Saturday, June 19, 2021

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2003. Mattie was 14 months old and it was his first trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. That day we took him to see another lighthouse, Bodie Light. We did not go up this lighthouse, and in fact, Peter and I have only climbed up once, years after Mattie died.

I wish I knew about Kiawah Island when Mattie was alive. He would have loved it probably more than the Outer Banks, as Kiawah is about preserving natural beauty, with very little built up to distract from the peacefulness that only nature can provide. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins. 

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 33,520,411
• Number of people who died from the virus: 601,647

Last evening we went for our last walk on the beach. You can see the sun setting over our condo in the background. The sky almost looks like a painting. If you had seen the beach maybe two hours before this photo was taken, you would have seen it lined with beach chairs, umbrellas, and tents. But after 5pm, the beach clears out and it is a very pleasant time to be walking. All I know is Peter and I had a very physically active week, something we wish we could easily repeat at home. 

This morning as Peter was packing our car to return back to Raleigh for a night, we had a dragonfly visitor. Nature's reminder that Mattie is always with us. 

In beach lingo, today is a turn around day. The day where vacationers leave their rentals to return home, and new visitors journey to the island to take our place. 

It is very evident that today was going to be a slower day on the beach, given the smaller number of chairs and umbrellas set up. 

I have never stayed in a rental before where the management company wanted me to actually do the laundry. So this morning I got up and laundered sheets and towels! 

To help with the transition from vacation, we went to the Sanctuary Resort for breakfast. The Sanctuary is a special place that has incredible old world and Southern charm. 

I made reservations for breakfast, given that it is a Saturday. I am glad I did, as 300 people were served this morning in their dining room. 

After breakfast, we got back in the car and set course for Raleigh. Our good-bye committee was made up of three bucks! Here is one fellow by the side of the road. 

The other two bucks!

To me this looks like a movie set! It is just incredibly beautiful how the roads near Kiawah are lined with Live Oak trees and Spanish Moss. 

I am a sunflower fan! We passed a sunflower farm and all I could see were those happy yellow faces for as far as the eye could see. 

It took us five hours to drive from Kiawah Island to Raleigh, NC. Of course 90 miles from the South Carolina/North Carolina border the Pedro signs start showing up. I absolutely LOVE these signs, as I find being in a car very monotonous. I enjoy looking for the signs and counting how many I could find. The total count today was over 50! I know Mattie would have loved playing this game with me.  

I am sparing you from seeing all 50+ signs. Instead, I am just posting ones that I thought were cute or made me chuckle. 

A traditional Southern breakfast entails grits. I even had some this morning. I love hot cereals of any kind, so I do appreciate grits. 

Another favorite thing of mine is ice cream! I LOVE it. So the play on words here got me. 

Totally love the ape sign! Even the banana! I really think the signs from south to north are better and more creative than north to south. 

Just hysterical! It is hysterical because truly where "South of the Border" is, is in the middle of no where. Yet they have made it into a mini theme park attraction. 

The monkeys.... hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil! 

I remember the first time I saw this, I had NO IDEA what ICYMI meant. It stands for "in case you missed it!!"

I just love the smiley face!

In case you couldn't guess!

Pulling into Raleigh! A major adjustment from being surrounded by trees, beach, and the beauty of nature for a week.