Unforgettable Sand

GIGANTESCOS
Spring Break in the OBX was really nice. The beach there is quite beautiful -- all of the homes are hidden by these enormous sand dunes, so you feel like you're at a remote beach. The homes in Waves, actually on most of the island, were ginormous! At Cape San Blas there are homes in all varieties or sizes -- including the one we stayed in (The Treehouse, 2 bdrms) . Most homes were 4 or 5 bedroom colossals.

SANDBLASTED JEANS, ANYONE?

The first day on the beach was a sandblaster to the legs and face. Unfortunately, it lacked any spa-like qualities that people pay thousands and thousands of dollars for. We beat a hasty retreat, for which we got called all sorts of names by the "adults." I reflected upon this as I told the story to my students. I still call the older generation, "the adults." Ridiculous! I guess its a more polite way of addressing them as a generalization.

LIGHTHOUSES, AHOY!

We went and did some sight seeing on the OBX. We visited two lighthouses, although we were allowed to climb neither. We even heard some ghost stories about the Bay in which Blackbeard, the Pirate, was killed. Apparently, his head was severed from his body, and the latter was thrown overboard but continued to swim for quite some time. The head was sent to the governor of VA as proof, and then on to England. It was stolen by a group of pagan's who cut off the top of the head, dipped it into bronze, and used it as a chalice in their wicked pagan rituals. Jen and I were told all this by a overzealous teacher turned Park Ranger. Same Park Ranger couldn't resist asking us if we'd heard about the sand on Hatteras. We hadn't. Well, once it got between your toes, you could never really shake that feeling, so you came back over and over just to get that feeling.

NEW OLYMPIC SPORT
Of course, we spent a fair amount of time Pook's Watching. It's a new sport, haven't you heard? The real sport was trying to wipe Lydia's nose. It got so bad that people holding her would ask other people to get a tissue and play the "evil, mean, nose wiper" personality, so that whoever was holding her wouldn't be fussed against. Thankfully, she only had a runny nose and no other symptoms. Unfortunately, several others had worse symptoms, including Jen. She stayed up hacking several nights in a row.


THE WELL APPOINTED HOME
We had a great time. The house was what I'd like to call, "well appointed." There was enough usable space so that we didn't feel like we were in each other's space all of the time, and we didn't have to play that horrible musical tables game. There were enough flat surfaces so that eating, prepping, chopping, making coffee, playing games, stacking books, magazines, Lydia's toys. . everything had its own space and there was no need for the the constant moving of the objects in a circle. :-) The pool table and game room were great! The hot tub was pretty nice, even though the weather was quite chilly in the evenings. It made it even better to shed clothes getting chillier by the second, then plunge into the HOT water and feel the comfort and warmth spread from your toes to your neck. When the jets and whatnot were turned on. . forget it. . a wonderland.


KITTY HAWK & THE LOST COLONY
We thoroughly enjoyed our second day of sightseeing, a smidge more than our first day. The first day we encountered wild ponies wandering through their PEN, and the most beautiful beaches in the United States (if you like the remote, barren sort), and two lighthouses that we couldn't climb. This second day we saw two replicas of the first successful plane flewn by the Wright Bros. The presentation was given (I swear) by an ex-minster. . he labored every point he was making. He was dramatic I almost laughed out loud at several points. After seeing some of the tallest sand dunes in the U.S. (make that the word, why don't we?), we made our way across the Pamlico Sound to Roanoke Island where the memorials and musuem about the Lost Colony are. This was highly interesting. Right next door were the Elizabethan Gardens which were just popping into bloom. Ben, Jen, Lydia, Josh and I took a long walk through azaleas, hydrangeas, camellias, and lots of other gorgeous shrubs.

WALKS ON BEACH

The walks out on the beach were marvelous (after that first day). There was a nice wooden bridge taking us over the dunes to a 30 to 40 foot wide expanse of good sand. The dunes covered the other homes. On our last walk, Josh and I really walked far. We discovered this HUGE jellyfish which Josh couldn't resist poking in the ribs.