We were gone most of September; we spent two weeks in the Outer Banks with my family (our third year!), and because Andrew and I are CRAZY, we tacked on an extra almost-week in DC prior to that, plus a couple days at the end to see the Bills play the Redskins Commanders before FINALLY heading home.
Maelle and I love to join Andrew in DC! Alexandria is a great place to stay, and we often get to see my parents as well. This time, I took Maelle into the city to visit the National Children’s Museum. She loves riding the metro, and the museum was really neat! They have so much to do there at different developmental stages, so it will be fun to bring her again in a few years.
After Andrew wrapped up his conference, we headed to my parents’ house to spend the night before hitting the road for the beach in the morning.
Overall, we had a great time. Despite TWO hurricanes, we had generally good weather. We had some wind, but also lots of sun and warm temps. Both my brothers and their families were there for both weeks, we ate restaurant-quality meals (that we cooked at home) every night, and we got lots of time in the water.
The GOOD: Beach days filled with sand castles and jumping in the surf, tide pools and Andrew boogie boarding.
We spent some days at the pool, and enjoyed a simpler routine and bright sunshine, diving for toys and swimming, lounging on floats.
The Sound is calm and shallow, perfect for paddleboarding and kids playing in the water.
The artist at my favorite gift shop, Returning Tide, made earrings out of shells I ACTUALLY FOUND on the beach. I pop into their shop each time we visit and love their style–a bit edgy and funky and very unique.
The BAD:
My brother running off the road into some soft sand and getting his car stuck. Thankfully, a nice truck owner pulled him out, but it definitely derailed our afternoon that day.
The diamond falling out of my ring! Thankfully, it didn’t go far and was recovered almost as soon as I lost it. I was putting a bowl away in the kitchen and caught my rings on the cabinet, and I heard the sound of something tiny hit the ground. I immediately verified the diamond wasn’t in my ring, and in seconds my brother got down beside me and just happened to put his hand down right on it. Praise God.
Also, coordinating logistics to get all TWELVE of us to the beach at approximately the same time is challenging, so say the least. Sometime mid-stay we figured out a better system (setting up our sun shade and chairs ahead, NOT packing lunches for everyone, people coming and going a little more freely) that took away some of the stress.
The UGLY:
Starting the trip off with a fender bender 😦
All things considered, it wasn’t that bad. Andrew backed into a pole while leaving the parking garage at our hotel in Alexandria, and while the repair will definitely cost more than our deductible, our car still operated and (another praise!) the trunk still closed. Our car was packed to the gills for the beach, and I don’t even want to imagine the headache it would have been if it wasn’t drivable.
Our ill-timed visit to Ocracoke Island. My mom had been wanting us all to take the ferry to Ocracoke during our visit, and when we saw it was going to be an overcast day the Thursday before we left, we decided to go. We went once or twice when I was a kid, and must have had a good time (I only remember riding the ferry).
Oh, what we all would have given for a do-over.
First, we misjudged the drive time to the ferry, so we were all flustered about being late for the 11am departure, when we wouldn’t have made it anyway. Then, we waited TWO HOURS in line before catching a ferry after 1 pm.
The ferry ride was only OK; it was a cloudy day and the machinery was quite loud. As a kid, I remember feeding the seagulls from the back of the ferry in bright sunshine.
We arrived on Ocracoke close to 3pm, wolfed down a VERY late lunch at potentially one of the only places open to eat at that hour, and then wondered WHY IN THE WORLD DID WE COME? We were frazzled, the kids were whiny, and all we did was pop into a few shops and see the lighthouse. Oh, and while on the island, we learned a HURRICANE was coming the next day! How we all missed this information, I do not know. (I’m famous for not knowing upcoming weather, but Andrew and Hannah are usually on top of these things. I guess we were all a bit unplugged.)
So, at 6 pm we decided to cut our losses and get in line for the ferry back, hoping we might miss the evening rush. Not a chance. We sat in line for SIX HOURS. Not. Even. Kidding.
In the beginning, we had no way of knowing how long it might take, so we enjoyed the sunset and a breeze with the windows down. Unfortunately, as the skies darkened and we STILL hadn’t moved, we all realized we were probably in for a long night. And after we rolled the windows up, we realized we’d let in a zillion mosquitoes! You could hear them buzzing around, and swatting them resulted in blood splatters EVERYWHERE. Super not fun.
By the grace of God, we’d bought Maelle a pirate seek-and-find book while on the island, and our car was pretty quiet. Andrew had the brilliant idea to make a bed out of towels and blankets for her in the back, and she slept soundly from about 8:30 pm until we got back to the beach house at 2:15 am. While we were all super irritated, stressed and tired, our car was dark and calm. The other car wasn’t so lucky; Jack cried for hours before passing out after we finally got on the 12:30 am ferry.
And, obviously, the last UGLY thing that happened was Hurricane Ophelia. She was slated to make landfall on Saturday, so that Friday morning (only a few hours after we got back from Ocracoke!) we awoke to major wind and rain. It was all hands on deck to pack up four families and get everyone out the door before Hwy 12 would inevitably flood.
Again, by the grace of God, we got everything done and drove away just hours before 12 flooded. Even the Sound emptied out! Leaving under those conditions was a little surreal, but I’m already excited for next year.
A bonus to leaving a day early was that we got to have a ‘buffer’ day in between driving home from the beach and going to the Bills game in DC! It was a long day, but a fun day. It was fun to see my uncle, who got some extra tickets for us, and my cousin for the day. And we won!
I can’t wait to go again next year!
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