North Carolina Family Vacation Day 1--driving there and first time on the beach

Saturday morning, we left to go on vacation to Indian Beach, North Carolina. I spent much of the day Friday packing and I think that maybe I over packed on some things but not on others. Early Saturday morning, Bill and I loaded the kids up and left to make the 12 hour drive to the coast. We left our house at 12:50AM.

Kids all in the van ready to go

Shortly after we left, Benjamin made a choking sound and threw up just a little in the van. Luckily it wasn’t much and we could keep going. We stopped for gas at a Loves gas station around 4am and Benjamin was awake and he pointed out the front window and was saying “Don, Don, Don” as he was pointing to the adjacent McDonald's. I guess we eat there too much. We saw the sun rise while we were in VA and we were up in the mountains and the kids go to see the view and Rebecca’s reaction was “Whoa….that is cool.“

Very foggy in the mountains in the morning

Around 730AM and right as we entered North Carolina, we stopped for gas again and we stopped at a rest area to eat the breakfast that I had packed… cereal, bananas and milk. While there Jacob was running and fell and scraped his knee up pretty badly. Ben also fell just as we were getting into the van and scraped his knee up.

Right over the border in North Carolina

Around 11:00 we stopped at McDonald's to eat lunch. The drive was uneventful. The only time we hit traffic was during the last 2 miles or so before we hit the bridge to cross over into Emerald Isle. During this time, Ben decided he had had enough and started whining and crying because he wanted out of his booster.

Once we were on the Crystal Coast, we stopped by the realtor's office to make sure that our condo had power, as Hurricane Arthur had been through only 36 hours before. Then we went to Food Lion to get some groceries, before we were able to check in. We then were able to get our keys and to check in. We were renting a condo in a complex called Summer Winds. It was a nice complex, and our condo was 3 bedrooms. It was perfect.

view from our balcony

After we were settled in, we decided to just relax for a while and the kids watched some cartoons. Then we decided to order in pizza for dinner. We got sausage and pepperoni pizza from Pizza Inn and it was yummy. After dinner, we got the kids changed into their swimsuits and we headed out to walk along the beach.

Rebecca decided to LOVED the water. She would sit in it and walk in it and she kept saying “This is amazing” “ This is awesome”. When we were walking back, she said “Thank you for taking us here Mommy.” I love that girl.

Jacob was unsure, but then he liked the water. He did not want to sit in it, but he would walk in it.

Benjamin wanted NO part of the water. I think the noise and the waves scared him.

view from our balcony

After we came back to our condo and got the kids bathed and showered, they went to bed at 8pm which is early for them. I did have to lay down with Benjamin as he wanted NO part in sleeping in a big boy bed for the first time. Then, Bill and I sat on the balcony and drank wine coolers and talked and watched the fireworks show from one end of the beach. Then we turned in early as well…around 9:30. It was a nice way to end a day.