Wow, how are we already a week into our vacation?!? In some ways it feels like we just started and in others it seems like we’ve been gone all summer because we have experienced so much. Here is how today went.
I woke up at 7:30am and did some work before everyone was up. I also posted yesterday’s blog. When Tavis got up we went to check out breakfast. Today is highs of 89 in the area which is a nice change.
At 8:15 we got the kids out of bed and everyone started packing. We also each went to get food as we finished were ready. It seemed like everyone just did their own thing. In the end we left with 4 bananas and a blueberry muffins.
We left the hotel just after 9:30. As we were approaching the town of Duck, we noticed signs along the side of a large stretch of the road that read, “Danger No Trespassing”. I was quite intrigued at what could possibly be so dangerous that they don’t want people entering. A quick search on Grok informed us that the area was once used as military bomb testing ground and there may be unexploded bombs in the area. The area is currently used as Military tidal research.
As we drove through Duck we noticed a huge Super Wings which is a store that has touristy items including shirts. We decided to stop in because the kids wanted souvenirs. Over 30 minutes later we left with 4 t-shirts and a magnet.
Just before 11:00am we were still on the island. We entered Nags Head. We all loved the island vibe. The buildings were all so colourful and unique. It was also very family friendly. I think the tiny island had over 4 mini golf courses!
We decided that Outer Banks was actually a very cool place and we totally get the draw. We would be happy to spend an entire week in this touristy beach area.
About five minutes later we took the bridge to Roane Island and we were officially leaving Outer Banks. Beside the bridge were huge row homes that had enormous yachts parks in slips infront of each one. These were no longer tourists 😝.
Just after noon, we stopped at a restaurant area in Plymouth, Washington County. Apparently this is home to the biggest black bears. We had a quick stop to stretch our legs and use the facilities. We were only there less than 10 minutes.
At 1:30pm we hit traffic before arriving into New Bern. There was construction on the bridge and it was down to 1 lane alternating traffic. We were stopped infront of Weyerhaeuser!
At 2:00 we arrived in Jacksonville. We stopped 20 minutes later at a Shell for fuel at 2.69/gal. Ari asked if they had water but all they had was free hot water. We were less than an hour from our next house so we decided to wait. The weather is still nice. I was in the front for the past 3 hours. I switched with Ari. The sky roof is a nice feature in our vehicle. The sky was beautiful with some clouds.
We arrived in Wilmington just after 3:00pm. We stopped at Aldi, a local grocery store, to get groceries for dinner. They had a lot of empty shelves and the meat didn’t look great. We decided to go across the street to Walmart.
At Walmart we bought buns, meat and cheese, and more peanuts for the drive tomorrow. We also bought 2 roasted chickens and 3 potatoes, butter, and potato chips for dinner. Altogether, we spent just under $50.00. We discovered that steaks here are as expensive as at home so no steaks for us until the cruise. We were back in the car by 3:45.
We arrived at the Airbnb just after 4:00pm and quickly took all of our luggage into the house.It was cute little house with 3 bedrooms. This place has everything and really did have the feel of coming home. They had all the conveniences that we have at home, including tv.
As Addison cut up our pineapple and Tavis prepared the baked potatoes, I sorted through the laundry. Lucky for us they had a huge washer and dryer! We were able to get by with 2 loads of laundry. While waiting for the first load to finish, we enjoyed our chicken dinner.
When we finished dinner, we put the second load of laundry in and everyone relaxed. Tavis and I had a work meeting at 6:00pm so we couldn’t leave until then anyways. After our meeting we were disappointed to discover the clothes were nowhere near being dry. I guess the load was too big 🤷♀️
After our 6:00 meeting and getting the kids out of bed and laundry changed, we drove to Wrightsville Beach to watch the sunset. Unfortunately the sun was setting on the opposite side of the island but there was blue sky above us and grey clouds toward the sunset so we didn’t miss much. We parked at a public parking entrance. It is paid parking until 7:00pm so we didn’t have to pay. We took the sandy trail to the beach and started walking down the beach towards the large pier in the distance.
We learned that there are several entrances and they all look the same. You are supposed to take note of the entrance number. Ooops. Oh well, we figured that was a problem for future us.
The beach was very similar to Outer Banks. The waves were huge and lots of surfers were taking advantage. We weren’t sure if the waves were always large or if it was because of the coming hurricane.
We took lots of photos and took in the scenery. We followed a bird for quite a ways whom Ari named Eugene. He was so funny running in and out of the waves and eating crabs. Eventually he flew away.
We walked past the pier and decided to turn around after the sun went down, with the thought that it would be easier to find our car in the light. As it turned out, we found it no problem. We were at entrance 24. We were a bit sandy when we got in the car. That is the one problem with the beach.
We decided to go home and check on our laundry. We were all too sandy to enter the house so we rinsed off with the hose in the back. There were frogs jumping around! If we didn’t have plans to check out the boardwalk we would have enjoyed catching frogs.
Our laundry still wasn’t dry so we put it in for another hour and we decided to check out the river walk which supposedly was lit and open 24/7.
We didn’t really think much about the safety of our plan… going out after dark to walk in an unknown city along a public boardwalk downtown. What could possibly go wrong? 🤷♀️ As we drove through the city, Addison and Tavis both thought it was a lot like Kelowna with a Main Street and lots of large businesses around.
As we got closer to downtown and the river walk, the town of Wilmington had a definite New Orleans vibe with the narrow streets and character of the buildings. It was just after 9:00pm by the time we found parking, which is free after 6pm. There were some homeless people but overall, we didn’t feel too unsafe. It was quite lit up and there were others out walking. We walked about 15 minutes up toward the battleship. I quite enjoyed the walk and closed my rings. After 15 minutes we decided to turn around as it was getting late and we all needed to shower.
We got home just after 10:00pm. Our clothes were dry and we took turns showering. We all decided that if we plan a beach trip, Wilmington should be on the list. Unlike the tourist attraction of Outer Banks, Wilmington is more affordable and the beaches are just as nice. The water is quite warm as well.
Tomorrow we will make our way to Savannah. It is a 5 hr drive so we don’t have to get up early. Yay!