Ashley, Gary and Reagan joined us. Our not-so-little baby is on the beach for the first time ever. All four adults are staring at Reagan's first beach experience, but who is watching Evyn and Reed? Oh my, must multitask to keep everyone safe - all four adults cannot stand around and watch a baby safe in the sand as Evy and Reed fearlessly play in the waves. Beer is starting to go down really easily. Contentment. I can easily do this for six more days.
Day 2: Its the 4th of July and our first full day at the beach. Everyone is feeling festive today. I looked out behind our beach house which happens to be located in a nature preserve. There are things swimming around in the canal. It is a dog, turtles, an otter? No, there are three or four of these things. Beavers...yeah, synchronized beaver swimming in the canal. This will surely get this crowd riled up. Just say the word beaver in our group and see what happens. It does not take much. We are simple and easily entertained.
After fighting for prime beach space due to certain parts of The Point being closed to protect nesting plover chicks (small, little pain in the butt birds which was probably great fried up with a side of slaw), we all enjoyed a nice sunny day. Our beach chef made steak tips on the grill, mac salad and fresh veggies. Life is good. Beer is still going down like water. Speaking of water, I better drink a ton of it.
After a good ole American meal of hot dogs and hamburgers served on plates made in China, the clear sky made for a beautiful sunset over the sound. Big daddy was our narrator. Picture perfect. Finally, darkness...where are the fireworks? We could not decide if we should stand on the front balcony or the back balcony, so we walked back and forth to both. Evyn decided that the fireworks this year were "weak" and most of us agreed. It was still cool to see, especially since we did not have to leave the Coral Castle. I laughed myself silly for the rest of the night. These folks are hysterical. How much can a group of people really laugh? What ever you do, don't leave your camera upstairs when you go to bed, you never know what people will take pictures of. You might even feel the need to reformat your camera the next day, or even give it a bath.
Day 3: Okracoke Island is on the agenda but not before the early morning synchronized beaver swimming. I just love Okracoke's amazing beaches. We did not have to wait long for a ferry AND there was no garbage truck parked next to us on the ferry like there usually is. What a treat. Today, there is some serious drinking going on, on the beach. Vodka shots, purple concoctions and, of course, plenty of beer. Did we eat today? Aww hell, who cares. We will hit Howard's Pub on the way out. Howard's rocked....party of 15 happy, happy people. It should have been 18, but Ashley and Gary did not stay for all the festivities and took Reed along with them. Party poopers! We got right onto the ferry for our voyage back to Hatteras but not before a ferry worker almost got his booty kicked by Holly. He was such a jerk that several of his coworkers kissed Holly's feet, as they should have. I sat in the car with a sleeping Evyn. She plays hard in the waves. She fully experiences life and I hope that part of her never changes. The rest of the evening was spent laughing hysterically again. My face hurts and my abs are getting a work out. Laughter is the best medicine? I'm not sure what I am trying to cure but I'm beginning to feel like a hyena.
Day 4: We are headed to The Point but not really "The" point because of those darn little nesting birds. They are going to ruin the island's cash flow if they continue to close the best beaches.... They are not even close to being endangered! Don't even get me started this morning! Where are the beavers? Damn, I must have slept in and missed the show. It took what felt like forever to get us all filled up, iced down and onto the beach. Oh great, a member of our party just got a beer pong set. I know what they are doing tonight. I'm not a drinking game player, but I will do what I seem to do really well these days - laugh. Why did I not realize how funny we all are. Could it have anything to do with alcohol? Nah! Tonight, I think I will sneak off and go to bed early and leave my camera upstairs. I'm sure I will not be disappointed. Did someone say dance party? I thought so.
Day 5: Wake up in the morning feeling like I want to watch some beaver swimming while I drink my coffee. I hear we are going to the tip of Hatteras Island today. Awesome!!! We renamed the beach "clamville" because there were thousands of tiny colorful clams congregating. Evyn loves to play with these clams, so she is one happy girl today. Reed stayed back with Ashley and Gary who have given up on the beach by this time. Babies are a lot of work on the beach, and they opted for some pool time and shopping. We, however, cannot seem to get enough of the beach. This is the day that Mother Nature scooped me up and slammed me down while trying to take my top off and steal my glasses. After spending the last few nights laughing uncontrollably at other people, I figured it was my turn to provide some comedy. Only put sunscreen on my back today - oops! After the beach, I finally got to try out kayaking. The Coral Castle was kind enough to provide two sea kayaks and I took full advantage.
Day 6: Where the heck are those beavers this morning? Apparently they like to swim during the 6 o'clock hour. I must have missed them again. With several people dragging this morning, we decided to just drive up the street to Avon's 4WD beach access point and keep things simple. There was only a handful of us that felt like going to the beach. I realized we had not flown any of our kites yet. Must do that. First, I must keep a close eye on the kids. The water is exceptionally rough today and could easily pull a child out to sea. Did I mention that my kids are fearless? Oh no, Reed's too deep and seems to be struggling. Let me just walk out and give him a hand. While bending over to help my struggling child, Mother Nature had her way with me once more. Picked me up and slammed me down right next to Reed. So much for staying dry and keeping the sand out of my hair, and I am certainly not putting sunscreen on now that I have a sandy film all over. Maybe tomorrow... Holly just drove several people, including Reed, back to the Coral Castle. I'm putting the life vest on Evyn before she either drowns or gives one of us a heart attack. The waves are harsh and unrelenting today. This evening will be the first evening all week that there has not been a party scene upstairs. None of us are accustomed to drinking like this. Shew! what a fun week it has been. Time to chill after many beers on the beach. My dermatologist would be so disappointed in me. I'm burned and quite tan. oh well. I don't always follow all of the rules. I will say that Mother Nature has done a great job exfoliating my skin though.
Day 7: It's raining today! That explains why the sea has been so rough the last day or two. Everyone is leaving to go back to Virginia. Bu-bye, we will miss you. Our butts are staying here for another night all alone in the Coral Castle. We decided to drive to the tip of the island one last time. It was sunny there. We shopped and ate lunch on the water. Fresh Wahoo is de-freaking-licious! Evyn and Reed both discovered that they like fried shrimp. We all feel sad that our vacation is coming to an end but decide that we will not talk about it and will just enjoy every last nanosecond that we have on Hatteras. Once we got back to the Coral Castle, the sun came out and we packed up, cleaned up and chilled out. Famous last words by Evyn as the darkness set in, "It sure is different around here tonight without a dance party going on upstairs." Yep, very different.
Day 8: Home again. We left early and barely hit traffic. Troy is happy to see us, his depression is lifting. Our grandpa sitter and pet sitter both kept things under control, and the house was nice and clean to come home to. Our neighbor kept my garden alive. Happy people we are, feeling lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful extended family and friends to vacation with.
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