Dana Daily

Katie had a full day in the Outer Banks scheduled for us. First the Wright Brothers Memorial, followed by lunch, and the afternoon at the beach. The drive from Elizabeth City into the Outer Banks area is nice. It's a four lane road through farmland. It felt laid back; no rushing to get anywhere. We spent more time at the Wright Brothers Memorial than I think anyone had anticipated. Emmy and Seth worked on their junior ranger badges, and we explored the museum. Sal and Seth went up to the obelisk. Most interesting to me were the markers in the grass showing the distance of each of The Wright Brother's flights. Flight is ubiquitous in our culture, and it all began right here. Amazing. After Katie's first choice in restaurant for lunch was closed, we ended up at  Pigman  BBQ. I like Carolina BBQ because basically whatever meat you order comes to you naked, and then you add the sauce you want from a variety provided on the tables. I also ordered hush puppies because tho...

Today was another hang out and relax day. Katie was adamant about not trying to get into the Outer Banks on the weekend because of traffic, and that sounded good to me. We took the kids to a local splash pad for the afternoon, then did some fishing in an nearby pond. I put fishing in quotes because none of us caught a thing. I had one on the hook for Seth, but it slipped off. Near the pond we saw a snapping turtle cross the road, and there were box turtles swimming around. We also saw a vulture and bald eagle soaring in the sky. Katie and Bill love their hummingbirds so I was sitting on the front porch, when I decided to try and get a picture of one at the feeder. I came up with some cool shots. There's nothing like a southern sky. It's the bluest blue, as you can see in these pictures. We went to  Van's  for dinner, another local restaurant. Our server complimented the kids on their behavior, and told us they had been so polite. We had sat them at a separate tabl...

After attempting to sleep on the most uncomfortable bed ever, with the worst pillows known to man, we had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast room was chaos, but I put my head down and focused on getting us all fed. Then we packed up and got the heck out of there. That's a place I won't stay again. Anyway, we hit the road, and it was onward to North Carolina. The kids thought the Hampton Roads Bridge / Tunnel was cool. I just prayed no one would wreck inside it. We made it just fine to the other side. We stopped for gas, and we arrived at the Anderson's around lunchtime. We ate and then Katie and I took the girls to Walmart for food and sundries. I am so happy to be back in the South. We went to Mass at 5:00, and afterwards had dinner at the City Grill after. The restaurant was crowded and service was slow, but our food was delicious. I had cheese ravioli.

In theory Colonial Williamsburg is only 6.5 hours from Pittsburgh, but we have to travel I-95 to get there, on a Friday. I knew it was going to be ugly. We rolled out of Pittsburgh by 9:30am, stopped for lunch at Subway in Breezewood, and then once we hit the DC area crawled the rest of the way to Williamsburg. Williamsburg was just a stopping point for the night on our way to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. We plan to spend a few days in Williamsburg with Sal's family after leaving North Carolina. But, in a moment of brilliance, I suggested we eat at our favorite restaurant today, rather than hoping plans would fall together to make it happen later in the trip. It was after 7 by the time we arrived, but we were seated at  Chowning's Tavern  right away. They still had Sarah's favorite salad on the menu, the best salad she's ever eaten actually, and some other favorites. We tried the crock of cheese which is pimento cheese with a bacon jelly, which is served w...

We knew this day was coming, and our plan was to buy one when Seth finished preschool. However, I wasn't finding a minivan rental for our upcoming vacation to the Outer Banks and Williamsburg for less than $1200. We decided now was the time to buy, or cancel our vacation. My had outgrown my Honda CR-V, and the air conditioning hadn't worked for 3 summers. We looked into having it repaired, but our mechanic couldn't even guess-timate how much it would cost. He knew the air compressor was shot, and that there were blockages in the system, but until he tore it apart to see what was really going on, the cost involved was anyone's guess.  We visited a few car lots and looked online for possible options. I really wanted cloth seats, a back-up camera, and a CD player. As it turns out these options together are only available on a base model Honda Odyssey. Base model Odyssey's are a unicorn. After checking out a 2014 Honda locally, and a Toyota Sienna in Butler, I fo...

Seth has been wearing glasses for 18 months now, or so, and today we had a routine visit to check on this progress. It seems they've gotten worse. I don't know this can be. He always wears his glasses. His eyes are healthy, and incidentally show no signs of nearsightedness, but his near vision is worse than it was 6 months ago. The ophthalmologist recommended bifocals, and would like to see him back in three months. I just want to cry. I'm glad there's a way to help him see better, and there's still a good chance he will outgrow the need for glasses, but how frustrating. I am glad she wants to see him in 3 months rather than 6. I'm praying for progress. On the way home from his appointment, we stopped and ordered his new glasses. They'll be in within two weeks, right before our next vacation.