Exploring North Carolina--The Outer Banks

The last place we went with Duke's mom was to the Outer Banks. I have heard so many people rave about this place and was excited to go! I was super sad it was rainy and somewhat chilly and so we didn't really check out the beaches. Instead we checked out the Wright Brothers monument in Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills area and found some fun sand dunes to run around and take jumping pictures. It was pretty fun all in all!

Sand Dunes! You can't tell, but from the road, they are actually pretty big. You're just gonna have to take my word for it.

Exploring North Carolina--Raleigh

whale skeleton

Raleigh is about 2 hours away and this was my first trip. I liked what I saw and will definitely be back. (well..if we have time!) We visited the Natural History Museum, Historic Oakwood district, and the capitol building. There is definitely more to do, but this is just a peek!

this skeleton is from an endangered whale that died and was prego :( (see the baby whale?)

 Ate at Irregardless Cafe-Highly recommend!!

 This berry/peach crisp was insanely good. I have been dreaming about it.

 Cute Houses from the historic district

 Love me a Magnolia Tree

Exploring North Carolina--Wilmington

I want to start this post by saying something about loving where you live. This has been a bit of a struggle for me in my married life. We've lived in small towns that really don't have a TON to offer. However, I have found that for me, loving where I live means going beyond the boundaries of my town. Jacksonville may be a dinky little town, but within a few hours there is lots to see and do!

Duke's mom was out here for a long weekend visiting and I got to play tour guide! I'm glad because it pushed me to explore the area a little bit more. 

We drove an hour south to Wilmington and explored the USS North Carolina. I read almost every sign (which I never do-I'm a skimmer) and all I really learned is that living on a boat with a bunch of Navy men/Marines sounds like prison. (Maybe worse-it's a close call). No thank you.

We visited the Bellamy Mansion and Popular Grove Plantiaton (below)

thats what tobacco plants look like^ who knew?!

My favorite part was probably these guys. They were cock-a-doodle-dooing and I loved it.

On our way to dinner I got to meet this guy. His name is Claude and the only thing he said was "apple".

Also if you are in the area we ate at two great restaurants- Chop Deli-awwwwesome sandwiches and The Basics. (I got the Green Fried Tomatoes and felt like a true southerner that day). I also can't say enough about how good Osteria Cicchetti is. SOO soo good.

North Carolina

When I found out we were moving to North Carolina for the summer everyone kept telling me how beautiful it is out here. So I am here to say the rumors are true. It's hot and humid, but it sure is beautiful. The rest of this post is a random collection of pictures from the last couple months out here.

Wilmington

It's kind of fun to see these flying overhead everyday. Never gets old. 

Not a cloud in the sky! A very rare occurrence here-it rains almost every afternoon!