When we woke up yesterday, Mr. FixIt said, “Today is YOUR day. You get to choose whatever you want to do!” Oh, wow! We originally thought we’d go fishing, but after getting skunked on Thursday we decided we were kinda over that. We fished just about every day we were down here on this trip so we were fine with doing something else.
I told Mr. FixIt there were three things I’d like to do…visit the Elizabethan Gardens over in Manteo, go to Knitting Addiction in Kitty Hawk, and take in the Bodie Lighthouse. We stopped at the Golden Arches and got breakfast sandwiches and coffee then headed straight to the gardens.
We visit just about every time we are down here. We took the kids there in October and they nearly jogged through it. It obviously wasn’t their cup of tea. This time, Mr. FixIt and I moseyed through at OUR pace, stopping to see and touch the flowers and plants, read the informational markers, rummage around in the plant shop and the gift shop. We sat on benches in shady corners, marveling at the statuary hidden amongst the countless varieties of shrubbery and trees. We found a path that took us out to the old gates that have fallen away with the erosion of the beaches. There was a bench there and we sat for a long time, holding hands and watching the sun glint on the water. We both commented how pleasant the gardens are when you take the time and “smell the roses.”
From there, we headed up to Kitty Hawk. There is a HUGE Hot Rod and Custom Car Show in Nag’s Head and it took us a long time to get through there. The police were stopping traffic in order to let pedestrians cross the busy four-lane Highway 12 with its 50mph speed limit. Most people see that as merely a suggestion and I have no idea how people don’t get killed on that road every day.
It was fun to see Jeanne at the yarn store. Even though I have a gazillion skeins of yarn at home, and my mantra this year is “use it up,” I HAVE to support local yarn shops whenever I can. I am actually running low on sock yarn so I bought a few skeins of fun colors, different textures, and varied fiber content. Plus a couple of Jeanne’s own patterns. Mr. FixIt waited patiently in the car for me as I browsed and chatted with my knitting friend I’ve been visiting for the last seven years.
When I was finished, we stopped at Food Lion to get some for ham for sandwiches and had a quick “picnic lunch” in the truck before our next stop. We thought about walking up to the top of the Bodie Island Lighthouse, but when we got there, I remembered that it is the one I couldn’t get up more than a third of the way. The walls close in towards the top and there is no movement to the air. I felt like I was suffocating and I left Mr. FixIt to finish with our son-in-law’s dad, Ben. I went back down and sat with Sue. She couldn’t make the climb because of bad knees. I demurred again and Mr. FixIt was happy to wander around the grounds. We took the boardwalk out into the marshy ponds and sat there enjoying the gentle breeze that kept the mosquitoes at bay.
When we got back to the camper, we started putting everything away…inside and out. We packed up the truck and I hooked up to the camper and took it over to dump the tanks. Mr. FixIt laughed when I got back and said some guy came by and saw him sitting in his lawn chair reading…with no camper.
“Where’s your camper, man?”
“My wife took it over to dump the tanks.”
“Wait….what??? Your WIFE took the camper to dump? Man, she’s a keeper!”
I know…I’m ruining it for the other gals at the campground. lol
So, our time at the beach comes to a close. Today we head toward home and we’ll stay overnight at the campground we visited on the way down here. We’ll be SURE to get there before 7:30 this time!!! I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with us and vacationing vicariously. We’ve had a wonderful time and I truly loved sharing it with you all!
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”You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.“
Psalms 8:5-8 NIV