More vacation highlights

My absolute favorite day of this vacation was our day at the beach on the Outer Banks. In fact, if I could redo, I'd probably book a place for three days there, and just park in a beach chair on the sand. And then, of course, we'd just have to high-tail it home at the end, skipping the extras we did on our way back up the coast. Hindsight, eh?

Anyway, after Kittyhawk, we drove down the Outer Banks to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We got to the lighthouse just after it had closed, so we had a good excuse NOT to climb the 200-something stairs to the top. (ha!) But we got some fun pics...

I'm sorry, but sometimes I just think my kids are so stinkin' cute. I mean, look at that cheesy little grin, and those bare feet, just dangling... adorable!

So, here's the lighthouse itself, in all its lighthouse glory...

Melissa, (and anyone else who has a lighthouse obsession) you've GOT to get to this one; it's gorgeous! Really, it's one of the most impressive ones I've seen.

From the base, looking up...

The "crew" on the steps at the base...

And, looking back at it from the beach...

Another nice shot from the beach...

Ah yes, the beach...

It was completely dreamy... the kind of beach I adore: warm water, medium waves, soft fine sand, piles of sea grass and a few dunes. Like I said, adorable...

Had enough yet?

We all really enjoyed it. Here's Samantha and Grandma, looking for shells...

Grandpa, sketching a beach scene while he watched Natalie, with Spence in the background, "digging," ...

Spencer and Sammie, after Brian buried them...

Brian and me, trying to convince the kids that the water really IS just as fun as the sand...

Spencer was NOT convinced. A sneaker wave knocked at him, scared him half to death and sent him high-tailing it back to the shore, poor guy. Oh well... he has time, right?...

And just a few more fun shots from my little stroll along the beach, while the sunset...

Some funky rusty old metal jetty thing made for some interesting shots...

And, I've always wanted to try to replicate that "Footsteps" picture that goes with the poem. Here was my best attempt...

Ah, lovely, lovely beach. I could go on. You know I could. But I won't.

The next day, we toured the US Naval Base in Norfolk, VA -- a "guy" thing. It was actually pretty interesting, only, we didn't get to go on any of the ships, so I was a bit disappointed. I mean, couldn't they just let us take a quick stroll on the deck of one of those aircraft carriers? Nope. We were confined to a bus, with a super cool pregnant, 22-year-old navy girl private tour guide person. (I'm sure she had a title, but umm... lost on me. sorry.)

Anyway, here are the few pics we were "allowed" to take of the ships...

We drove right up close, but couldn't get out our cameras until we were about a mile away. Some security stuff, I guess?

I was hoping to get a picture of the second busiest McDonalds in the world, which is part of the base (1st busiest is in Times Square, which I now have a goal to visit!) Well, the bus didn't pass by McD's, too bad. Maybe another "security" thing??

We did get some fun pics of some of the officers' houses. Looks like they live in style, eh?

Our tour guide said the privates aren't even allowed to go on the street where the officers' houses are, except if they're "summoned" or invited to special parties, or giving tours. Interesting, eh?

We also saw some of the fancy air craft parked on the lawns all across the base...

Brian or my dad could probably tell you their names. To Spence (and me), they're just "big, fast, airplanes"...

After Norfolk, we started making our way home, up the outside of the Chesapeake Bay. Point of interest: Did you know there is a 20-mile-long BRIDGE across the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay? Oh yes there is! And we got to drive across it! Super cool!!

In case you were wondering what it's called, well, it's the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - Tunnel. Original, no. But descriptive enough, I guess.

Our handsome driver, as we set off over the bridge...

There's a fancy fishermans' pier right at the start, with some fun diagrams and a little restaurant. We stopped to get the scoop on what we were undertaking. Here's the detailed map of the bridge, including the two miles of tunnel, allowing ships to pass through...

Here's the entrance to the tunnel, taken from the top of the fisherman's pier...

On the pier, watching the fisherman...

One of my favorite pics of the trip -- Grandpa and Nattie Kay. (She just woke up; please forgive her the sweaty-head look.)

I just love pics of my parents with my kids. It makes me feel so happy to see the generations together, I guess.

Another bridge shot, with the sun setting...

And, goodbye sunshine. Goodbye, bridge.

After that, we were pretty much on the way home. And, to be honest, there's not that much going on up the coast of Delaware -- in case you wondered. But we did stop in Dover, to see the capitol building there...

Overrated. It doesn't even have a dome on top, can you believe?! ...

At least my kids were cute!...

Quick stop over in Philly, to see the lovely Liberty Bell, always nice...

We (or at least Brian) also wanted to go into Independence Hall, but all the tix for the day were gone. Too bad, but it was under construction anyway, and do you think our kids really would have cared? hmmm...

We also did a drive-by of Trenton, NJ, to see its capitol building. More impressive than Delaware, even though it's kind of crammed in the middle of the city...

