Vacations with the Family
We've been away for two weeks because we've had the privilege of entertaining two of our three California grandchildren. Joshua, Age 15, and Jacob, age 12, flew into the Columbus airport as soon as Jacob finished school on June 29th and we saw them off on July 18th. We packed a lot into those weeks.
We gathered with as many grandchildren and their parents as we could at Ocracoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. We have been there many times before, but the grandchildren and our adult children always find interesting things to do there. We stay in the oldest hotel on the island, Blackbeard's Lodge. It is a little rundown, but it has kitchen facilities with some of the rooms, and a shaded pool for cooling off in the heat of the day. Early risers find time for talking and rocking on the porches.
A July 4th event is a sand sculpture contest and for the first time our group decided to participate, lead by our youngest daughter, Laurel. Her crew, her daughter Tyla and her boyfriend, her daughter Sherri, Mark's son, Ryan, Joshua, and Jacob tried at first for a majestic lion, but the head collapsed and they settled for a loggerhead turtle which was quite realistic and about five feet across. They didn't win a prize but they received honorable mention for their efforts.
We shared the cooking chores so there was a mini vacation for the cooks. One night we took the fish which the deep-sea fishermen caught to a local restaurant that cooked our fish and added hush puppies and salad and charged only half price for the meal. They caught 195 pounds of wahoo and dolphin-fish, which we froze and split among our families. Our cooler, which plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car and also into a regular outlet, was helpful in bringing the fish back in good condition. Rebecca our oldest grandchild, and her mother, Cindy, both spent most of the time below decks, quite queasy, as the ocean was rough out in the Gulf Stream about 40 miles offshore. The fishermen really made a sacrifice to bring us home our dinner. They had to get up to take the ferry over to Hattaras Island at five o'clock and then spent all day on the boat.
Laurel and I and most of the grandchildren went kayaking with a guide. We paddled through Silver Lake and up one of the marshland creeks. The favorite stop of that trip was the beach where many hermit crabs had taken up residence in various shells. Fiddler crabs were also in abundance. Kayaks are a pleasant, safe, stable way to explore the creeks and the Pamlico Sound side of the island.
Several of our group collected shells on the beach near the inlet where the pounding of the waves is not so fierce. Not me, I saved my bending over muscles for the weeds that wait for me at home. Laurel makes decorative borders for mirrors with shells and we saw in the gift shops some attractive Christmas ornaments made by the local craftsmen.
We were really fortunate in the weather at the beach, not a rainy day. The mosquitoes and green flies were not as fierce as we remember from years past. A good stiff breeze from the ocean helped keep them in check.
The long trip home, over 900 miles, was broken by an overnight stay with Percy's brother, Byrd. There we admired his bird sanctuary. He feeds birds year round. He makes his own suet cakes in the fall, making up 250 pounds at a time. He even has robins at the suet. He traps flying squirrels and other “varmints” and releases them far from his home. They are active in the bird count at Christmas in their part of southern West Virginia.
After a couple of days to do laundry, we traveled to our cabin in Michigan. Percy and the boys caught enough bass and crappies in the lake for a meal. Jacob and Josh and I played many hotly contested games of Monopoly. Personally, I favor the properties of St. James Place, Tennesee and New York Avenue because their houses and hotels are cheaper and they catch all those poor souls who have to go to jail. We lit all the candles one night and told scary stories, true and made up.
Again Laurel and her family were able to be there for Percy's birthday and our daughter Catherine and her husband Ray from Ann Arbor. Laurel's oldest son, Jamie, and his wife, Wendy, and their son, our great-grandson, Elijah, came up for the weekend. What a treat to watch Elijah at seventeen months learn to safely climb the three stairs to the kitchen level and slide backward on to the couch! He made that round trip many times. We blew up mattresses and made room for twelve people to sleep in the cabin.
Josh, and Laurel's daughter, Sherri, made the rounds of the rides at Cedar Point on a Wednesday. The lines were moderate for the Millennium, about two hours. Jacob went on the Raptor with them but spent most of his time on the Corkscrew and other rides where there wasn't such a long wait. I waited for Jacob and people watched.
We were a little weary of the boys competing and picking at each other by the time we put them on the plane. Also we worried because their plane left a half an hour late and they had to change planes in Chicago. We badgered American Airlines to get them some help with that and then called Chicago to see if they made it safely on the plane bound for San Francisco.
Truly, it was a wonderful time, but we are convinced, again, that we are not as young as we like to think we are.
– Mary