(starting where I left off in Sunrise, Sunset Part 1…)
After the couples massage, Will and me (is it “me” or “I”? “I” sounds better but I think “me” is grammatically correct…) relaxed a bit and got ready to go to dinner. As nice as the massage was, I actually wish that it hadn’t been included in our bed and breakfast package. It made things rather difficult because it was scheduled right in the middle of the day and prevented us from going to Ocracoke as we had planned. Although, let me be clear…if that is my biggest problem, I am very blessed indeed. It’s not a complaint, more of just an observation.
Anyway, that night for dinner we planned to go to the South Beach Grille. I had discovered this restaurant through Restaurant.com and after reading through many, many reviews, had scored a $25 gift certificate for $4. I was a bit nervous because even after reading the reviews, I had no idea whether or not this place would be great or a bust. Thankfully, my worries were all in vain (as they usually are) and the food was amazing. Very fresh seafood, great service, and a lot of food for a reasonable price. If we get the chance to go back to the OBX, we will definitely eat there again.
After dinner (and doing our nightly check-in by phone with the kids), we headed back to our B&B to enjoy our last evening in the OBX together. We decided to grab some wine and sit outside by the fire pit. But alas, the young couple who had used it the night before had used the last of the gas and we were out of luck. It was then that we discovered the tree swing in the backyard, and I was ecstatic. I love swings. One of my favorite moments of our trip was Will pushing me on that swing behind that Victorian house with a canopy of stars overhead. It was so much fun.
After playing some more in the backyard, we decided to head in and watch a movie before bed. I was determined to get better sleep that night too because I knew I would be returning to the land of disrupted sleep soon enough.
Except…it wasn’t meant to be. I can’t complain though, because the reason for not getting much sleep that night was that Will woke me around 6:00am (granted, I was kind of awake as that is near the time Asher often wakes) to ask if I wanted to go with him to watch the sun rise. I quickly debated warm bed vs. sunrise, and the sunrise won, as we have never watched the sunrise together and with young children, the chance to do so doesn’t come along very often. We dressed quickly and drove about a mile down the road to the waterfront. We walked out on a pier and cuddled up under a blanket and enjoyed the beauty around us.
God gave us such an amazing world to experience.
Following the beautiful sunrise, we went back, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast. We packed up our things, checked out of our room, and headed towards Jockey Ridge State Park, hoping to have a couple hours there before we had to head back towards home. The sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge are incredible and are the tallest on the east coast. Climbing them was actually an unexpected workout!
The view from the ground (Will took this of me at the top)…
And then, after the climb, we did this…
It was like playing in a giant sandbox, although unfortunately, sliding all the way down didn’t really work. I discovered a way to do it in spurts, though.
Soon it was time to go home, and after grabbing a couple of sandwiches at a local sandwich shop, we were on our way. It was hard to leave that “couple time” behind, but I was ready to see our kids again and step back into my mommy shoes. We started our trip with a sunset and ended it with a sunrise, and while some may think the opposite would have been more fitting, I kind of like to think that it was the way it should be. This trip we took to celebrate our 7th anniversary is only a blip in the time God has given us together- that last day didn’t mark the end of anything but the trip itself. I’d rather look at that last day as the start to our next 7 years together.
And you know, we never did get to ride that tandem bike. I guess we will have to go back!
Dancing in the Mundane 