Retirement Travels: 8/6/17

July

July has been an unforgettable time for us.

Anna spent all month with us and Evan was here for over two weeks.

And Slade and Candace have been able to breakaway for a few days and be with us.

Now (July 31), we feel like "Empty Nesters" again. Everyone is gone and we're on our own to provide the entertainment and fun that has been constant part of life for a month.

We are so fortunate to have wonderful and loving grandchildren - and children - who enjoy Beaufort as much as we do.

We were having so much fun that we didn't keep up with our blog. But we found that Anna has kept a journal and she has shared it so we can always remember this summer!

So here is Anna's Journal

July 4

I had my heart set on going to the Fourth of July parade in Beaufort, but I couldn't leave Cary until the actual Fourth. Thank goodness I have an awesome family who was willing to get up at the crack of dawn to drive down to Beaufort with me! I've got my license, but Mom and Dad weren't ready for me to make the whole trip by myself, so I drove Mom to meet Mimi and Papa at the Neuse (in Kinston), and then I drove Mimi and Papa the rest of the way to Beaufort. I ended up driving the whole way but I had the adult supervision part taken care of that way.

We rolled into Beaufort about 10:45, just enough time to grab our bikes and head downtown to watch the parade! We had a great time waving our flags and collecting candy... we even got to see Maddie walk in the parade with the Junior Sailing Program! When we got back we had to take a minute to cool down, and I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking a month's worth of clothes and getting settled. Then that evening, we rode over to Gallants Channel to watch the fireworks go up over the water.

Happy 4th!

Maddie was in the parade with the Maritime Museum's Sailing Program

July 5

Today we just kinda chilled and recovered from the huge day we had yesterday- we're not in a huge rush like we usually are because I'm going to be down here the whole month! We have plenty of time to do everything.

Mimi and I went down to the sail camp to watch Maddie sail, it's her second week in the sailing program and she is doing awesome!!

Then we all went for a bike ride downtown where Mimi got to show off her new bike (she loves it so much it's adorable!) Papa and I got back in time to change into sail camp clothes and head down to the water to (help) cook 150 hot dogs! We had a quick learning period. We only dropped 4 hot dogs, and burned a few more, but by the end we had the hang of it. When it came time to actually eat, Papa and I passed on the dogs, we'd had enough of them for the day. There was no chance to sail this evening because the thunderstorms came in pretty quick and the counselors didn't want to take any dangerous chances.

July 6

Mimi and I went down again to watch Maddie sail- today is the second to last day of the program, so the campers get to go on the 'long sail'. We couldn't see the boats from the camp because they were heading downtown, so we hopped in the car and followed them all the way back home, stopping at random grassy patches or docks to take pictures.

This afternoon we went fishing on the powerboat. It was pretty windy, so we couldn't stay out for a very long time, but we did catch 6 fish! I gotta say, I've got the gift for catching them, not the gift for taking them off the hook... I left that job to Mimi and Papa.

July 7

Today was Maddie's last day at sail camp!! We got to go down and see them perform all of their sailing moves, and then watch her at graduation. We were all very proud of her, and we could tell she was proud of herself too... it's a big deal to learn so much in 2 weeks and develop a whole new skill set that quickly. Afterwards, Papa and I drove down to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum where I met with Karen Amspacher to figure out what I would be doing at the museum this summer as a kinda unofficial intern. Later that night Mom and Dad came down with Evan to join us! We went downtown for the evening to check out all the shops and look for potential slip shops for Mom's new business.

Maddie and Rebecca at graduation from Sail Camp. Rebecca is the lead instructor.

July 8

It was too windy for the boat this morning, so the grandparents and parents went down to the Beau Coast properties to check out the model homes and just look at everything there. (Papa: Slade and Candace are interested in starting to invest in rental property. Initially all of us were real excited about the prospects that this new 800+ lot development presented, but after several visits and interactions with the real estate agents and looking at the construction, they (and us) have decided to wait a while. Neither the agents nor the construction were very impressive.)

