6/26 - Virginia Beach, VA instead of the Outer Banks of NC

6/26 - continued.

So, after having ice cream at the gas station and surfing the net for a local hotel, I finally gave up and decided that a slight change in plans would be ok. We would drive north to Virgina Beach and stay at a hotel nearby instead of pitching a tent here on the Outer Banks. I was disappointed but I was afraid of having another yucky campground experience and to be honest, the last few nights at the Hampton Inn had me spoiled. It was my birthday and I wanted to be comfortable. So I made the reservation and was instantly relieved. That's a bad sign for the rest of the trip, if you ask me.

I explained to the kids about the change in plans and they didn't care one way or the other, as long as they still go to play at the beach. So I packed them all up into the van, called the campground to cancel (I think they probably had it figured out by this time - it was nearly 10 p.m.) and we headed out for another 2 1/2 hours of driving. All the way back north along the dunes of the Outer Banks. Through Nags Head and through Kitty Hawk. So much for seeing the Wright Brothers Museum or eating at the Top Dog Cafe. But that's ok - we have great things planned and there would be fun things to do in Virgina Beach as well.

What a long day - definitely our longest day in the car so far. The kids slept for this last stretch and the car was very quiet. It was hard to stay awake myself. That is, until we started trying to get through Norfolk, VA. Wow - crazy! And it was so dark and the roads were confusing. I got lost several times in a seedy part of town. Kept stopping at the same gas station to look at the map and find my way out. I couldn't get out and ask for directions and leave the kids in the car. It was so late, the place was just so ... scary. I don't want to be politically incorrect so I will only say that there was an air of desperation and I was very tense. And I don't scare easily.

So I finally got it figured out (just as our van was being approached by a dirty looking man in the parking lot) and made it onto the right stretch of interstate. You know how in a major city all of the roads twist and curve and interchange, and if you get in the wrong lane in traffic sometimes you just can't get over before you've already missed your exit? That is what kept happening to me.

On a side note, Norfolk looked like an interesting place. We went through several tunnels ... or maybe it was the same tunnel over and over again ... I can't remember. It would be neat to see it in the daylight. I wonder if it would be less intimidating.

So, at almost 1 a.m. (getting lost loses time!) I pulled into our hotel. Exhausted. Carrying a sleeping boy and nothing else. The only thing we brought in were the blankets the kids like to sleep with. The room was absolutely beautiful. It had two big, fluffy queen sized beds and a pull out sofa bed. A huge flat screen tv and a huge area of floor space where the kids could sit and play. And it even had a kitchenette! I almost wonder if we got upgraded or something - I didn't ask.

I just tumbled into bed ... it was so late ... and a bed never felt so good!!

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?