One of the great things that Michelle and I (and now our children) have in common is our sincere love of traveling. Seeing new places, trying new foods, and just being 'on the road' have always been among our favorite activities. Nothing, at least in our minds, beats the feeling of an impromptu roadtrip to some place that we've never been. With three kids...and of course the 'kicker' is the 20-month old...traveling is obviously not as 'easy' as being home. At home the kids have their routines, all of the the things that entertain them, snacks always available, etc. But somewhere along the line our family became completely adept at being on the move. In fact, our kids are starting to get the 'itch' to travel as well once we've been home for a weekend or two. As I look back through my journal, it seems that we are going 'somewhere' three weekends a month over the first 8 months of this year. Sometimes it is a day trip to the Baltimore Aquarium, other times it is just out to our favorite campground in Luray and many times we are just on a long hike that ends up at a winery (not by accident).
With all of that being said, there is one place in our life that we go to NOT have anything change. For us, Cape Hatteras is a sanctuary that we go to several times each year (we went again this past weekend with our kids as well as Tina, Jordan, Brooke, Jada and Gigi) with the hope that we won't see anything new. I often wonder whether it is Hatteras itself that is so special or if it is the comfort and memories of the place that I love so much. Regardless, it is the one place in our life that we visit over and over again and receive great enjoyment from the 'usualness' of it. Maybe that is what makes it so relaxing for me, I can mentally just 'check out' for a few days and my mind can take advantage of the rest.
What exactly do we do in Hatteras? I think to those of you who love the NJ or MD beaches, you would be incredibly disappointed. There is no boardwalk. There are no places to get funnel cakes. No fireworks at night. You don't get the 'rush' of staking out your piece of sand in the morning and knowing that your spot is better than someone else's. None of that. Hatteras is a little fishing village at the very tip of the Outer Banks and, for the most part, it has remained relatively the same over the past 17 years (I first visited with Michelle's family when I was 19 years old and have gone back at least 40 times since) that we have been visiting as a family.
It is really just 'good ole fashioned' fun. We take the doors and top off the Jeep and drive for miles on the sand without seeing another soul. We make big bonfires on the beach at night and make smores. Sometimes we'll take clamming rakes out into the bay and catch dozens of clams. We like to visit the lighthouse and stop by the snapping turtle pond (see pic). Our kids love catching blue crabs with nets and then steaming them up at night. The ferry to Ocracoke is always fun and feeding the seagulls pieces of bread straight from your hand is an annual dare! We play petanque (like Bocce). We love to get smoothies and watch the fishing boats come in at 4:00 every day and throw their catch up on the dock. We drink wine, sometimes smoke a good cigar and really just 'hang out' as a family. Honestly, it's all I've ever wanted. We fantasize about owning a home in Hatteras and coming down each year from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We think about having all of our family and friends come visit throughout the summer and all of the great seafood we would eat. Someday!
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