Day 1 ~ The Crystal Coast: where dreams come true...

if you are a girl who is dying to live out her Nicholas Sparks romance fantasies, and you have a husband that loves you enough to entertain your crazy thoughts.

We went to the southeast coast of North Carolina for a little getaway last month.  Whenever we tell people we went there, they want to know why - its not like there are big, popular theme parks, or a world-famous landmark.  So here is the story of how our little trip came about:

I'm a sucker for all things Nicholas Sparks.  His books, the movies that are based on his books, you name it, I love it.  I know he's not gonna win the Nobel Peace Prize, and his movies probably won't win any Oscars, but there's about a 99.99% chance they will make me smile, swoon, sigh, and cry, and that's all I really want from any book/flick.  You can tease me all you want, but I have The Notebook, so I don't really care.  Anyway, all of his books take place in North Carolina (mostly in small coastal towns), so awhile ago I started looking into planning a trip for us out there.  Richard thought I was loony, but let my imagination run wild.  He didn't have a choice.  And as much as I like to say he doesn't listen to me, he proved me wrong when the following phone conversation took place:

him:  hey girlfriend, guess what...

me:  what?

him:  the next ACN conference is in North Carolina...

me:  seriously?

him:  yeah, and even though I'm done with the business we could use it as an excuse to finally go out there.

me:  ....don't tease me...(starting to hyperventilate)

him:  I'm not.  We could go out there when my dad goes, he can show us around where he grew up, and then when he goes to the conference we can do our own thing.

me:  (pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming this whole thing)  Deal!

And the rest is history.  We overlapped two days with his dad, who grew up in New Bern, and got to see his old stomping grounds, as well as meet some of his old friends.  Then (after a slight ordeal with our "bed and breakfast") Richard made my wildest dreams come true.  Here is my proof...of the first day (I'm gonna break our trip down into a few posts so no one has to suffer from picture overload syndrome...or be attacked by the green monster we call envy over the fact that I actually have the best husband in the world):

Day 1

sharing a blanky on the plane...we love the red-eye!



Dale kindly picked us up at the smallest airport known to man.

First stop: Fort Macon.  Used during the Civil War.

North vs. South

the bread oven.

its temperature was tested by a baker sticking his arm inside - if he couldn't keep it in there 15 seconds, it was warm enough.

The Infamous Bread Incident:  a group of soldiers actually deserted the fort because the bread was so disgusting, and they had to eat it every day.  Seriously.

Our flash works really well because it was pitch black in this room.

I dared Richard to stick his hand in the hole in the wall, and he was scared (can't you tell by the look on his face?), but he did it anyway. 

So brave.

Boys and their toys.

ball and chain, my foot!

View from the top.

S M R T

Collecting shells with only one thing in mind...

Richard outlining me with them on the beach.

Just like in The Last Song

Dale showing Richard around his old backyard.

Richard just about wet his pants thinking that we

were going to go to jail for climbing on someone's boat.

My first southern dinner:  shrimp & scallops.

Yes, that is a pool of butter they are sitting in.  Delicious butter.

Stuffed to the rafters, and ready to fall asleep on the spot.