We started 2019 off with a super fun family vacation. The girls did not go back to school until the 7th of January. Once new years is over, Christmas break seems to drag, so we decided to get out of town for a few day. We headed to the Outer Banks, North Carolina for some off-season winter beach time. The Beach is empty in January, so everything is super cheap. The cold did not stop us from having a great time. The girls got new kites for Christmas and the beach was the perfect spot to use them. A storm was blowing in the first evening we were there and this made kite flying perfect. The girls still ran and splashed in the waves...they were big the first night and the girls loved running from them as the water crashed onto the shore. We didn't think they would actually get the water so we were not prepared with swimsuits the first trip to the beach. We were wrong and they got totally soaked. We were staying about two minutes from the beach, so they didn't seem to mind.
It was a bit drizzly the next day but that did not stop of us from exploring. We did some sight seeing, learned a lot about the Wright brothers and really enjoyed the Wright Brothers monuments and memorials. It was technically closed due to the government shutdown, but the wonderful lady at the visitors center told us the back way to get into the memorial. It always pays to stop and ask questions!
We also had fun looking at light houses. We saw the second and third tallest in the United States. The tallest one is on the Outer Banks as well, but it was farther than we wanted to drive.
We went to Roanoke Island as well to check out the site of the Lost First Colony. We were bummed the museum was closed, again...due to the government shutdown. But thanks to my savvy ways...and the help of Google, I was able to give us our own personal tour. And the atmosphere was fitting for the Lost colony because the place was deserted. Both Sienna and Natalia have been learning about our unsuccessful first European settlers in school, so it was fun to go and see what they are learning about.
We loved being totally surrounded by water wherever we went...and that included the resort we stayed at. It had a little indoor water park. This was the perfect place to stay when going to the beach in the off season. We spent hours at the water park and the girls loved it. We went one morning and were the only people there for about an hour before others showed up. Another afternoon we played for a couple hours and there was only one or two other families; it was awesome. The girls went down this blue slide at least a hundred times. They would go as fast as they could and leave one right after the other. They would end up in a big heap at the bottom of the slide. They thought it was extra awesome when I joined in. There was one big slide, and Estelle was just an inch too short for it; she was sad. She is a pretty good swimmer now, so she would have been fine on it, but she is just so small.
I think we went to the beach three times while we were there. Swimsuits and coats...I have to love that. Hector and I did not get in the water, but we had fun watching the girls.
We tried to walk around the shops and little boardwalk the last day we were there. Pretty much everything was closed for the winter. It was Windy, but beautiful, and Estelle does not love walking, but it was fun anyway.
We went into this cute little Beach Chapel.
This lighthouse was cool, but we couldn't get any closer. It was closed off and the trees around it blocked our view. I hadn't even factored in the government shutdown affecting our vacation until we arrived and then we realized so many of the places on the Outer Banks are National Parks and National Monuments.
We stayed four days, three nights. We stayed up late every night swimming or watching movies. The girls slept well, they loved that they had a secret upstairs bedroom all to themselves. However, they were still exhausted and they all crashed on the car ride home. I love that we are able to take little family get-a-ways. I love that there are so many drive-able places that we can jet off too. There are so many new experiences to have...all within driving distance to DC. I also love that I am savvy and able to find us really good deals on fun experiences! I am awesome... at least at some things.
