Sunrise Over the Ocean

I slept poorly and woke early at 7am. And lo and behold, I see the sun just peeking over the ocean from the front of our condo. Sunrise was 7:13am and here it is…

My morning thoughts of travel were reflecting on how many new homes we saw on the drive from Virginia Beach to here in Kitty Hawk. It seemed like each one was 3,000sq ft or larger and all in the farmhouse style. Who is buying these mansions I wondered? Who is paying 600-800k because I checked Zillow and they aren’t cheap. New Yorkers apparently. And I don’t blame them one bit. My mom’s entire family left New York in the early 70’s and came to sunny California. I don’t think that anybody owns the land in any state. We are all just visitors on a journey. To each their own. 

First stop of the day was the aquarium and with our crew of 12. We had 10:30am reservations so after a breakfast of toaster waffles, sausage, and cantaloupe, we headed over ready to check out the fish!

It was a pretty cool aquarium and thankfully it was indoor because it is windy and that wind chill is no joke! We also learned about the USS Monitor which is a sunken ship off the coast of Virginia - it was a Navy Warship built during the Civil War and it seemed ironclad…until a storm toppled it. There is a great quote about how the storm outside isn’t what takes you down, but it’s the storm that gets inside you that can take you down. 

We also learned that this aquarium helps with turtles in the area that are struggling for whatever reason. They rehabilitate them and then release them back into the wild. That was a pretty cool aspect of the learning experience we had. 

Next up was the lost colony of Roanoke Island . If you aren’t familiar with this part of history, 120 people came over in 1587 and the leader of the group John White, left and came back in 1590 and the entire colony was gone with no trace left behind. It’s a mystery what happened to them but John White’s daughter had a baby while here and that baby is known as the first English born child in North America. Was Virginia Dare the first “American”? 🤔 

We missed the play which is from all accounts an awesome performance in the summer, but alas the winter months have things that are shut down. We also learned about how the north had won one of the first battles with the south on this island and they freed the people who were previously enslaved by the south. This gave other enslaved people the idea that if they could make it across the river, they’d be freed. 

We were hungry after all of the history lessons so we mapped out a great sandwich shop which did not disappoint. As soon as we arrived at Poor Richard’s we could tell it was popular since the line was nearly out the door. We waited patiently in line and ordered a plethora of different choices including a BLT, a hot Italian sub, a grilled cheese, and New England clam chowder. Everything was tasty but the BLT with avocado was the best in my opinion. All fresh and super yummy. 

Next was a stop by the grocery store for more coffee for the morning and maybe some snacks. I am really missing my illy coffee back home, which if you haven’t bought it before, they are amazing!!  Then a return to the condo for relaxing and hanging out. Card games, goofing around, and maybe a hot bath for the littlest one.

Many chats and card games later, some leftovers were eaten and a few pizzas ordered. Lots of fun and loud excitement over ice cream sandwiches from the freezer.  

Basketball was watched, NFL football started at 8pm…