Life's a BEACH!

Well, I just got back home from the most relaxing week I've had in a long time. My friend Victoria invited me to go along with her family to the Outerbanks of North Carolina. And although it was a LONG HAUL... it was WELL worth it! It was so nice, I'm glad I had taken the whole week off to enjoy it with them.

Most of the first day, we spent on the road. But, we did get a good start, so we arrived at the Bodie Lighthouse by about 2:30 in the afternoon. Kicked around there before checking into our beachhouse at 4:00. Got checked into our house - complete with 5 bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths, game room, elevator, hot tub, private pool and outside showers!! With the house being built on stilts and then having 3 huge stories atop of that, on a strip of land not any wider than a mile across... you can only imagine the view we had of the ocean on one side and the sound on the other.

I got the bedroom/bath in the lower level, so I had that and the game room and second kitchen area all to myself. Then we got some good local seafood for dinner and some groceries for the week and just got settled in the rest of the night.

Monday, we took it easy and just basically enjoyed being on vacation. A little pool time. A little beach time. A little game time. And a LOT of lounge time.

Tuesday, I suppose we were a bit more ambitious. We took off for Roanoke Island to see what we could find there. Hit a few of the shops. Headed over to the Museum to check out the 'Lost Colony', but decided we were more hungry for food than knowledge. So, we got a good hearty lunch on the waterfront and missed out on the 'Lost Colony' story.

Wednesday, we headed back up to Roanoke to find out about the 'Lost Colony', but we didn't beat the rainstorm that hit that afternoon. Basically drove 30 min's for some good ole Micky D's. :) Tried to drive around and just kind of see what all was there, but the rain wasn't about to let up, so headed back to the house. Of course, they hadn't had any rain there. But, it did ease over, so we just stayed in and enjoyed some more game time. Never did make it back to the 'Lost Colony' presentation. I'm assuming they're all still lost though. We never heard otherwise. :)

Thursday was so frustrating. All you hear about is Ocracoke Island. Ocracoke Island. Ocracoke Island. So, we cut out a whole day to check it out and see what all the hype is about. Drove 45 min's down to the end of Hatteras Island to catch the ferry to Ocracoke. Got into what can only be described as a parking lot to sit and wait our turn for an available ferry... An hour and a half!!! Sitting. In the car. In the sun (I can't imagine doing this in the heat of the summer). FINALLY made it onto a ferry that took us close to an hour to get us to the island! By that point, we were just hungry, so grabbed a little something to eat at a local deli, headed over to see their puny lighthouse, and pretty much chalked it up to a lost day.

The one fun thing that day was - on the way down, we stopped in at the Hatteras Lighthouse and climbed to the top of that. 257 steps, I think? And boy am I outta shape!! But, the weather was so awesome and it was such a view from the top, I'm glad we got to do that.

With the exception of the one rainy afternoon, we really had some great weather. It truly couldn't have been better. High 70s / Low 80s with a nice breeze off the water, pretty much anytime and anywhere you went. That alone would be enough to keep me there!!

So, Friday, we wrapped it up by just knocking about the shops back up in Roanoke and had an awesome lunch at the little Full Moon Cafe there. Hit a couple of shops on the way back and enjoyed a good dinner that night at the little Asian place at the end of our street - The Board Wok. :) Walked home and then fit in one more walk on the beach.

Before you knew it, it was time to pack up and head back.

We hated to leave. The climate. The beach. The house. The climate. The good food. All the things we didn't get around to seeing. The climate. ... Did I mention the climate?? It was all just so great. I'd go again in a heartbeat.

But, you know, it's funny. Half of the way home, I was trying to think of how/when to get back out there and who else would enjoy it as much as I had and what I could do to live there :) ... (Victoria suggested me running a peanut shop, but I just don't think that's my calling). But, I think it was just the Georgia heat getting to me, because as I drove out of my all-too familiar Social Circle, in the home stretch of my drive, I looked out over the field there and it was the most beautiful sunset I'd seen in some time. And do you know, we tried and tried every night to catch a pretty sunset over the sound... and never really found what we were looking for. It took getting back to, of all places, the outskirts of Social Circle to catch that gorgeous sun setting.

And I thought back to this as Pastor Rob told a story of a golfer and his caddy playing at Augusta National. Both guys, totally enamored and overwhelmed by the meticulous landscape of the Augusta Course, the golfer tells his caddy that the staff there makes sure that there's not so much as a weed anywhere on their course. Several days later, the caddy runs over to the golfer and says "Guess what I found!" The golfer asks "What?" ... "A weed!" he replies. And the golfer responds "I guess you're always going to find what you're looking for."

And although we weren't able to find the sunset we were looking for over on the islands, it was waiting for me at home. Reminding me that God's blessings are all around, if we look for them. Getting back to my church home. Playing with the kids at Nanny's. And even getting back to a job that I enjoy (of course, I say this prior to seeing what they've left for me to do!)... And that will always rank higher than any beachfront property.

...(Though the beach does run a close second.) ;)