Welcome to North Carolina

Steve and I finally managed a trip to the East Coast to visit with my relatives. We flew into Raleigh, picked up our rental car, and headed down the highway towards Pinehurst, North Carolina, only to get stuck in a newsworthy traffic jam that delayed us for over an hour.

Apparently an Isuzu, trying to exit the highway, clipped a tractor-trailer, ran off the road toward the woods, returned back to the interstate and hit a van, then a second tractor-trailer (hauling a load of garbage) collided with the Isuzu and careened across the median into oncoming traffic hitting a Dodge Charger. The tractor trailer overturned and caught fire, igniting the surrounding woods. Unfortunately, everything was extinguished by the time our car puttered through the emergency scene ... or I would have had some absolutely fantastic photos to start our vacation with!

My Grandparents live in a quaint little village-like part of Pinehurst. The homes are neatly maintained, landscaping is simple, the roads are winding ... did you know they actually use pine needles (called "pine straw") as landscape cover? An open flame could be disasterous! (and another great photo op) Less than a mile from my Grandparents, live one of my Aunts and one of my Cousins, in homes side by side. Then a little further out, lives another one of my Aunts. Total, there are eleven of them all within a stone's throw (including a cousin who is currently off at college).

Pinehurst is a renowned Golf community, boasting many beautiful courses and clubs with all the amenities. I believe the town has hosted a few Opens. The actual town of Pinehurst is very quaint, clean and uppercrustish. Though the weather was mild compared to home (in the 40's), we were told that it was much colder than average and we had just missed a rare snowfall by one week.

The amazingly beautiful architecture is rich with history dating back to the civil war periods. I couldn't quite say whether I felt like I was in the South or the North ... it seems like Pinehurst rests smack dab on the dividing point. Though I was reminded of biscuits and fried chicken when we asked directions to the "Super Wallmart" from the gal at the local gas station.

Both Jane and Larry were able to serve as our very own knowledgeable tour guides through Pinehurst, giving us short narratives of who did what where and when. Apparently we had just missed Barack Obama shooting hoops at one of the member clubs. At a glance, Pinehurst seems to be unaffected by the failing economy.

Part of our personal tour included several of the homes that Jane and Larry built together. Steve and Larry went over many of the blueprints and talked about the very strict building codes in the Pinehurst area. Steve seemed very enchanted with Pinehurst until he found out you're not able to have a shop on your property within the city limits. I'm not sure that Steve could exist without a shop of some sort to tinker in.

Jane and Larry had also just finished their very cool "Pool House" next to their very cool swimming pool. Hmm ... could you disguise a shop as a "pool house"?

Steve and I scheduled our vacation so that we could visit with family for a day or two, take off and "see North Carolina" then return and spend a few final days with family before heading back home. So after a lively and delicious meal at the Outback (thank you Grandpa) with our hugemungous family, Steve and I retreated back to the hotel to get a good night of sleep before heading out across the state.

Bright and early, we found the one Starbucks in the area and equipped with our soy latte and Earl Grey tea we headed towards Edentown. As we traveled away from Pinehurst, the devestation of our current national economic situation became apparent. I've never seen so many boarded up and abandoned homes, trailer parks and trashed out shacks, yards filled with lawnmowers in dissarray, small town businesses closed up and empty, or churches. Not that churches have to do with economics, but wow ... now I understand what they mean about the "bible belt".

Scattered here and there we also found some wonderfully kept historical treasures such as plantation style estates, an old Standard Oil gas station, etc. Oh, and we passed by a very unique airfield. Several small planes tucked under sheet metal make shift hangars on the border of a cotton field and the "runway" appared to be a strip of grass. I mean, how totally cool is that?

We do hope one day to make the trip to North Carolina in our RV7 ... however, I'm sure we'll be choosing a more conventional landing site. We found (and visited) several small airports during our trip.

Steve and I chose Edenton because it was somewhere between Pinehurst and Nags Head and it boasted on the internet to be one of the South's prettiest little towns. A small hospitable town rich with treasures dating back to the civil war. Unfortunately, we arrived late in the afternoon on an overcast and drizzly day and didn't get much of an opportunity to really tour the town before it turned dark and began raining in a serious manner. We enjoyed southern cooking at a lovely waterside restaurant ... and I learned what "southern style" green beans and hush puppies were.

