I retired from teaching after 32 years. Neither of us had ever seen an ocean so we figured this would be the summer for a major trip. I dumped a bunch of jingles into the truck so it was running like new. I'd wanted to see the pacific, Sue the Atlantic. She figured there'd be more antique shops, etc. I said there'd more than likely be a topless beach or two on the west coast. That tripped the decision, the east coast won out.
Here's a brief synopsis of the trip.
The vacation was great, but it's good to be HOME! Ocean was awesome. We spent a lot of time in it (Sue more than me), a lot of time searching for shells (something we both got a kick out of), and a lot of time reading on the beach (me more than Sue). After the ocean, I was ready to head for home, but Sue didn't care for that idea. We did get back a day earlier than she'd planned so I guess it worked out for both of us.
Lot of driving (3,500 miles), I did it all. No problem. The truck was a champ. Sue's a great navigator and I'm not, especially when we'd get in areas where it was which-lane-shacane, mega-lanes, cars coming and going from every which direction... Hated it. Did my best to avoid large metro area, etc. The whole stretch from Winston-Salem to Raleigh was a pisser. Too much for this old country hick driver. Sue got us into a Days Inn in downtown Raleigh. "Oh, it's cool, there are used bookstores and antique shops all within a couple of blocks." After we checked in and set out I looked at her MapQuest map and exclaimed, "This isn't a map of the downtown area, it's all of Raleigh! What do you think those little squares are? They're blocks and there isn't anything close to our hotel!" No big deal to her, we'd drive to them. "%$$@#!" The first one we found, after many turn arounds looked like a cross between a soup kitchen, a used car parts swap meet, an open air DAV, with some dealin' thrown in. Told her there was no way she was going in there. We did end up finding a couple of used bookstores which satisfied her. Throughout the whole trip she decided I was more into results where for her it was process. "Results? Hell I just want to get where we're goin'!"
Enjoyed the scenery (once we got out of NE). Nah, it was great coming home and seeing open space and open sky. Drove over the Great Smokey Mountains. Not as majestic as the Rockies, but still impressive. We'd planned on doing the Blue Ridge parkway for the length of NC. We got on it right after the Great Smokies, but had to get off after 50 miles or so. It was terribly foggy in spots, to the point where visibility was non-existent. People were pulling off and stopping, Not me, results remember. It started to rain which made things a mite hairy so we found an exit and ended up taking the interstate up to Mt. Airy.
Mt. Airy, gad I don't know what I was expecting, but wow were we disappointed. Almost every business had some reference to TAGS in it's name, and all had junk plastered with images, etc. of Andy & crew. The area they claimed they re-created to emulate the jail, town hall, the fix-it shop, the Darling's cabin .... gad, I could have done better here. In their attempt to honor Mayberry, they denigrated it. The tourists didn't help (I know, what were we...) We got there real early in the morning, most shops weren't open so obviously not many people. The theater had an open stage that morning so local musicians came and played. It was a blast. Many came from areas quite a ways a way and most didn't know each other. They'd take turns introducing each other and leading on songs, while everyone else on stage backed each other up (I wanted to holler out, the words of Brisco Darling, "I didn't know you strang Sheriff. Well, jest jump in where you can and hang on. Ready boys? a 1 and a 2 and a 3...") Afterward some of them moved out to the sidewalk and kept playing. By this time there were tourists everywhere. We wanted to eat at the diner, but it wasn't open quite yet and there was already a line down the block. We did find the statue of Andy and Opie. By the time I was done genuflecting, buses of tourists were pulling up in the parking lot (they were coming in by the thousands [OK, so I exaggerate a bit, but that's what it seemed like to me when I just wanted to spend some quality time with Ange and Op.]) We got a couple of pictures and high tailed it out of there.
We did go through the area of Kentucky (Whitley County) where my Grandpa Moses grew up. We pulled in early in the morning and found a building that was named, Moses Grocery. As I was taking pictures a guy pulled up and got out of his truck. Of course Sue had to run over ask him if he was a Moses. "Yes ma'am I am", he replied and went into the store. She ran back and told me he was a Moses and I should go talk to him. Mumble, grumble, "Oh, OK." As it turns out Rocky is the owner's son. He stops by every morning, takes a quick inventory and goes on into Williamsburg or Corbin, has breakfast with his buddies, and brings back what the store needs. Told him I didn't want to take up his time then, but he was very friendly and willing to talk. He told the same stories Grandpa used to tell of Joshua Moses (who went to KY with Daniel Boone). I had to laugh and said it was good to hear them coming from him because Grandpa was quite a story teller and you never knew what was true and what was not when he got to goin' on. He showed us how to get to the cemetery where Joshua is buried (Rocky still decorates his grave with flowers.) Told him Grandpa was born somewhere along Little Wolf Creek. He told us how to get to the road that follows it and told us of an old Moses cemetery along it. Mentioned all my great uncles and the one who remained in Pleasant View. He didn't know of them specifically as their names were all pretty common ones in the area. Said his Dad most likely knew of them, but he didn't get up until 3 or 4 pm. He keeps the store open late and the old guys in the town stop by for smokes, talk, and cards. We thought about going back that way to talk with his father, but didn't. Anyway, went up the holler, found the cemetery (one of many), collected some stones out of the creek and headed out. I tell you, you throw a stick anywhere in the county you'll hit either a live or dead Moses. This side-trip was a highlight for both of us. Oh yeah, his father had a corner of the store decorated with John Wayne and Mayberry pictures. Ya just know the old guy's alright by me.
