Here is my hastily assembled, poorly written, vastly incomplete Outer Banks vacation log.<\/p>\n
hatteras trip<\/p>\n
saturday<\/p>\n
took off in the morning to head up to richmond. christina let us all stay the
\nnight while she visited her sister in charlotte. as soon as we got to
\nchristina’s house, kathryn opened the passenger door of the car and gonzo took
\noff. he then immediately ran into the neighbor’s backyard and left a gift of
\npoop. the mccubbins arrived at christina’s house and we then proceeded to let
\nthe kids wreak havoc on the house. it took less than an hour to turn the
\nnicely organized kids’ play areas into disaster zones.<\/p>\n
sunday<\/p>\n
cleaned up the house, and packed up to finish the drive to rodanthe NC. met
\nchris and angel at the realty – they arrived earlier but the realty would
\nnot release the keys to them presumably because everything was in kathryn’s
\nname. we got to the house, and it was really nice despite the rather plain
\nexterior and the junk-filled houses nearby. we explored the beaches a bit
\nand enjoyed letting the iris and eris explore the sand and water. this was
\nalso gonzo’s first beach experience, and he was a bit scared of the surf
\ncoming in. kathryn ran up and down the beach with him – she looked as
\nhappy as an eight year old girl. for dinner we ordered takeout from the asian
\nrestaurant down the street. when i went to pick up the food i was surprised to
\nbe served by a dreadlocked, blonde, slightly sun-worn white woman with an
\naustralian accent – not what i was expecting to see serving sesame chicken and
\nteriyaki kebobs. the women went out to the food lion in avon to stock up
\non groceries for the week, and chris and i played DDR until we were
\nreally bad at it. later that night kathryn and i saw a really bright fireball
\nmeteor – chris mentioned the possibility that it might have been an iridium
\nflare. i saw the exact same thing 2 years ago at the house in salvo.
\nchristina and her two kids arrived late (closer to midnight) – we were worred
\nshe wasn’t going to find the place since she didn’t have a cell phone we could
\ncall to give her directions.<\/p>\n
monday<\/p>\n
we walked around the beach with iris in her backpack, and christina came with
\nus with maddie and ella. all the kids enjoyed the beach quite a bit. it was
\nmaddie’s first time at the beach (the “big water”). and karaoke revolution in
\nthe evening.<\/p>\n
tuesday<\/p>\n
went out to nag’s head in the morning with everone to visit jockey’s ridge, a
\nstate park built around the big sand dunes there. apparantly the sand dunes
\nmove several feet south per year, so the property nearby is at risk of being
\ncovered with sand. a minigolf course is currently buried – its tallest
\nfeature, a castle, is still visible in one section of the dunes. kathryn and
\ni took iris in her backpack and walked to the top of the dunes where we saw
\nthe view of pamlico sound, the hangliders, and folks flying kites. met back
\nup with everyone and headed back to the house, stopping at a sushi restaurant
\nat a strip mall for takeout on the way (and a cigar shop to pick up some
\nsmokes). after eating lunch at the house and letting the kids nap, kathryn
\nand i took iris back to nag’s head – we wanted to hike a few of the wildlife
\nobservation trails along the way but thunderstorms were rolling in all around
\nus. we ended up driving through nag’s head and kill devil hills. stopped at
\na coffee place and then went to a electronica-themed music shop which also
\nspecialized in snowboard sales and repair. kathryn found an afghan whigs cd
\nshe didn’t have, and i found a brand new paul oakenfold CD which had just been
\nreleased several weeks prior. the shop clerk had a “thing for drum and bass”
\nand once was within beer-bottle-clinking distance from oakenfold when the
\nlatter DJed live in DC with his eyes closed while drinking guiness. one
\nsection of CDs was blocked by snowboard equipment. snowboarding equipment in
\nhatteras?? later we stopped at a minigolf place to play video games. they
\nhad a ddr game, and a cool boxing game where you wear gloves and your body
\nmovements are detected – you have to duck and weave to avoid getting hit by
\nthe game’s boxers. kathryn loved that game and was saddened when the coin
\nslots jammed up. that night after the kids went to bed we all played cranium
\nand kathryn and i got our asses kicked by the mccubbins. i enjoyed a cigar
\noutside and ended up walking to the beach to absorb the sounds of the sea
\nwhile watching the surf wash over the sands like big hands spreading cards
\nover a giant table. lightning occassionally flashed far at sea, lighting up
\nthe cloud banks in the distance.<\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
we went to ocracoke island with christina and ella (chris and angel stayed at
\nthe house and watched maddie and eris). it rained most of the day but
\ncleared up as we were driving back home in the afternoon with the cranky
\ntired babies (of course). took the ferry over and stopped at the same
\nseafood\/burger joint we went to with the turmans two years ago. after stopping
\nat a candy store for sugary snacks and fudge, i took a quick look at the
\nbritish cemetery there (four british sailors recovered from the destruction of
\na british ship loaned to the US during the early years of WWII). drove down
\nthe island and explored the arts and crafts shops and found some interesting
\ndecorative junk. it was a fun day hanging out with our ol’ college
\nbuddy. got home, and later in the evening, chris and angel went out to a nice
\nmediterranean restaurant in kitty hawk for a date night while we listened out
\nfor eris as she slept. christina, kathryn, and i played scattergories after
\ngetting the kids to bed. i enjoyed yet another cigar out on the windy deck.
\nnow i am overfull with food and my lungs are good and gummy from smoking.
\nlife is good!<\/p>\n
thursday<\/p>\n
hung out at beach with everone; had a date night at meridian 42 (“coastal
\nMediterranean cuisine”) (http:\/\/www.meridian42.com\/) – reminded us of the
\nMetro restaurant in downtown roanoke.<\/p>\n
friday<\/p>\n
nature trail at wildlife refuge; kayak, followed by walk home eating sundae and
\nbuying gifts; everyone else went to nicer beach across street from wildlife
\nrefuge on pea island<\/p>\n
saturday<\/p>\n
getting screwed by sun realty; walk on beach with ella; walked on pier;
\nsun-worn fisherman dude sleeping on hard planks; bob’s grill (“eat and get
\nthe hell out”); arcade<\/p>\n
sunday<\/p>\n
checked out of house; spent all morning packing and cleaning up. on the drive
\nback, gonzo kept jumping into the front seat – had to pull over to put him
\nback in his gonzo-shaped hole in the pile of vacation stuff. ate lunch at a
\nplace called Mel’s Diner somewhere on route 168 – shiny retro-50s restaurant<\/p>\n
monday<\/p>\n
breakfast in richmond with roger and michelle; kathryn and schmee slept in the
\ncar almost the entire way back; freaky jewish dude staring at us at the gas
\nstation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here is my hastily assembled, poorly written, vastly incomplete Outer Banks vacation log. hatteras trip saturday took off in the morning to head up to richmond. christina let us all stay the night while she visited her sister in charlotte. … Continue reading