Our Beach Vacation

Jim got me hooked on the Outer Banks. As a kid he would travel to North Carolina to visit family and get a day at the Outer Banks. Now the tradition continues as his sister Lisa resides in North Carolina and dates a deep sea fisherman from the island.

I was hesitant at first, thinking I needed all the comercial shops and eateries that often span other beach towns. But it is that, that I miss the least. I love the tranquility and quiet that the Outer Banks offer. I love the "local" places that I have discovered to eat at. It is ok that I can't see the ocean from my room. I don't mind the short walk to the beach.

We take our vacation in May to avoid the crowds and to save some money. We took Parker out of school and had to fill out an itinerary of our trip. I wanted to be honest and make sure that all spots on the itineray were indeed visited.

Sunday afternoon we went to visit Jim's Uncle Walker. Jim's cousin Becky was also visiting at the same time. It was fun for the cousins to play together. Ethan is one year older than Parker, but still close enough to have a good time playing.

Monday we ventured to the Aquarium. It is a small aquarium, but still an enjoyable trip. We went for pizza afterwards, followed by an afternoon at the beach close to Body's lighthouse.



As I am writing this a few months later, I don't recall our exact itinery for the days. I can tell you what was on the list. Graveyard of the Atlantic - this is a museum at the southern end of the island. There is good sea shelling to be found. The museum had a new and cool pirate display.

Life of a Deep Sea Fisherman - this would be Andy, Lisa's boyfriend. It is great fun to see them come into shore and see the catch of the day.


Cape Hatteras Lighthouse- a light house. We got off easy, it was only a 4 day week at school.

Parker had reading and kid writing homework to work on each day.

All of these activities were interspersed with trips to the beach to lounge there and play in the sand. We would eat supper out and go for ice cream afterwards. Aunt Lisa was very popular with the boys. Both boys would want to sit next to her in the restaurant. She even offered sips of her soda, no wonder she was the popular one!

Preston is my sun bather. He prefers to stay on land. Parker on the other hand loves the water.


I got several compliments on my big hat.
And speaking of hats, Jim is all about safety.
Jim started a new hobby, metal detecting.
Aunt Lisa took us to see one of the last ponies on the island.
Finally this is a little off topic, but since I took the picture while on vacation I only feel it is appropiate to write about it now. These 3 dogs have a way of showing up on Facebook doing the same pose, but with different backgrounds. They have been seen in the snow, on the beach and now in an over sized Adirondack chair. The photo opportunity presented itself and it was easier to undo the the dogs than to unbuckle my boys, so the dogs got the cool picture.