Restaurant (where we'd eaten breakfast every morning) and went to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. We hadn't been since '96 and they've remodeled it since then. It's much bigger now. My favorite part was outside where you can see the marsh and many different types of water fowl. I took a lot of pictures of the egrets, herons, and the marsh. Very pretty area.

We headed to New Bern after leaving the aquarium, stopping for lunch along the way, and went to Tryon Palace. This is another place I've always wanted to go to and was glad I finally got to go. Again, I took a lot of pictures. None of them inside the house since inside photography isn't allowed.

After leaving Tryon Palace, we drove down to Southport, checked into our hotel, and had supper at Ship's Chandler on the waterfront. It was so good to be back in my hometown.

Our days in Southport were spent enjoying the beautiful waterfront, eating really good food (at Local's for breakfast and lunch and Ship's Chandler for supper), swimming in the pool (Charlie and the kids), shopping downtown (Kelly and I), playing golf and fishing (Charlie and Sean), walking on Caswell Beach (Kelly and I), eating ice cream at night at the waterfront. Kelly learned how to swim on Tuesday, September 10th. I wish I'd had my camera with me so that I could've taken pictures. It made me smile to see her swim across the pool and I told her that I was proud of her.

Caswell Beach

 

 Wednesday, September 11th, we checked out of our hotel, ate breakfast at Local's (such good French toast), stopped by Sheila's to visit and get Milo, and came on home. Our niece Samantha (Kelly's age) came home with us. She goes to a year-round school and is on a break for a couple weeks.

We came home with t-shirts, key chains, sand (in a small jar and in our car), over 600 photos, a few stickers for the back window of our car, a couple refrigerator magnets, a little bit of a sunburn, and memories. Looking at my photos makes me want to go back to Southport right now. I miss it.