The Outer Banks was more developed/commercialized than what we thought it would be from what we'd read in forums on the Internet. Roanoke Island, even though it was in the sound and not the ocean, was pretty cool. Ocracoke Island, while it had the best beach (#1 in the nation that year) and the largest tracks of undeveloped land/beaches was a bit depressing. They're really sold on themselves and try to play the Jimmy Buffett/Key West image too much. Service left a lot to be desired. It was almost like they had the attitude, "This is our place, if you're going to be here, deal with it." Beaufort back on the coast was our favorite place. It had a pretty active port on the sound side, a small downtown & boardwalk along the piers. Nice restaurants, live outdoor music in multiple places. Great place to sit and watch the sunset. I was ticked that the two coffee shops were closed that evening so I thought we couldn't get Internet access until we got back to the B&B. Sue (who'll talk to anyone and everyone [and I won't]) saw some guy with a backpack with a keyboard sticking out of it. She asked him if he was going somewhere that had wireless access. He asked if we had a laptop with us and said the boardwalk was wireless for the entire length. "But, don't use it, they only have high-speed broadband. You can get on my network." He pointed to the largest damn 'boat' I'd ever seen outside of a navy cruiser or cruise ship. "I've got a wireless satellite connection. It's a secure network and much faster." He gave us the login info and waved us goodbye. "Just don't download a virus." he said in parting. When I got the laptop fired up I found his network, but the boat was so far away that the signal strength was very weak. The boardwalk's was full blast, so even though it was an unsecured network, I went with it, but I kept looking at his vessel and couldn't imagine the lifestyle he must live.
We were amazed with the fresh seafood. Amazed may not be the word, bewildered may be better. In my opinion what we had wasn't any better than what we can get here on the plains. Sue had fresh scallops one night that were excellent, and while everything was good, it wasn't what we were expecting. We had take out fresh shrimp and crab legs one night, and of course didn't think about the utensil to crack open the legs. Luckily I had a multi-tool in the truck with pliers which served as well. Again, they were very good, but nothing to hoot and holler about. Trevor (Mr. Know-It-All son) asked what we had. I said, crab cakes, Spanish mackerel, some kind of tuna, bluefish, etc. He claims that it isn't until one gets into the higher end stuff (yellow tuna, Maine lobsters) that one really notices the fresh caught difference. What the hell does he know, he's rarely been out of Nebraska, but you know he's probably right. We were surprised too as to how much stuff is fried. We had to ask in many places for steamed or broiled, but we weren't hitting the elite restaurants either so it may be different in those places. Have had my share of cole slaw and hush puppies, I tell you. Since we're on the topic of 'eatin', it was a trip eating out with Sue. For every meal she had to quiz the waiter/waitress as to what's healthiest, does this come with whole wheat or whole grain, is this fried or broiled, if it's fried is it deep-fat or pan fried, what's in this sauce, can I get this substituted for the french fries, etc. I, on the other hand, ate it all and ate it as served. I guess that's part of the reason she looks like she does and I look like I do.
We came back through VA and WV, through the Appalachian mountains. I was again in result mode (goin' home, I'm goin' home [Hell, I can go anywhere I want on m'deck with my laptop]) so we kept to the interstate, but I would have liked to have gotten on to some of the back roads to see rural Appalachia.
I discovered I'm not a good traveler. Two weeks of staying in hotels/B&B's, and eatin' in restaurants was too much for me. We both agreed we screwed up in our attempt to see as much of the coast as possible. We did two nights here, two nights there, etc. when it would have been better to book 6 nights in the center of the Outer Banks and take side trips from there. As it was we wasted so much time checking in, checking out, unloading, loading, driving to this hotel, that hotel. We didn't get to see/do as much as we'd planned, but we did get to spend a lot of time on the beach and that was the primary objective of the trip - see the ocean.
Sue brought back lots of used cook books, etc. We had to hit every antique shop, second hand store, used bookstore, and Goodwill we passed. No that's not fair because there were many times I said, "Ah shoot, we missed that turn. Too late now, we'll just keep driving." Whew, the junk stores in NC aren't any different than those in Lincoln. I think they all pass around the same stuff 'cause they all have the same odor and they all think they've got treasures for sale. She did bring back a fair number of flower frogs and vases, but didn't find any great bargain or even see any phenomenal piece. She admitted it's better searching/buying off eBay. I found one shirt I liked in a shop at Kill Devil Hills. Didn't buy it as I figured we'd see plenty more and this was our first night on the ocean. Never did find anything I cared for after that. Bought 4-5 used books, but discovered when we got back that I had 2-3 of them already. The one thing I did get myself was a $3.00 Sucker. It's a circular piece of foam with the center cut out. You slip it down over your beverage bottle or can of choice, put it down on most any surface (doesn't even have to be level) and the Sucker keeps it in place. To lift the bottle/can, you simply tweak an edge of the foam and up it comes. No more knocking over the can/bottle while I'm on the computer. Doesn't prevent me from dibbling down my front, but at least there are no major spills on the desktop.
Only downer in the whole vacation was my grand plan of, ah, hmm, let's just saying 'doin' it' in every state was quickly shattered when, on the first day we crossed into Iowa at 8:30 in the morning and I said, "Where should we pull over so we can..." "Just keep driving," was Sue's reply.
All-in-all, a grand trip it was.