At least it has a dome...

And Natalie loved it. Errr, at least loved getting a diaper change and a quick roll on the grass...

So, by that time, we were just about "tripped" out, and were ready to go home.

So we did.

Just a few extra random shots to remember from the trip...

Our "haul" up to the hotel rooms every night.

Ha ha! Poor Spencer. Look how Sammie thinks she's sooooo funny!!

Natalie, kickin' back in her car seat in the car, and my mom, snapping pictures of her every 20 minutes or so...

For those of you who know what this is, umm... yeah. We saw a lot of this on the trip. Six days, poor buddy. For those of you who DON'T know what this is, umm... you really don't want to know.

The man on vacation. Yay!! Nine days. Nine blessed days and no work. It was nice to see him sleep and relax, for a change!

And one last cute one of the babe...

Vacation over. Next one is on the horizon...

Back to the homeland I go, with three kids in tow. Tomorrow. Wish us luck!!

What a vacation should look like...

If I don't put up some pictures and details now, they will be lost forever, I fear. So... here are the highlights of our vacation down the coast a few weeks ago...

First stop, Ft. McHenry, in Baltimore. Yep, it's the place where Francis Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner. Quite a pretty place. We did a quick visit, on our way down to D.C.

Here's Old Glory, flying high...

The kids, acting very interested in the signage about cannons. Spencer wanted to pick up the lead balls...

Nattie, eating her "straps" -- always tasty!

The harbor. Oh, how fun to sail, brings back lovely Boston memories!!

Running by the seawall... I added this one because this is how things were for much of the vacation: "Sammie, come back!"

We stayed in the D.C. area for a couple of nights, with our dear friends, the Becks. We knew them in London and share Idaho ties, so we've kept in touch pretty good through the years. Sadly, I got NO pictures of them, or our other friends, the Eliesons, who we also saw while we were in D.C. How unfortunate!

But I did get some "we were in Washington D.C." pictures, such as...

And this one, recognize it??

We did a hour-long "run by" of some of the Smithosian Museums (which, let's be honest -- that's about all we'd really want with three tots in tow, right?) Here's Spence and the dinosaurs... he was a little scared, can ya blame him?

Samantha, admiring the Hope Diamond. This girl's already got some taste...

Sam's been studying about minerals lately, so she LOVED their mineral collection! She took this one herself, not bad for a 5-yr-old, eh?...

Spencer was really impressed with the Air and Space Museum. (for about 10 minutes, of course)....

We lucked into a Memorial Day concert in front of the capitol building, pretty cool!!

Here's the crowd and the stage...

They sang some patriotic songs and talked about our vets. The kids lost the plot after awhile, so we didn't stay for it all. But it was fun to be part of it, for a half hour or so.

Brian took this lovely shot of the capitol at dusk, from our spot on the grass...

We took a little night walk around the city. I just have to laugh at this pic of the White House (that tiny spec, way in the background). We were totally exhausted by the time we got there, and it shows. Check out Samantha's nice scowl...

After D.C., we drove down through Virginia to Charlottesville to see Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's estate). Quite the place!! A few pics...

No pictures allowed inside, such a shame. But here we are on the back lawn...

And then, Brian got up really early to see the campus of University of Virginia there in Charlottesville, while the rest of slept. No, this isn't part of Jefferson's estate, but it was designed by him, can you tell?? ...

An artsy doorway, for those who love college campuses (Brian). I'd like to photoshop out those handrails, fyi...

After Virginia, we swung by Raleigh, North Carolina to see Duke and pick up my parents, who joined us for the rest of our trip. Fun! Here's a quick look at Duke. (I have to throw these in, for Brian)...

That bell tower (above) was playing some lovely hymns while we were there. I LOVE bells!

Here are the little darlings, at a fountain in one of Duke's botanical gardens...

Another part of the gardens...

Just to prove that we were really at Duke, ha ha...

And from there, on to the Outer Banks and Kittyhawk, NC. Anybody know what happened there?...

That's right, the Wright Brothers first flew their plane at Kittyhawk. How exciting!! My dad really wanted to see it, so we were glad to add it to our plans. Did you know, that grassy knoll was NOT there when the Wright Brothers flew? They actually chose this spot for the great sand dunes. But of course, a memorial needs grass, right? So... well, so much for authenticity, eh?

We really should have gotten a picture of my dad at Kittyhawk, but he was off reading all the plaques and taking pictures and buying a 200-page book about it. So... all you get is us...

Inside the visitors center, they have a full scale replica of the Wright Brothers' plane -- named the Flyer (original, no?) It was pretty neat to watch the demonstration and see how mechanical the different parts of the plane were.

And, inside a replica of their little hanger...

Well, this is getting so long. I think I'll do a vacation, part 2. Hold tight!!