As most of you know, I have decided to move to Greenville, NC with my bestie, Sam. Before we hit the new city, my Mom's family and I decided to take a little family vaca to the Crystal Coast of NC, more specifically, Atlantic Beach.
We arrived at Havelock, NC two days after we left Iowa. Yes, I said two days. I think I can speak for the whole family when I say that it was easily two of the LONGEST days of my life. Driving through the corn fields of Iowa, around the larger cities of Cincinnati and Indianapolis, through the mountains of the East Coast and every other little town you can imagine was not exactly the highlight of my trip. While we made it there safely, I vowed to never do that again unless I am moving home and absolutely NEED to drive back.
And so our vacation started. We were all a bit antsy to take in the beach; I mean, who wouldn't be? We had driven for two days towards the Coast so, naturally, we needed to see the ocean. One would think this would be a great experience, sitting on the beach with a few cold beverages, beach chairs, bogey boards, etc. However, our experience seemed to be the opposite of what we expected. The wind was so horrendous that day! The sand was being picked up and flown at us! Our towels went flying if we didn't weight them down. It was one of those days where you instantly get upset at the person sitting beside you because they aren't thinking of you when, obviously they should be, as they shake out their towel, into the wind, directly at your face. Perfect! I needed a little sand shower, thank you very much!
Here is a picture of Claire and me "trying" to enjoy the beach!
The next day we opted out of another wonderful day at the beach and decided to take a ferry to a local lighthouse. Again, one could only imagine this as being a peaceful afternoon taking a ferry to and from the island, checking out the lighthouse, and maybe hanging on the beach. The ocean gods were not with us, again. As we arrived at the ferry dock, we stepped out of the car to 40 mph winds. Car doors were flying and hair was whipping your face (girls, you know this feeling and it hurts!). But we decided we may as well make the best of it! So as we sat there waiting for our ferry outside, we couldn't even speak to each other. Sitting right next to someone did not mean you could hear them. Tom had to hold onto his hat or it would fly away. Also, I should mention the ferry itself. We had envisioned a decent sized boat capable of taking around 20-25 people. Wrong! The "ferry" was a small "fishing" boat. The thought of going on a teeny little boat in an ocean which was white-capping all over did not seem appealing to us anymore. As we continue to sit there and wait for our turn, my mom is slowly losing it. For those of you who don't know my mom; she HATES the wind. It drives her absolutely insane! She was trying her best to keep a perky face on but finally, when the captain came out and told us they were going to quit running for the day as "conditions became unsafe", we could not help but give a little cheer.
The rest of the day consisted of us taking in the local aquarium, NC Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. It's a must if you are in the Atlantic Beach area!
We also ate out most nights and I feel it necessary to give a little shout out to the delish restaurants we encountered! For the best shrimp I have ever had, visit Snapperz Grill and Steambar in Morehead City. This was the first place we ate at and, quite honestly, none of the others even came close to their food! For a wonderful crab cake, go to Crabby Patty's in Havelock. I recommend sitting outside on the patio! So relaxing!
As we wrapped up our trip, we were sad to leave the Crystal Coast of NC but excited as it meant traveling to my new home, Greenville, NC!
Until next time...
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