Life in the Carpool Lane: The Vacation Post

And now for our vacation.

To sum it up, I have to say that the Outer Banks of North Carolina is one of the nicest places I have ever vacationed. It's a really family-friendly place, with lots of things to see and do. We had a nice mix of relaxing and having fun.

We started the drive down on Friday, choosing to split it up so we weren't in the car too long. We stopped for the night in Pennsylvania, at Grandmom and Grandpop's summer place at the campground. Brian has a lot of childhood memories there, the family has been camping there since he was a kid. After a night's rest, we set out for North Carolina.

The drive down was fairly uneventful, with lots of smaller freeways instead of staying on I-95. We didn't go through any major cities that way, but we certainly went through all of the smaller ones! Traffic didn't get bad until the bridge going to the Outer Banks, where it took us over an hour to go eight miles!! The name of the village that we stayed in is Duck, NC. Duck was just incorporated as a town in 2002, and it's mostly resorts and private beaches. Lovely area, though.

We went to the ocean, which Will liked better than last year but only if his toes were touching the water and nothing else! Mommy and Daddy got their butts whipped by the waves, with Mommy getting bowled over three times! We took advantage of the resort's amenities, swimming as much as we could. My mother and I even took a side trip to the spa! (What's a vacation without some pampering?) This spa was pretty neat, it's entirely organic, down to the organic paint and the vegan nail polish. Nothing like a massage and a pedicure to put you in relaxation mode! We also did some sightseeing, and toured one of the lighthouses. I say "toured," but I volunteered to stay down with Will while Brian and my parents climbed the 214 stairs to the top of the lighthouse. (I'm not a fan of heights) And the shopping.....we shopped till we dropped! All in all, this is a fabulous place to vacation. I would recommend it to anyone, and I am sure we will go back eventually.

We left North Carolina on Saturday morning, and got back to Pennsylvania in the evening. Labor Day Weekend is pretty big at the campground! On Sunday there was a barbecue at Grandmom and Grandpop's site, and Will got to play with Uncle Tony and Aunt Tina, Uncle Matt, and then pal around with Aunt Beth and Uncle Julian, and their three girls. Will LOVED climbing the rocks that Beth and Brian climbed as kids, and swinging on the swings! He was having so much fun, he skipped his nap for the first time. But then he was in bed at 6pm!

Now we've returned home, with a little bit of the "post-vacation blues." Luckily, I don't have to return to work until Wednesday so I can soak up a little more vacation until then. Soon I will be going back to work full-time and working on a huge new project. So it's good to fully enjoy the time off now, since it's coming to an end.

Thanks to everyone who helped make our vacation special: Nana and Papa, Grandmom and Grandpop, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are more like family!