6/26 - The Outer Banks, NC

6/26 - This day was one of the special days I was looking forward to from the beginning of our trip. Not only was it the day we were going to the see the Atlantic Ocean, it was also my 35th birthday. I planned this segment of the trip carefully so that we would be at the Ocean on my birthday.

We got everything packed away from the hotel and I got all of our laundry done before we left. I had been doing a pretty good job keeping up with laundry all along, if I do say so myself. Funny how much easier laundry is when you are only washing, folding, and drying about 10 sets of clothes over and over again. I should make note of that for home when we get back.

We drove for about 2 hours and stopped at a historical house called Ayr Mount. There is a charge to actually go inside the house and take a tour, but I'm too cheap for that. Instead, I had planned to just walk the mile-long Poet's Walk, a mulched trail that winds around the property and through the woods along the creek. It was very pretty, but very hot. The kids didn't like it much at all - they thought it was boring. I reminded them that it was my birthday and this is what I wanted to do and asked them to suck it up and pretend to have a good time for my sake.

Becky started to pretend she was a tour guide and was calling off interesting things to see along the way. It was SO funny - I wish I had been able to record it in some way. At one part she pointed out an area where "at least 500 people have been killed by a T-Rex. Trust me, you don't want to leave the path, ladies and gentlemen!" I had a good time listening to her and we laughed a lot.

I do have a couple of pictures of this but they're on the other computer - will have to add them later.

I had also planned a stop at the Borders bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC. It seemed straight forward enough, but I just could not find the place! We drove up and down and up and down the main road over and over again. I finally found it after stopping at a Trader Joe's to ask for directions (and to buy some yummy snacks!) but it took about an hour and a half longer than I had expected. And then the time we spent in the bookstore ... well I'm sure you know how that goes! We were way behind schedule.

How in the world did I leave Borders with $80 less than I started with and not even manage to get a single book for myself?! I didn't even have time to look at the grown up books - let alone pick one out. So, the kids were happy, I was on the way to the Atlantic so I was definitely happy even without a new book. I estimated that we would be at the campground on the Outer Banks by about 8:00 p.m., a little disappointed that it would be getting dark. But, we were planning on staying here for 3 or 4 days so it would be ok.

So we drove. And we drove and drove. East and east and farther east! It started to get quite swampy and there weren't very many towns or buildings or people. We really needed to stop and eat dinner but I just wasn't going to stop at any of the shanty towns we passed - they were all very scary looking with the bars on all the windows and doors and scary looking people loitering about. So I passed out some snacks that I had in the car and we made do with what we had.

Finally, we turn down the road that will take us past Nags Head and south down the length of the islands to our campground in Kinnakeet, a small fishing village quite a way south of Nags Head ... 40 miles south in fact. The little I could see was breathtaking. The sun was setting and the road just stretched and stretched ahead of us. The dunes are high between the ocean and the road, so you can't actually see much of the water, but I could sure smell it!

So, we get to the place where I thought the campground was and started looking for it. It's already 9 p.m. It's pitch black, and there is a big storm rolling in. The Outer Banks are already really windy, but this night - I couldn't imagine trying to set up a tent in the pitch black and the wind.

I started to have a little pity party, to be honest. It was my birthday. I didn't get to play in the ocean with the kids on my birthday like I wanted. The kids have been asking all day for cake or ice cream or just something to celebrate my birthday. We've been in the car forever and we're tired. And the mosquitos were out, too. And I still had to get a tent up in this violent wind and darkness!

I stopped to get gas at the only gas station for miles and found out we were actually still 12 miles away from our campground. That was depressing. The speed limit was only 40-45 miles per hour, so it had already taken a long time to get where we were and I was tired.

So, at the gas station, I noticed that they sold ice cream. And they had free wi-fi - perfect. I bought ice cream for the kids and let them sing to me. And while they were eating, I googled hotels in the area. Nothing. For miles. I googled the KOA that was right down the street that I had passed on when planning because of price, but which looked really really nice which made me regret passing them up for this no-name campground still 12 miles away. Nothing available. So I googled hotels farther north, near Nags Head. Nothing available. Farther south - nothing. West - nothing.

So I started looking more closely at the map. Where could we go that would have hotel space available (I guess I had already decided I wasn't setting up the tent that night) but still had a nice beach nearby?