North Carolina Travel Blog

July 7-July 15th 2018 in Kitty Hawk

July 7th

A 4:15 that morning Athena and I woke up to a jarring sound. The screaming of my phone's alarm clock, jolted us awake. We already had everything packed up last night so all we had to do was quick pack up our toothpaste and shampoo. I used the complimentary Keurig in our room and made us up two coffees- if we had to be up at such an ungodly hour then we'd make the most of it and have some coffee. After that, it was a quick room check to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind… we didn’t. And then it was down the elevator and off to the shuttle to get us to the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee WI. We breezed through checking in our bags and security. The whole security process, only took 30 minutes which for airport security they might as well win an award! Then we boarded our flight at 5:50am. Our flight left at 6:35am, and the best part of that experience was being able to sit next to each other. We flew southwest this time, and the thing about southwest is that there are no assigned seats. Which basically means that people can pick where they want to sit on the plane, which for us meant more than likely we would be seated next to a stranger. But in our case we got lucky. That time.

It was 7:10 am once we landed in Baltimore, Maryland. But this wasn’t our final destination, no, we had a connecting flight to Norfolk, Virginia. When we landed in Norfolk, we were supposed to rent a car from Dollar— but we had some problems with the company, and claiming who was actually driving… needless to say we ended up having to call Expedia(who we booked everything through) and they got us a refund. Long story short, I will never personally go through Dollar again, the way they handed their guest/customer service was terrible. After that set back, we finally got ourselves a vehicle. So we stuffed ourselves and all our luggage into a SUV and off we went. It took us 15 minutes of cruising down downtown Norfolk, to find our hotel. We stayed at the Waterside Marriott and it was lovely! Once we got settled, I immediately changed out of my plane clothes (I always feel gross, after hours of travel). Once Athena and I had changed we ‘went out on the town’. We found this amazing local venue called ‘The Market’ and we got to eat at Guy Fieri’s restaurant! And the food was absolutely to die for! I had sweet potato fries and a veggie BLT (NO B) and the BEST mac n cheese ever! After eating we took the time to casually get some ice cream… and what do you do once you have ice cream? You casually take a quick cute photoshoot of course!

While eating our ice cream we meandered through the market just absorbing all the atmosphere, when we went out the back, we found a marina. Athena and I took some photos and my Mom and her then went to go explore the boats & yachts.

July 8th

We woke up at 8 am to repack and then eat and early breakfast. Athena and I tried the bacon— aaand it was the best bacon we’d ever had (not exaggerating)! Besides the bacon, I also had a fruit bowl which was a refreshing way to start the day. After that we went to the USS Wisconsin, which is a retired naval ship. We all had a huge laugh about how funny it was to have traveled all the way from Wisconsin only to end up back on ‘Wisconsin’. While aboard the ship, we were even allowed to go below decks. That in itself is something to remember the whole play was a maze of passageways, and alcoves. I have a new and deeper respect for our sailors— I could never find my way around down there. Once we explored below decks to our hearts content, it was time to return topside. We explored the ship from bow to stern (and while doing it we got in a couple of shots for our photo collage). We’d ended up hanging out with the USS Wisconsin for about three hours, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. On our walk back to the parking garage, we passed a smoothie shop: Fruitive. An all natural, all organic and plant based drink bar. We decided to seize the moment and go in. I got an acai & blueberry drink to share with Athena and the Family. Once we were done, we got in the car to start the long drive to the outer banks, NC. Getting to the outer bank was a ride filled with anticipation and excitement. However once there, we decided to cool our heels and just sit back and relax. The view was enough to make you want to drift into a blissful oblivion our house that we rented was right on the ocean and we had our own private beach. I definitely loved the view! It was nothing but calms seas ahead.

#bloggingtips #WixBlog #northcarolinablog

July 9th

The morning of July 9th, grandpa and I woke up earlier than the rest of the house did. We decided that it would be a perfect time for a morning walk. We left the house right around 9 am. We walk for about a mile when we came across a local donut shop: Ducks Donuts. The whole place was so so so cute! The whole aesthetic was pastels, and everyone was super friendly, AND the donuts were made fresh to order! We ordered a 1/2 a dozen: 2 chocolate, 2 strawberry sprinkle, 1 cinnamon, & 1 maple drizzle. Once we got our piping hot donuts we walked back to the house. Which was a tedious trek to say the least, the donuts smelt heavenly and all wwe wanted to do was try a bite. We kept our hunger at bay, and successfully made it to the house without trying one donut prematurely! Well, the wait was worth it; these donuts put dunkin's to shame! They were light, fluffy, hot and melted in your mouth! If your ever in the Kitty Hawk area you have to go to Duck's Donuts! A while later, we set out on our first adventure. We went to the Kitty Hawk Nature Reserve its a 0.5 mi walk around the boardwalk and Athena found lots of baby turtles. Once we got back, took time for a quick lunch and then went straight to the beach. We layed out all day! Poor Athena got super sunburned and she did a little sunburn dance to uptown funk. She said, "I'm gunna try to dance the burn away!"

#duckdonuts #kittyhawk #adventure

July 10-11th

July 10th: This was the day that we went to the Wright Brothers Monument and National Park. That day I had a wardrobe malfunction (my favorite jean skirt zipper broke), and it caused a bit of a snag in the day. After the monument, we went to Nag's Head to see the ecological conservatory.

July 11th: Was a lazy day, we lounged on the beach all! After we sunbathed to our heart's content, Mom, Athena decided to take a mini trip to the Corolla wild horses. They didn't take the paid tour- and when the came back they were all bummed out about not seeing any. Once they got back we all went out to diner at Barefoot Bernies Bar. Athena and I ordered the fish tacos with Mahi Mahi. If you are ever in the mood for some sweet, and lemon-y fresh fish tacos, just head over to Barefoot Bernies!

July 12th

This was a day to remember for sure! On July 12 we, as a family (Mom, Gramps, Athena & I) all went to experience the magnificent and famous sand dunes of North Carolina. We drove 25 minutes to Jockey's Ridge State Park, a nature preserve that has been ever-changing for decades. The dunes are constantly evolving, since the winds beat them down and then raise them back up. It was extremely humbling to experience, standing and walking on something that has existed for hundreds of years but each grain has a different story. Imagine being a grain of sand and being buried beneath other sand of hundreds of years and then a gust of wind brushes off the top and you are now at the surface once again. We also got super lucky on the day that we chose to go, it was unseasonably mild and was overcast for most of the day-- which was perfect for us. We were told that if we would have come on a sunny day, they sand would have been excruciatingly hot and down right unbearable!

#jockeyridgestatepark #sanddunes #travel