25 March – I slept in this morning. This morning, we went to an equipment rental place, where Kyle and Paul got wetsuits and boogie boards. We got back, and they played with those while the rest of us played frisbee and made a sand castle. I went in and took a nap for a while. Then I took a shower and sat around for a time. Kendra and Paul went out to get dinner on their own, and the rest of us went to the grocery store. We came home and cooked a feast of fettucine, alfredo, veggies and wine (they had salmon, too). That was really good. When Ken and Paul got back, we played drinking games until around midnight when I went to bed.
26 March – It was rather gray and blustery this morning. The ocean was pretty wild. Kendra, Anne and I went to the Gap outlet nearby. Got some nice deals – I got a pair of jeans, khakis, a dress for work and a tank top for only $70. It started pouring as we were driving there and kept on for a little while. When we got back, there wasn’t much to do, so I watched two lectures, read a bit, and played some cribbage. Jessica, Anne, Kyle and I went to buy some salt water taffy. Once we came back, we all went out to dinner at a pizza place. We were the only people there, but it was really good. Kyle, Kendra and Paul went to see Blade 2, so the rest of us came back and chilled around the TV for a while. A few rounds of hearts, then we (Kendra, Paul and I) went for a walk on the beach. Even though there were some clouds, the moon shown really brightly on the shore. We watched the news and played some more cards.
27 March – There was a store sometime last night, but I was only barely conscious of it. This morning dawned cool and blustery, and it stayed that way for most of the day. I watched two lectures when I got up this morning. We played some sheepshead until about 1, when we decided we should do something with the day. We drove over to the Wright Brothers park. The museum was closed for renovation, so we weren’t allowed in. That was disappointing. Instead, we traced the path and walked up the big dune to the monument. The wind was gusting up there – so much so that it made my ears hurt and me not a happy camper. We took some pictures and made our way back down. We decided to drive up to the Currituck Beach lighthouse next. The clouds were starting to clear, and the sun came out to help us admire the huge, gorgeous houses along the way. After a nice winding drive, we made it up there. Since I had climbed it before, I saved my $6 and waited below while everyone else went to the top of the lighthouse. Once they came back down, we poked around the gift shop before driving down to the kite store in Duck, the same one I bought my kite at. Kendra and Paul bought one, as did Anne. We drove back down towards Kitty Hawk. Some people weren’t hungry enough for dinner yet, so we poked in a few shops for a bit. We were going to go to a buffet, but for $19/person, it was too expensive. We drove to the Crabby Shack instead, where I had multiple vegetarian items to choose from on the menu. I settled on stir fry. Yum. The girls went home afterwards, while I ran to Walmart to buy a replacement crochet hook and some charcoal, so we could grill out tomorrow night. I came back and called home to say hi to Mom and Dad. I had some frozen yogurt for dessert, then took a shower. I spent the rest of the evening catching up on my reading.
28 March – It was again cold and windy today, but at least the sun was shining all day. We went over to Jockey’s Ridge once everybody was up and awake. Anne, Kendra and Paul went over earlier than the others to fly our kites. The park was really neat looking – huge expanse of sand and scrub – if it was warmer, it would be just like the desert. The wind was nice and strong. Too strong, actually, because by the time we left, my ears were hurting, and I was cold and cranky. We went grocery shopping for dinner afterwards – everyone else was having grilled seafood, so I got a can of soup. I took a nap while they made dinner. Oh, I forgot that I got up early and watched three lectures. After my nap, I helped a little with dinner and ate mine. We watched some TV after a discussion about leaving. I wanted to leave really early so we got back at a decent time, but the other car wasn’t willing to do that (I was not happy, but I was outnumbered…). Fine, whatever. Went to bed early and did a little reading beforehand. Apparently, we’re going to have one more nice day here tomorrow. I hope so! I could use a little more sun. We hadn’t had warm enough weather to play on the beach since Monday. That would be lovely.
29 March – Our last full day here. I’m happy for that because I am ready to go home. I got up earlier than the rest again, as usual, to watch one last lecture. Slowly, the others started getting up as I had a fight with my laptop. Everyone else took off to run different errands, but I stayed back and read more of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Really good book so far. After a while, I decided to go out in the sunshine and walked the ~2 miles to the pier up the beach. That was a nice, long, peaceful walk – a good thing because I wasn’t terribly happy with the trip or everyone. After my walk, I did more reading and took a nap. We went to the Black Pelican, a fancier restaurant, for dinner our last night there. Good food – I got a portabella quesadilla. We didn’t actually eat until ~9. When we got back, packed up and cleaned.
30 March – Up early for a long day of traveling. I drove the first leg from Nag’s Head to halfway through Maryland. Very tiring. We got to Madison ~9:30 and to Rapids ~12 am. Long day, but a lot better and faster than the way down. Goddamn Cracker Barrels!
{It didn't sink in until later, but I was in the midst of a bad bout of seasonal affective disorder this trip, which made me and everyone that had to deal with me unhappy. I wish I would have realized it sooner so I could have gotten something for it.}
{transcribed 2/18/2020}
