vacation photographs!
thursday, july 4th, 2024.
We got back from our vacation to see my folks up in North Carolina last weekend, but I haven't had time to share any pictures or write about it until now! Anyway, the picture above is a photo my daughter took of the sunset from my folks' backyard dock. The no-see-ums were out in force, so I didn't stay out there too long after the photo was taken, but it was magical out there. The photograph doesn't do it justice at all!
Our first full day there was rainy, so we visited the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium, which is a perennial favorite destination of ours.
The jellyfish are probably the most photogenic exhibit there, and much better viewed from the other side of a pane of glass. Jellyfish stings hurt!
Of course, we had to ride the two-hour ferry to Ocracoke Island again. Here's my wife and daughter on the bow on the ride back. We played D&D on both legs of the journey.
We didn't spend any time at the beach per se, but we did spend some time shopping around Beaufort and looking at the boats in the marinas. We stopped in a local coffee shop for some iced chais and a cortado. The weather was just gorgeous!
One of our favorite things to do is load up in my dad's boat and go clamming. Here's my youngest waiting for the rest of the crew and my dad loading the boat up with our clamming supplies. Clamming is interesting— you basically find some muddy shore in the marshes and rake the seabed until you hear a *tink!*, then you scoop the rake under the clam and pull it up. We had a catch of maybe 30 or 40 clams, which my stepmom cooked in a clam chowder for us that night. It was delicious— she can really cook up a storm!
We were invited to my city's Independence Day celebration, which happened last Saturday, so we came home a bit early on Friday. It rained a little, but that didn't seem to deter the hometown crowd from coming to see Jefferson Starship, Scott Stapp, and the firework show. Despite a few technical glitches where the band's monitors cut out, they put on a pretty great show.
Last year's firework show was rained out, so they had two years' worth of fireworks to shoot all in one night. It was pretty ridiculous. The fireworks just kept going and going!
I didn't get any photographs without my daughters in it, but we took 'em to their first big concert Sunday night: cavetown & Mother Mother. They had a great time, although a few people (including my younger daughter) wound up with a bit o' heat exhaustion. I left some comments suggesting improvements that the venue could do to reduce that danger, but who knows if they'll actually take them to heart.
Since we had to kill a little time waiting for the show in Atlanta, we rode around on the MARTA subway. It was hot, humid, and had all the familiar odors of public transit, but I think the fam enjoyed the adventure all the same. Definitely got hit with a wave of the ol' nostalgia from my time living in Atlanta and riding MARTA all the time to get around.
All in all, we had a pretty great vacation! It was super restful with plenty of downtime, and it was just great spending so much time with all the kiddos. I was definitely glad to get back on my bicycle when I got back, though! It's surprising how addictive physical activity can be.
That's all for now! Until next time, be well. :)