Thursday, January 12, 2012

Outer Banks Fourth Anniversary Trip

For our fourth anniversary Dane and I went to Nag's Head in the Outer Banks for the weekend. I worked Friday night, we stayed up late Friday night watching the Razorbacks win the Cotton Bowl (WPS!!), and then we woke up at 8 am Saturday and headed to Nag's Head. It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive from our house.



The weather was perfect on Saturday. Low 60s, warm, comfortable. We were blessed with a great day to walk on the beach.


 ...but it wasn't quite warm enough for me to go barefoot. ;)






 We went to this great Pier. Jennette's Pier was rebuilt in 2011. It is a beautiful pier that you can pay to fish off of as well as rent for parties, weddings, etc.


Jennette's Pier
Dane picked our Bed and Breakfast and it was an excellent choice. The First Colony Inn was first built in 1932. It has the traditional OBX wood siding as well as a private walkway to the beach. In the summer they have beach chairs available. Breakfast includes eggs, bacon, biscuits, yogurt, croissants, bagels, cereal...
  
I loved the old tiny pieces of tile in the bathroom.


We loved the beautiful cabinet for storage and the TV.


We visited the Bodie Island lighthouse on Saturday. The lighthouse is beautiful, but it is currently waiting for funding for repairs after Hurricane Irene.

This was over by a pond with all kinds of wildlife and photographers taking pictures of the wildlife. I wish I would have taken a picture of the photographers, but we felt like we had to be super quiet..




Dane found a great restaurant - Tortuga's Lie for dinner Saturday night. We sat next to a guy who lived on the island his entire life, in fact his parents and grandparents lived there as well. We had an appetizer that was pieces of fish fried in a delicious sauce. It was definitely the best food we had.

Sunday we drove down the coast to Cape Hatteras. I remember my mom and Gran telling me stories about Cape Hatteras from when my mom was a little girl. It was amazing to be there.

Coast Guard! - Kevin Costner (The Guardian) anyone?!

Beaches at Hatteras were gorgeous as well.
They were the opposite of manicured as it is a National Seashore.

This is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The stripes are diagonal (Bodie's are horizontal) and the light circles every 7.5 seconds. It is in use today even with today's GPS systems, and is visible up to 20 miles. There were two National Park Volunteers that taught us this information ;). 
We did not get to climb the lighthouse as it was closed for the season, but we went into the base .

Houses that the lightkeeper (on the right) and assistants (left) lived in. 


Wildlife. I kept my distance. I have had bad experiences with giant ocean birds.
 



We had lunch at Breakwater restaurant. I had a crab cake sandwich. Yes, I know that crabs come from Maryland and Alaska. Dane had a shrimp sandwich.

Kiteboarding is extremely popular in the area. There is a local company Kitty Hawk Kite Company that supplies the kites. The water is absolutely freezing and the kiteboarders wear wet suits.

We had dinner Sunday night at Kelly's Restaurant in Nag's Head.

First Colony Inn at Night.

One fun thing in OBX is that you can drive on the beach. Who knew?! 

Thanks to my awesome amazing husband for planning such a fun weekend. I had a wonderful time, even better than I imagined. Thank you for all of the meals you have cooked, laundry and cleaning you have done, and overall love and support you have given me while you were on Christmas break. Thanks for taking me to places that I've always wanted to visit. Next on the list: Beaufort, NC.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Christmas at Home in Arkansas 2011


 I was only home for about 48 hours for Christmas this year, but it was worth it! Dane went home Tuesday because he we was out of school. I had to work Friday night so I headed out early Saturday morning. Pop was in the hospital with a mild heart attack and some other health issues so Mom was with him, but Dad, Beth, and Ross picked me up at the Memphis airport.

Saturday afternoon at 3pm we headed to Mama's for the Estes Christmas. Mama, Papa, my Aunt Wanda, and my cousins Deanna, Ryan and their two kids were there and we opened some gifts and had some Christmas snacks.

Saturday night Mom made a ham and we ate at home and played Pitch with Beth and Dad. We enjoy a lively game of Pitch from time to time.

 Ross got this awesome sweater from his grandparents for Christmas.


 Mom's Snow Village
 Mom's Christmas Tree

 Ross and his Uncle Dane
 Sunday morning we opened gifts at the Womack's home. Sherra and Tony also came up to visit.

 Corey and Reid got some awesome new PJs.
 Angie's Christmas decor.


 Corey with his french press coffee mug.
 Sherra and Tony with Corey and Dane

 We returned to my parent's house for the Webb Christmas. Mom made a delicious breakfast.
 Love this picture of my sweet Momma.
 christmas bandana.
 Breakfast - a Webb tradition. :)
 Pop was in the hospital so it was just the Estes family and the Aydelotte family this year. We missed our grandparents too much. We were able to visit Pop every day in the hospital and he is home now and feeling much better but he gave us a good scare.

 Sam at Christmas.
 Julie made homemade cinnamon rolls. They were delicious. I wish I had one right now.


 Dane and I bought Sam a table tennis set that attaches to any table. 
It provided lots of Christmas Day entertainment.

 Ross loving on his great aunt Julie.

 Sunday night we headed to Dane's grandparents for the Matlock Christmas. :)

 Reid wore the shirt Dane and I got him for Christmas.


 Sister picture.

For New Years Dane and I hosted two other couples. We had dinner and then went to the movies to see the new George Cloney movie- The Descendants. It's a great movie, but it's a heartbreaker.

 Carley and Eric (Duke Div Alumns and current UMC pastors)
 Brett (Duke Div Alum and current ThD student) and Dana (PT and the best coworker ever!).
Here's to a New Year!