They were over there most of the afternoon so Evan and I stayed home chilling out in the backyard. When they finally got home, Mimi did an amazing job with a huge dinner including our fresh caught fish! We had an eventful time trying to figure out the fish fryer and that's all I'll say about that. :) (Papa: I have something to say about that - you never want a big pan of grease to catch on fire. We had just received our new high pressure outdoor gas cooker and wanted to try it out. Thankfully, we were set up on the uncovered part of the back porch. I came in the house to check on something after we had started heating the grease. All of a sudden someone yelled "there's a fire on the porch". By the time I ran to the porch, the fire from the grease was 6 or 7 feet high and burning intensely. Quick thinking Clara got the baking soda and we put the fire out. But not without scaring all of us. It's amazing how quickly it happened. The only loss was the frying pan. I can imagine what would have happened if the fire had been in the kitchen - no more house!)

July 9

Mom and Dad headed back to Raleigh early this morning, and Evan got to stay with us.

At Maddie's sail camp graduation Papa heard Brent talk about openings in the next session at camp, so he and Evan went down the the maritime museum to register Evan for Flying Juniors at Sail Camp while Mimi and I went to church.

This afternoon we took Ms. Jean and Maddie out on the boat and the most amazing thing happened. We tubed a little bit before Evan and I took turns wakeboarding. When I finished my run we asked Maddie if she wanted to try out the wakeboard, she was nervous but decided to give it a shot. I stayed in the water with her the same way Mimi used to with me and tried to talk her through getting up. On her FIRST try she somehow got up. I still can't believe it happened. Mimi loves telling her story from the boat: "Jean was worried and asked 'What happens if she gets up?' and I said 'Oh don't worry she won't, no one gets up their first time.' And you just know Maddie got up and we were all shocked!" She went on to try it three more times and did great with each run.

Anna teaches Maddie how to wakeboard

And she is up on her first try!

We went home for a quick dinner and then drove out to Harkers Island (I now have the drive memorized) to get on the ferry for the night climb of the lighthouse Papa got tickets for!

When we got to the island the Mariners from Camp Don Lee were there so I actually got to see a couple of my friends from last year's camp while we were there!! We played on the beach for a bit while we waited for our turn to climb the lighthouse. It was overcast so we couldn't see much, but it was still so cool being up that high with everything so dark around you.

Waiting on the ferry to the Cape

With Great Great Grandpa John B Quidley (the lighthouse keeper at Cape Lookout in the early 1900's)

July 10

I headed out early this morning for the Museum while Evan headed out even earlier for sail camp. I spent most of the day sorting magazines and books in the archive room, boxing them up and moving them upstairs. It definitely wasn't what I expected to be doing, but it was gratifying to see physical results for the work I was doing. When I got home we drove down to Morehead to get Evan a new bathing suit for sail camp since he only packed one... he had no idea he would end up staying for two weeks!

July 11

This morning I drove over to Atlantic Beach to pick up Mary Wesley for breakfast, I met her a couple summers ago and we try to hang out whenever we're down here at the same time. We went to Four Corners for breakfast, and then headed back to Beaufort to go out on the boat.

We tubed for a good part of the afternoon, went shelling on the beach, and watched Evan as he killed it on the waterski. He and Papa have started taking the boat out in the evening to work on his slalom skiing.

I drove Mary Wesley home when we were done, and got caught up in the WORST traffic ever. Not only was it rush hour and everyone that worked in Morehead were trying to get back to Beaufort or Down East, but there was a wreck where a car knocked a power pole over the four lane road leading into Beaufort, so we were detoured down Moore Street. I spent an hour getting over both bridges before finally getting free of the traffic and heading home. Maddie was over at our house so we took her down to Roland's with us for dinner where Evan almost got into a food coma trying to eat more food than her!

July 12

Mimi had to go to Morehead for a quick checkup this morning, so we went over there and then decided to make a date of it and went out to Banks grill as well! We had so many beignets and the biggest cinnamon roll you've ever seen for our brunch.

