Well, here goes. I'm going to try my first entry without Michal's help...I have been avoiding this moment by making numerous collages which you will see soon. (Click on any picture or collage to enlarge)
Steve and I had a fantastic two week vacation in the SOUTH! We spent a couple of days at Michal and Connor's home in Raleigh, NC. If you don't like to run, don't go visit them. That is the only way Dylan and Ashlyn know how to get from point A to point B. There is a nice wooded trail along a stream near their home and at least once a day we would walk, run or bike on it.
We attended Dylan's graduation (guess who took our picture?),
pulled muscles while bowling, savored Connor's "smoothies" and Michal's cooking, and then ran some more!
Then we headed off for the Outer Banks! We rented a little house in Kitty Hawk about a block from the beach. The first thing we did the evening we drove in, was to buy a kite.
It sure came in handy as we flew it on the beach and on the sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge State Park
Ashlyn
Dylan and Connor
More fun playing on the beach
Corbin
DylanOn Roanoke Island we went aboard the Elizabeth II, a representative 16th century ship. I thought that certainly it was a miniature of the real thing...but it was true to size! I think it would feel like a bathtub in the middle of the Atlantic. Dylan can tell you what and where the "head" is (and why)
Dylan and Papa Steve kayakingWe visited Ft. Raleigh, the site of the first English colony in America...for more interesting details, and how the Lost Colony isn't lost at all, visit http://nativeamericanfirstnationshistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/croatoan_and_the_mystery_of_roanok
It was so fascinating to go to the Wright Brothers National Memorial and learn about Orville and Wilbur Wrights' path to achieve the first powered flight in 1903.
Their four flights in one day ranged from 120' (12 seconds) to 852' (59 sec). They worked on the sandy Kill Devil Hills everyday in suits! Can you imagine?
The Outer Banks of North Carolina is one of very few places in America where wild horses still roam free. Descended from Spanish stock which arrived over 400 years ago, these hardy, tenacious horses have lived here since the earliest explorers and shipwrecks.
Here are just a few of the horse statues we saw along the road, in honor of these wild horses.When Connor and Michal and the kids went home to Raleigh, Steve and I started driving south along
the Outer Banks. It was so fun to stop wherever we wanted, without a time schedule! Here are the lighthouses we visited: (across the top) Currituck NC, Bodie Island NC, Ocracoke NC, Hunting Island SC, Cape Hatteras NC (bottom left), Roanoke Marshes NC (bottom right).We explored beaches and sand dunes, rode on ferryboats, climbed every lighthouse we could and enjoyed a sunset dinner
This is how far you can walk out into the water on the sound side...the water just came to my knees...We spent some time in Charleston, South Carolina and then drove all the way to Beaufort, where I used to live as a kid. Even Steve couldn't get over how beautiful and quaint it is...old trees with moss hanging down, old homes, and waterways and marshes everywhere! I was so happy to know that someone else could see the beauty that I remembered.
For those family members who might appreciate it, here are some pictures of the house we lived in during my dad's two tours of duty there with the Marine Corps. It's gone through some remodeling, but that is the original ceiling from what was the porch when Mom and Dad bought the house under construction in 1958.
During the trip, I was able to see two friends from 1st grade (and again in 8th & 9th), Mary Sayers Mallet and Jack Boyne. It's amazing how close those memories from childhood feel, and how comfortable you can be with good friends from that long ago. Mary described it perfectly when she said, "It was a magical time."
This may bore some of you, but the following pictures are for my mother and sisters to reminisce about Beaufort, SC.
From Bay Street
Spanish Moss...
hmmm...
The Junior High is now the Elementary School.
The High School is now the Middle School.
Crossing to Hunting IslandThen on our wedding anniversary (and we didn't plan this), Steve and I spent much of the day at Hunting Island State Park, where my family had gone frequently. I have many memories of playing in the warm pools left behind at low tide, swimming in the temperate Atlantic Ocean, driftwood on the beach, sand dunes and tall trees, and of course...the old Hunting Island Lighthouse (built in 1873). Back then ('67-'69) it was rundown and the grounds around it were not kept up. Entrance to the lighthouse was not regulated. You took your life in your own hands if you went up inside it. It was always an adventure! Now the grounds are manicured and there is a small fee to climb the lighthouse. I'm just glad it's still there...
The long windy road through the trees to the beach.
Finally to the beach! Looking back from the water,
and walking down the beach.
Does this remind you of anything?
Suddenly you see the lighthouse!
View from the top of the lighthouse.
I had to go swimming!After leaving Hunting Island,
we pulled over on the side of the road at the "Shrimp Shack" (in Frogmore) for a local dining experience. It is essentially a screened in back porch and they are famous for their shrimp burger...which was delicious as well as the hush puppies and fried sweet potato sticks! Completely content, we started our drive back to Raleigh...
With assistance from Dylan and Ashlyn, we crafted a mobile from beach-found "treasures". We hope it will bring daily reminders of our fun in the sun together!
