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OBX, NC Recap - yes, it is long
I had a wedding the night before we left and was backing up until 3am the next morning. We had to get up at 4:30am the next morning and drive to DTW. That was tough but I preservered! The kids loved the experience of the airport and did pretty well with staying by us. We put J in an umbrella stroller and didn't allow them to carry any toys so that we wouldn't have to be keeping track of those too. All three kids did really well with the actual airplane ride. Maria loved the flight attendant who brought snacks and drinks and happily read her latest American Girl catalog on that ever so wonderful fold down table. Pete was excited too. He loved the window shade and everything that he noticed he had to SHOUT out. "MOM!!!" THIS AIRPLANE HAS LOTS OF TINY WINDOWS!". When we reached the main flying altitude, J pronounced that he wanted to "get down" but he was also tired from getting up so early and not sleeping in the car. Snacks also helped keep everyone happy. I have a picture of Pete sitting in the captains' chair with all of the controls around him.
OBX is EXTREMELY popular. We thought we were within 20 minutes of our final destination after an hour drive from the airport. NOPE! There is only one 2 lane road running north and south and everyone and their brother is either leaving or going to their house. The speed limit is 45 but since there are hundreds of houses and villages along that road, you have to allow for people entering and leaving the road. That took another good two hours to go 20 miles.
The house was gorgeous. Seven bedrooms and a nice, open floor plan with huge two story picture windows. The pool was right outside our back door and the ocean a short walk after the pool. EXTREMELY convenient. The kids liked the pool the best. Maria LOVES to jump in and have her daddy throw her. She does spins, cartwheels, canon balls, etc. Pete liked being the driver of a "boat" which was a float that he could use as an innertube and then a place for someone to sit in back. J was happy for the pool and that's all I could ask. The beach wasn't quite as popular. J was scared of it and Maria and Pete were kind of bored by it I think. The water was frigid due to some gulf stream situation so it wasn't that great for swimming in and the waves were strong. It did make for a nice cool place to be if you were right by the water. But walk a few feet and you would burn the crap out of your feet. We pretty much just stayed at the house and alternated beach and pool the whole time. We went out to eat a couple times and for ice cream but that was it. Getting stuck on that road wasn't something we wanted to risk too much. Although it got better during weekdays rather than the weekend.
The one thing I was surprised by was the extreme heat. It hit you like a brick wall. Nothing like it is here and nothing like today and today is pretty hot. I'm not sure I'd want to travel there in July unless I had the pool and ocean right there at my disposal. It made for spending any other time outside pretty unbearable.
The wedding went great. Maria did a great job and looked like a perfect princess. The boys were adorable. J loved his bow tie so much, when he woke up, he asked me to put it back on and he wore it the next day on the airplane with his t-shirt. The guests loved the fan programs I was asking about in a previous post. Everyone said I looked good in my dress (thanks for helping me pick). My SIL got me some adorable jewelry to go with the dress too which I have been wearing a lot. They had a strolling dinner and that went pretty well. The dancing was OK. It was still HAWT outside so it was tough but with drinking, you could perservere. People were jumping in the pool with their clothes on because it was so hot. I told one of my cousins that I never knew I would ever be at a party where *this* sort of thing happened. I ended up drinking too much which was not good because we had the trip back the next day. But, again, made it through it.
So I think that's it. One night some of us saw a sand shark wash up on the beach and go back in and we were telling tall tails about how big it was. There were a couple of major thunderstorms too. I got some naps in too. Let me know if there's anything I left out. Glad we did this so that we can get used to travelling in the future. My SIL and brother should now be back from their honeymoon in Spain?. I would definitely recommend OBX because it really is beautiful there. I wish I could have gotten more pictures on the beach because the light in the evening with the water is gorgeous..
As usual, the liklihood of me doing a blog post with pictures is diminishing every day. But, I'll let you know if I get one up? I'll probably repost this story too!
Re: OBX, NC Recap - yes, it is long
Thank you for the recap! It sounds like a neat vacation. Glad to hear that your kids enjoyed the pool and the flying experience so much.
I wouldn't have guessed quite how hot or quite how busy the Outer Banks is. That is good to know.
I love the OBX wish I could stay there!
I'm so happy everything went well, especially with the kids and airplanes. You are a rockstar mom!
As for the heat...yeah, it's a bummer. We went to Charleston, SC, in June and were hit with 100% humidity. I about DIED. I'm really glad you guys had a pool to take the edge off.
Glad it went so smoothly for all of you.
Sounds like a great (hot!) time. I lived in Charleston for a bit, and know well the heat of which you speak. Ick.