My God, vacation is already over??? In looking back, it felt like a dream, you know? It just went by too quickly to be real … but I guess that means we had fun, right? Here’s a brief description, complete with pics.

We left last Saturday morning – meeting Ray-Ray, Christa, and Johnnay at the Shell station in Newark Delaware around 7:45 AM. I took a picture of some sort of artwork or gang sign made out of feces at the gas station … thought this would be a fitting start to the trip.



On the way down to the Outer Banks on route 13, there is a place called Dixieland – this is the “official” beginning of the South. It is tradition for us to stop here on the trip down every year. Basically, the place sells cheap cigarettes, cheap fireworks, and cheap “Dixieland” trinkets for people to wear/hang in their houses, reminding them that they indeed crossed over into Confederate territory.



We made it down to our destination around 4:00 p.m. – the Winedown in beautiful Kill Devil Hills, NC. After we unpacked, we decided to make some frozen, fruity drinks (hey, it was hot down there!), and hang by the pool – a great start to the week.



On Sunday, I walked to the beach in the morning, and then, headed back to the pool. We decided to watch the Philadelphia Soul “AFL Championship Game” at the Sunburn Bar in Kill Devil Hills – heck, when your sports teams stink, you’ll root for anybody, I guess. The Soul did end up winning, by the way … oh, and the wings at the Sunburn … not so good.

We ventured to the beach on Monday, and there was still considerable seaweed in the water, thanks to the hurricane from the week before. It was fun, but you had to get away from the surf, or you’d end up looking like you were wearing a hula skirt. At night, we went to Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet – it featured about 8 different types of crabs, and tons of other seafood and non-seafood items. The wait to be seated was about 45 minutes or so. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t worth the wait, as was evidenced later that night, when Ray-Ray’s girl came down with a mild case of food-poisoning … on a side note, that might be the last time I do a seafood buffet … ya just can’t mess with seafood.

I fished at the Avalon fishing pier early Tuesday morning – came up with a great pic of the sun rising, as well as catching a few Spot (very small fish). We also made it to the Wright Brothers museum … in the 6 years I’ve gone down there, this was surprisingly the first time I ever made it there. Then, we hung out at the pool again.





Wednesday was another beach day, and although the water was better, there was still some seaweed. We went to the Beach Road Bar and Grill right off the dunes for some lunch, and let me tell ya-all (Southern drawl), this place is a must-go place. It is located on milepost 10.5 on Beach Road in Nags Head, and the food, drink, and company is well worth it. All their food is made from scratch, and they have fantastic specials every day. Plus, it’s located right by the beach, so you can leave your stuff, go to the bar for lunch, and head back to the beach later in the day. We went there quite a few times for the remainder of the trip.

Wednesday night, we went back to the Sunburn for some Karaoke. I have a video of Johnnay singing, but (a) it took too long to load, and (b) I figured he'd probably be against me showing this.

On Thursday, we took a pontoon boat out in the back channels and actually did pretty well with the fishing. I caught my first drum fish ever – it was on the small side, but still a coveted personal accomplishment. That night, we ended up cooking quite a seafood meal and having a few cocktails (oh yeah, I think we did this every night).

Friday came much too quickly. Ray-Ray, Johnnay, Christa and I played some miniature golf, and Christa somehow won, even though she claims it was her first time. Let me just say in my defense, that for most of my shots, either the sun was in my eyes, or the wind was blowing too hard. We spent the afternoon and evening on the beach again, and this was by far the best day on the beach. The ocean was calm and clear, almost like the Caribbean. We must’ve been in the water for a couple of hours easy throwing the football, or looking for the fish (I swear, you could see right to the bottom even 5 feet out).

Ray-Ray, Christa and Johnnay decided to leave Friday night – it was kind of sad, because that really signaled the beginning of the end of the trip. We left Saturday morning, and as we approached Dixieland on the way home, I felt the last bit of vacation drifting away. Of course, the trip back felt about 53 times longer than the trip down, for obvious reasons. God, I really should’ve taken Monday off … sigh.



Me and Ray-Ray