We went on our first family vacation over memorial day weekend. Our friends Faryn and Lance had rented an oceanfront condo in Kill Devils Hills, NC (Outer Banks) and were nice enough to invite us down to use the extra bedroom. We were eager to introduce Nolan to the ocean and jumped at the chance to have an adventurous getaway.
I was a little nervous about how Nolan would do with the long drive (according to google it is 6 hours away, but add stops/memorial day traffic and it becomes significantly longer). Nolan did amazingly well. We left around 9:30am on Friday morning, and he was content to look out the window and take in the sights until we stopped for lunch right before noon. We stopped again a few hours later to give him another break from the car before hitting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which is 20+ miles of bridges/tunnels with no stopping. Luckily Nolan fell asleep right after the pit stop. Unluckily, they closed entrance into the bridge just as we reached the toll booth and we sat parked for over 45 minutes waiting for them to clear an accident in one of the tunnels. Nolan slept through the entire delay, and although frustrated, we were thankful to have not been involved with the accident. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we reached OBX by 7pm.
The weather was unseasonably cold on Friday and Saturday, making laying out on the beach impossible due to the strong, cold winds. However, the area had a lot of fun alternatives to do - after all, Kill Devil Hills is the site of the first flight taken by the Wright Brothers! On Saturday morning, after breakfast, the 6 of us visited the Wright Brothers memorial in town. It was super interesting, and there were some nice views to be seen from the top of the dune.
Wright memorial in Kill Devil Hills
The field where the flights happened
Stone marking the first flight take off
We spent the rest of Saturday going out to lunch, grocery shopping for dinner, and taking a stroll on the (still cold) beach. We had fun after the kids went to bed playing apples to apples and catching up with our friends.
On Sunday, we went out to "Stack 'em High" for breakfast then headed to Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head to check out the huge dunes (tallest on the east coast)! We had the park almost to ourselves and the dunes were so big we felt like we were in the desert. The distances were so deceiving since there was no visual references - it was really cool!
Our family crossing the Sahara Sand Dunes.
Obligatory Selfie
The weather was a little warmer on Sunday, and most importantly, the wind died down significantly so it was finally beach worthy weather! We headed down to set up camp on the beach (only steps from our apartment!) We borrowed a baby beach tent from Joe's sister, which Nolan barely fit in, but provided shade to protect him from the sun (he would tear off any beach hat we put on him in 2 seconds!) He really enjoyed being outside and people watching (especially a game of catch with a football!)
Beach Baby
Tolerating his hat momentarily
Hat #2 stayed on a bit longer
Family shot
We even fit in a nice dinner out Sunday night and just squeezed finishing our food in time before the kids started getting restless/tired. We got back to the beach just as the sun was setting, giving us the perfect lighting for some family portaits. It was so nice vacationing with friends and being able to take turns getting family shots!
He's learning to smile through the kiss attacks now ;)
We had the best weather of the trip on Monday. Since we had decided ahead of time to split up the drive back by staying overnight in northern Virginia, we had enough time to hang out in the beach in the morning. Nolan was a beach pro by now!
Lots of stuff to watch at the beach!
Cutie Patootie
Figuring out what sand is all about
So much fun!
Walking on the beach with daddy
He has bounced back so fast after his cast came off!
We were glad we decided to break up the trip since as expected, there was a good bit of traffic on Memorial Day. A nice perk was being able to take advantage of the hotel's pool (which, at 9am on a Tuesday we had entirely to ourselves) and have Nolan take his first dip! He was unsure at first, but ended up having a great time! We look forward to getting him in more pools this summer, hopefully.
Big smiles with Mommy!
Having fun with Daddy!
All in all, Nolan was such a trooper on the road! He took great naps and enjoyed watching the world go by out the window. If all else failed, one of us sat in the back with him to give him snacks/entertain him. Taking a long trip with an infant was definitely a big undertaking, but we're so glad we did it and look forward to more family adventures to come. Thanks so much to Faryn and Lance for the invitation - we had a blast!
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