More pictures of the Outer Banks

I thought I would post a few more pictures from our trip, it really was fun and going with my best friend and her daughter made it :) We were sure our hubby's would not have enjoyed the shopping and other things we did! So we are fortunate to be able to take vacations like this with the kids. Other than my two boys constant squabbling I would say it went very well. Even when I got cranky LOL! After about 10 hours of the boys arguing and what-not of the younger one I get cranky. Hmmm I wonder why? Even my friend was sympathetic with what I have to deal with. (In case you wonder I am trying to avoid medicating him - his developmental pediatrician is watching his progress). OK so all that being said we did a LOT of fun things! We went to 5 lighthouses and their respective museums, 2 aquariums, other museums (including Wright Bros. Memorial and the Pirate Blackbeard's), about 20 or so penny squishers for souvenirs, 2 car ferry's and 2 power boat sized people ferry's, 3 ferry only islands, 1 - 4 wheel drive wild horse tour trip on the beach, 3 different locations for wild horses (Corolla, Ocracoke and Shackelford) and a day of shell finding. Heaven!

I think we have talked about the ferry from Harker's Island to Cape Lookout and Shackleford Island the most. It was run buy a guy and his family that are native to Harker's and called "Local Yokel". It was better than an amusement park ride! You got on this power boat made for passengers (certified ferry with the coast guard) and he puts the throttle on full and 15 minutes later you are on the island! It was a blast, you go across the sound so virtually no waves, the wind from going fast keeps you perfectly cool in the 95 degree heat and humidity and the scenery is awesome! He even slowed down so we could take pictures of the horses playing in the water off the island. We liked it so much we went back the next day and went shelling.

My little one was obsessed with the lighthouses. He got a post card magnet of them and had to be sure he went to all of them! He sits with the card and draws them now. I never thought he would be so thrilled with them! He LOVES climbing them but alas only two are open to the public to climb. He virtually ran up Hatteras lighthouse (My oldest son did and paid for it for days LOL) which it 752 stairs. I however did not run up that lighthouse and stopped every three landings thank you very much. We tried to go the day before but they closed it due to excessive heat so we went first thing in the morning, got to the top and they closed it due to lightening in the area. So i got to the top, looked out the door and took a picture to prove it LOL! Everyone else had made it up ahead of me and got better pictures before they kicked us off. Bit of advice, don't go in the middle of Summer. At least no hurricanes!

Ocracoke Island was worth the ferry ride. It was a charming village and every restaurant we went to was good food but what we liked most of all is the miles and miles of beach without another person or vehicle. It was so beautiful! Wonderful waves, lots of clean sand and the dunes and grasses just made it. It restores your soul to see not every place on the coast is overcrowded and full of "Waves" stores.

What more can I say? Oh! When we got back we took a half day trip to Old Salem and saw the Moravian town. How cool! I liked it better than Williamsburg. I think it is so out of the way it doesn't get the traffic it deserves. We enjoyed the beautiful buildings, the people dressed in character and their stories they told of each shop and trade we went into. We bought the Moravian cookies of course! Yum. We also went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. It was presented very well, very informative but oh dear, you only saw the tiny bits of the scrolls. I guess we expected to see larger pieces, pieced together. At least we saw the writing and the material of the scroll not that we could read it of course but it was translated above. I actually felt an awe in the room of the scrolls. We were in the presence of the Word of God written down thousands of years ago.

Here are the pictures!