When we got home I spent most of the afternoon going through the Hurricane Tub Karen gave me at the museum- it was full of books, articles, and emails regarding the hurricanes we were researching. That evening we went down to the sail camp to watch Maddie at free sail. I ended up riding in the front of her opti, which sounded like a good idea at first, but after an hour and a half I was getting pretty sore sitting over the daggerboard and balled up as small as I could get. It was totally worth it though because I got to see all her crazy sailing skills and take some adorable pictures of her on her boat!

Maddie, Captain of the Opti

Evan, Captain of the Flying J

July 13

I was back at the Waterfowl Museum today this time 'stuffin, sealin and stampin' all the members annual reports, and cutting out tickets for the raffle. It wasn't super exciting but I had a good time listening to my music and singing along just cause I could. Then I had the most brilliant idea for lunch- I took the monster truck (Papa: Meaning our 2003 Ford Explorer) down to the last parking lot that faced Cape Lookout, backed into a spot, popped the trunk and had lunch there. Thank goodness Mimi had a pillow in the trunk because that definitely made the whole thing a lot comfier.

When I got home, Mimi, always ready to go, helped me set up stuff for tie dye so we could tie dye some shirts with Maddie. We had a great time and the shirts all look awesome, I'm pretty sure they'll become a staple in each of their wardrobes now!

July 14

Today is the day!!! I finally got to see Dierks Bentley in concert!!

(Papa: We decided to drive to Slade and Candace's to spend the weekend)

Once Evan finished up at sail camp, we piled in the car, and I made the drive back to Raleigh for the concert.

When we got home, Dad and I got ready and took off to scalp some tickets. We went in thinking we would get lawn tickets, but when the guy at the gate only had real seats, Dad took them. Thank goodness he did, because in the middle of the show the clouds opened up and it poured- Dad and I were safe under the roof thanks to our great seats. Then the seats got even better- Dierks came and did a few songs on a mini stage in the middle of the crowd, with us maybe 25 yards away. It was AWESOME! Dad and I sang along and danced and had an absolute ball!

July 15

Today Mimi and Papa went up to Nashville to start working on Grandpa's house, while I went to my life group leader's house with my friend Louise to see her new baby! We all got back together in the evening for dinner where we had a great spread and ended the night with some delicious bundt cakes Mom got.

July 16

Dad, Mimi, and Papa got an early start and went to Nashville with the U-Haul to start packing up the big tools and furniture from Grandpa's house. While they were there I went to brunch with a couple girls from Blue Ridge, the camp I was at earlier this summer. When I got home, I picked up Evan and we drove to Nashville. That's right, more than an hour drive with no adults. Mhmm I'm right on my way to being able to drive to Beaufort by myself. We wrapped up in Nashville around 4 and drove back to Beaufort, this time in the U-haul with the minivan following.

July 17

Today is Mimi and Papa's 51st Wedding Anniversary!!

This morning while Evan was at sail camp, the three of us started unloading the uhaul. It took us three hours of insanely heavy lifting in very sweaty conditions. By the time we had unloaded the whole thing we were all running ragged.

Then Papa and I went to pick up Evan from sail camp, the location of a very tragic event. Let me set the scene- I'm walking up to Evan in an oversized sweaty shirt and crocs, with my hair kinda going all over the place. I asked him how the morning went, showed him where I parked and told him not to forget his lifejacket. When we started going separate ways, me to the car, Evan to the classroom, his friend who had been walking beside him asked "Is that your mom?" It's still unclear the level of sincerity in that remark coming from a 14 year old, but it was a definite blow to be thought of as my 14 year old brother's mother at age 16. Papa got a BIG laugh out of the whole event, and has proceeded to tease me about it all day - I have a feeling it won't die anytime soon.

That evening we all got dressed super fancy and headed to Amos Mosquitoes to celebrate Mimi and Papa's 51 wedding anniversary - we were there 10 minutes before opening, and still managed to have a 15 minute wait to be seated! That's how you can tell it's good food. When we were all stuffed we headed home, it was super sweet, Papa had gotten Mimi beautiful roses, and Mimi had gotten Papa a big carrot cake from the bundt cake bakery back in Cary after he had enjoyed the carrot cake so much Saturday night.