so...now the good stuff!
what a fab time we had! OBX...the outer banks...for all three of us (and we have all been a lot of places) one of the best locations, and best kept secrets in the world. lots of tourists (though, we didnt hear another foreign accent), but its so long and extended that nowhere seemed crowded. there is the pamlico sound on one side....huge, but calm so for swimming, sailing, kids, paddle-boarding. and the ocean on the other for surfing, beachcombing, walking and just listening to the waves. all the houses are on stilts with the carports underneath...and they are huge! some of them sleep 20 people....and i just want to stay in one right on the beach. it has its own quirky charm, lots of delicious seafood, 4 lighthouses, beach buggies for rent to drive on the sand...and, of course, the pirate connection. blackbeards hideaway was on ocracoke island...and the call the outer banks 'the graveyard of the atlantic' as over a thousand ships have gone down here. famously....raleighs lost colony was here (now the name of a local brewery) and there are just sweet little towns with eccentric people. its my kinda place.
its hard...but i suppose i must move on from the outer banks....so here are my favourite things about the road trip. the civil rights museum in memphis, graceland (surprisingly), the blues cafe, peg-leg porkers, bikers night in memphis, the soda fountains in corinth mississippi, where we spoke to the 91 year old pharmacist, who was the first female graduate in the field in the state, and in scottsboro alabama (which now doesnt have the drugstore, but is just fab nevertheless). schwabs general store. having a beer in one of the cars of the chattanooga choo choo, riding on the lightning rod at dollywood, crossing the mississippi on yet another bridge to go to arkansas to see the 'sulanta disaster' museum...sadly closed, but it was fun. the whole confederate statue debacle, the road-stops, the motels, well...the whole thing. and lets not forget the eclipse. we watched it in knoxville....with very few people, in a tree lined park, so we were in the shade. and it was just fab....when the sun went dark, the birds stopped singing, and the crickets and cicadas started,. the shadows were amazing and it was actually quite eerie. then the crickets stopped..the birds started again, and everything went back to normal....so glad i saw that. think i also have to mention, as one of my favourite things...i probably did more shopping on this trip than i have in the past 10 years. enjoyed every minute. and just being with binni and kim was great....thanks to binnis driving, even past the giant trucks, we made it everywhere, mostly ahead of schedule....and i dont think we could have seen more in 2 weeks...what a blast!
back to work tomorrow.....SHIT!!!!!