isolation vacation

 

We got back a week ago from spending a week on the Outer Banks, which is one of our favorite places in the whole world. This time we didn't stay on Ocracoke, opting instead for a beachfront pad in South Nags Head. We did go to Ocracoke for a day trip though, and we made sure to get Eduardo's tacos while we were there.

For at least the first six months or so of pandemic times, we figured vacation was impossible. But slowly we started to see how it could work, and we decided to make fall break our goal for getting away. At first, I bought tickets to fly to Las Vegas to see some national parks, but we couldn't figure out a way to make that feel safe to us with all the transitions, so we nixed that plan in favor of a driving vacation, and it worked out really well.

We didn't eat in any restaurants (though we did get carryout). We didn't go to crowded places. We went into one souvenir shop, early in the morning, when it wasn't too crowded, and we only bought the things we were looking for and then got the heck out of there. We went into one gift shop, at Bodie Island lighthouse, but that shop had a limit of 8 people, and we were the only ones in there. We went grocery shopping twice. 

Most of the time, we stayed at our house, venturing down to the beach several times a day. I had to do a little work while we were gone, but I had the privilege of doing it with a view of the ocean every time I looked up from my laptop. Since we were there on the off season, there was barely anyone on the beach, and definitely nobody anywhere near us. The water was too chilly for me and Mike, but the boys managed to swim at least four times during the week. 

One day we ventured to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, but once we got there and saw how crowded it was (even though it was outdoors), we turned around and left. It just wasn't worth it to risk our health for something that will be there next time if we still want to see it.

Most afternoons, Mike and one or two of the boys went hiking in different nature areas, none of which were crowded either. He took a ton of bird and animal pictures, which I'll let him share himself. In fact, though I took the pictures in this post, Mike was the primary photographer for this trip. I took a lot of naps and gave myself permission to stop worrying so much and just focus on being happy for the week, whatever that looked like. And it was glorious.

And now we're home, and the election is tomorrow, and the pandemic is out of control. We're still isolating for another week (except for the mandatories, school and work) to make sure we didn't inadvertently get infected, but as of now, all of us are feeling pretty good. Then again, ask me tomorrow.