One of the goals of our trip was to "touch" the Atlantic Ocean and to visit the Wright Brother's Memorial at Kitty Hawk, which is where we headed next, Nags Head. This 100% tourist/vacation town is smack dab in the middle of the Outer Banks, a long narrow strip of sandy beach that borders the main land of North Carolina.

Steve chose a hotel right on the Alantic side of the water, with a room right on the beach, so we could sleep with the sliding glass door open and listen to the waves crashing all night! The beach is very grainy, golden and dense enough for cars to drive on (which they do!) My very first East Coast sunrise from the balcony of our hotel room ... how beautiful is that?

The hotel manager told us that early in the morning and sometimes around 4pm, the dolphins have been seen playing in the surf! That would have completely topped the trip! If we return again, I would like to see the wild horses that run the beaches in the Currituk National Wildlife refuge. You need 4wd or we would have tried this last time. We did stop in a Wildlife Reserve Museum and learned that the Outer Banks was a very popular duck hunters destination. I had to leave partway through the very detailed slide show ...

The entire strip south of the wildlife refuge is heavily occupied with beach rentals, hotels, motels, trinket shops, surf shops, and restaurants that apparently close during the off peak season (Dec through March). Which brings us to the Sugar Shack ... one of the only restaurants open during off peak. This is a restaurant for the strong at heart. All seafood, all deep fried ... I had to try the "Beer Battered Mac-n-Cheese wedges". Yes, deep fried pasta. We consumed all of our grease allowance for the year in one meal.

Steve got a chuckle from the "Brew Thru" drive through convenient stores that dotted the main thoroughway. Unfortunately, the very popular "Dirty Dicks" with their famous crabs was also closed for the season, but we did stop in at Capt'n Franks and learned that cheese in North Carolina commonly comes out of a pump.

The Wright Brother's Memorial was absolutely fantastic! We toured the museum ... though the original Kitty Hawk is kept at the Smithsonian, the replica was incredibly detailed and magificent all in itself. We also walked the grounds where you could see the markers for each sucessful flight on your way up to the very distinctive stone block memorial.

They also had just celebrated the 100 year centenial and still had a few large tents set up with more history rich displays from all over the world. I could truly appreciate the enthusiasm for adventure and determination for success the Wright Brothers must have had ... I see the same attributes in Steve. It must be a pilot thing. I wonder if either of the brothers were smartacllics? That's probably the fireman thing.

We stayed in Nags Head through Steve's birthday then headed back towards Pinehurst again. We chose a different route back through large protected land areas and well kept agricultural farms. Though we didn't see very much wildlife, the return route was truly beautiful ... flat and beautiful.

Back amongst family again, we headed out to the horse territory of the Pines. Wow ... big large colonial style homes with pastured acreage and horses. A whole world within itself. I was invited to take some photographs of Logan and her friend "warming up" the horses. Logan is a very talented young rider and the special bond she has with her horse is pretty remarkable. I truly look forward to following her advancement.

Grandma made Steve and I a wonderful dinner for his birthday and a very special holy cow cake. A whipped cream mandarine orange delight. Wowser! We had such a wonderful time listening to stories about the kids growing up, about Grandpa and Grandma's life, Grandpa's medical career, the before technology era ... can you believe he's been driving for 80 years? Also, Grandma still refused to let me help clean up after dinner.

Oh ... we finally made it to breakfast ... Mac's. I'd been hearing about the family Sunday gathering for years and this was very much a big treat to be able to participate. Alex took the head of the table and started our procession with "Hooray" and "Big Boy". Alex wasn't quite sure about the lady with the camera that made the bird sounds ... but eventually he seemed to have accepted me into the group.

Shortly after breakfast we headed over to Jane's for a huge Super Bowl Sunday party! 3D glasses and all! And oh migoodness there was soooo much wonderful food. That was another very special treat for me. To watch the McCormick's watch sports ... I can still remember the faxes flying back and forth whenever the Seahawks played the Browns. Too funny! I believe Grandma said a bad word.

Our last day, Grandma made us another wonderful breakfast, wouldn't let me help clean up, then sent us on our way.

Wow, I really do have a pretty awesome family.