July Part 2

July 18

This morning Mimi and I packed up the beautiful china set from Grandpa's for me to get when I'm older... I can't wait! Just as we were finishing, Ada came over, so we chatted with her for a while.

THEN. Mimi came through as a totally amazing and outstanding hero. She called up Kay Salter, and asked if we could go visit. Of course, Ms. Salter said yes, and we got to go over and spend the afternoon with her. It turned out she was in Uncle Ronnie's social circle, and could remember Mimi from down the street! We got to talk about her books and I about died of happiness when I discovered there was a final book that I had been missing because it didn't show up in the used book store!! As soon as we got home I started reading it and kept reading until 11 that night, it was so satisfying to have a real end to the series that I thought was a cliffhanger for two years.

July 19

I spent pretty much the whole day at the library going through the Microfiche looking for old hurricane articles in the Carteret News. It was exhausting but also really cool going through and reading about how Beaufort was all the way back from the twenties til now. I still can't get over the personals, they would have things in the paper like "Susie is hosting a BBQ Monday afternoon at this address for all who are interested" or "Mary just returned from a 3 day trip to Morehead where she shopped for her fall wardrobe." It was absolutely crazy! Then we went back to the sailing program for freesail where I got to entertain a group of little kids while Maddie took Ms. Jean sailing.

July 20

Today I was back at the microfiche to wrap up the rest of the hurricanes I didn't get to yesterday. Luckily I was done by noon, so Papa took Evan and I out to Burger King... he said it was just cause, but I'm pretty sure he just wanted to wear the Burger King crown. :)

Then Allie and her boyfriend Cody came over to go out on the boat with us for the afternoon. I met Allie several summers ago and we meet up every time she comes back from Illinois. We tubed most of the time, and stopped at Shackleford to build sandcastles and float. That night we all went out to dinner at Clawsons before saying goodbye for another year.

July 21

This morning I went in for storytime at the museum where I got to help with games and crafts for the kids. I left pretty soon after to get home and hang out with the family before Mom and Dad arrived. Mimi and I watched Evan play basketball for a good three hours before the parents finally showed up around 9.

July 22

Today we took the boat cruising with the whole family, letting Evan show off his wakeboarding and new slalom skills for Mom and Dad. Then of course we went downtown just to enjoy all the greatness that is Beaufort. All the gaps in the day we filled with Mom doing work on the slips, me working on my research, or the rest of the fam either reading, working on the puzzle, or playing basketball.

We also had a Hobie day.  Papa rented a sailboat and standup paddleboard from Kitty Hawk Kites and we took them up where the new bridge is for a fun afternoon.

Mimi on the stand-up paddleboard

Dad and Papa

Evan on the stand-up paddleboard that is powered by foot pedals

Mom and Dad trying out the sailboat

July 23

Dad left this morning, leaving Mom, Evan, and Sophie here with us for another two days while he got back to work in Cary. Before he went he made sure we were left with all the picture equipment for the slips to make sure we made them look good. Mom, Dad, Mimi, Papa, and I spent a good part of the day taking pictures of the slips on and off the rack for possible business pictures. Then we sorta dressed up to head to El Zarape for dinner, and wrapped up the night with an evening cruise on the boat.

July 24

Today I got to take Mom and Papa to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum to show them where I’ve been working and what I’ve done. It was super fun and definitely worth the drive to the end of the road. When we got back Papa and I moved the RV back into storage while Mom finished up work. Then when we were done with all the day’s priorities we went to the backyard to work on a couple more slip pictures for Mom’s big meeting tomorrow!!

July 25

Mom sold 18 slips today!! Island Proper loved her idea and we’re all thrilled for her!! On the high from making our first real sale we went to Beaufort Proper thinking they might be a good try- it ended up being a no go for the slips, but Mom bought a necklace and I got a skirt so I say it was a success. That afternoon Mom and Evan left, I gotta say, it was weird watching everyone go from the driveway. Usually I’m the one in the car and it felt pretty great to get to stay for another week!

July 26

Today I really buckled down on my hurricane research while Mimi got some stuff done around the house and Papa went to workout. I’ve finished 3 hurricanes, 9 more to go. Mimi and I continued working on our puzzle with small amounts of success. Then when the freesail rolled around, I met Evin at the sailing program to rush and get an FJ to sail for the night before the crowds came. We had a great time on the boat and catching up again. Afterwards we went downtown to get some ice cream at the General Store and went to watch the sunset from the turntable.

July 27

Again I spent a good part of the morning doing hurricane work, stopping only to bake with Mimi (because who can turn that down?!) Then Papa and I went to Morehead for lunch with his friend Shirley who he caught up with before heading to their old offices to get information on MSEP for something going on with the Maritime Museum. It was hard to really catch on to what they were doing, but whatever it is, Papa is an important dude in and he’s doing great.

When we got home, Evin came over to go on the boat with me and Maddie. We tubed pretty much the whole time we were out there. The only time we stopped was to search for conch and sand dollars on Sand Dollar Island. When everyone but Maddie was worn out we docked at Finz to have dinner and eventually made our way home for a good night’s sleep.

July 28

We finally made monkey bread!! I’d been wanting to make this amazing treat all month and we finally did it! (It was delicious) After having a huge portion for breakfast, I made my way down to the museum for my last day there! I did storytime with the kids in the morning, and then spent the afternoon in their library wrapping up my hurricane work for the time being. When I got home I was dead tired from all the reading, so I took a power nap while Mimi made another fantastic dinner. Then we got all dressed up and headed over to Morehead for the Carteret Community Theater’s production of Rent. There were some amazing singers, and outstanding actors among the cast. (Papa - our second time going to a live show that we did not check out beforehand. Although there was good acting and singing, the show was entirely inappropriate, glorifying a way of life (LBGT) that we do not approve of).

July 29

Today is my last full day in Beaufort, and of course, it rained. All day. Mimi and I made the most of it, reading on the front porch, going downtown to Clawsons for lunch, and hitting up the stores to make a camp care package for Evan (he’s getting ready to ship out to Don Lee for 2 weeks!) We also managed to finish the puzzle we had been working on all week, spray paint some headboards for Evan’s room, and take an evening bike ride when the rain finally cleared up.

July 30

We met Mom and Dad in New Bern after they dropped Evan off at Camp Don Lee for his two week stay.

We took one last ride for the week on the boat, heading out to the inlet and fishing. We caught two nice mackerel in very rough water.