OBX: The Rest of It

Last Monday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed toward the Outer Banks. We had to catch a ferry to start our little adventure.

We were an hour early for the ferry, but that's better than being late. We hung out in the visitor's center and bought some souvenirs.

Arden's favorite thing about being on the ferry was not being in her car seat.

The ferry ride from Cedar Island to Ocracoke was 2.25 hours. Adam was able to get Arden to take a little nap. He's such a great daddy!

My little tree frog!

After we saw the Ocracoke lighthouse, we boarded a ferry to Hatteras. This ride was free and lasted only 40 minutes.

Before we headed to Cape Hatteras lighthouse, we stopped at Wings. Adam lost his sunglasses at the Ocracoke lighthouse, so we both bought a pair. During the stroller ride from Cape Hatteras lighthouse to the car, Arden fell asleep. She remained asleep even while being buckled into her car seat.

Arden needed a diaper change, so we stopped at a visitor center before we hit the Bodie lighthouse. Adam went on a dock and found some turtles. Then we crossed the highway and discovered a nearly-deserted beach. We were very tempted to hop in the ocean right then and there, but there was no time.

For dinner, we ate at Dirty Dick's. Their slogan is "I got my crabs from Dirty Dick's" Restaurant. Gross, I know. We went there, because Bro. Card said he'd never eat there because of their slogan. I ordered the fried green tomato parmesan. The tomatoes were good, the pasta not so much...it was too spicy for me. Oh, and Arden enjoyed her first french fry. The waiter was all up in her face. There was a point where she got scared and cried a little bit...poor thing! She fell asleep on the way to the hotel. Unfortunately, she woke up when I attempted to put her to bed.

We took the co-sleeper for Arden's bed, and it was quite the chore getting her to go to sleep. She's not used to sleeping in the same room with us, nor us with her. She didn't go to bed until around 10:30 p.m. She tossed and turned quite a bit during the night and woke up at 5:30 a.m. So not cool! Adam got up with her and took her to the beach to watch the sunrise. I stayed in bed. He got some beautiful pics of her...

(this one being my favorite)

...and of the sunrise.

After breakfast, we finally made it down to the beach. We were there between 8 and 9 a.m., and that's the only time we actually spent at the beach. Like I said in my pervious post, we definitely needed an extra day.

This is my favorite pic from the trip. I just love how I caught Adam in the background...it was a happy accident.

This little cutie loves the beach!

She also loved the sand pit Adam dug for her...not to mention the sand itself.

Hmm...which rock should I put in my mouth?

After the beach, we showered off and hopped in the pool. This was Arden's first time in a big, chlorinated pool. Adam did all kinds of tricks with her. She seemed to like it.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to the Wright Brothers memorial. We didn't realize it until it was too late that it costs $4/person to get in. All we wanted was to take pics of the monument. We parked and took the long hike up to the monument. Not sure why I wore corduroys that day, but I was so hot and miserable. The view was definitely worth it, though. Then we took the long walk in the blazing sun to the restrooms and then the car. Before we left, we drove the car to the back of the monument to see a model of the plane. There were plenty of parking spaces back there. Wish I would've known that before!

After we saw the Currituck/Corolla lighthouse, we had lunch at Uncle Ike's. The service was really slow, but the food was good. I had a turkey BLT. The pick in front of the "seahorse" is from our hotel, the Ramada Inn in Kill Devil Hills. Anywho, it took us 3.5 hours to get home. Adam had to go back to work that night, poor guy. We enjoyed it, though!

So we accomplished a lot in less than two days. We want to go back and take a real vacation...see the things we missed, play some mini golf, and just relax on the beach. We are so blessed to live near the coast!