Lucidia Lohman

On Beaches (figuratively and literally)

On a balmy September afternoon, our little family set off from our home base in Spartanburg, SC for a long drive (Google Maps put it at 9.5 hours… the trusty, but eternally finicky GPS quoted us at 8 hours) which would eventually land us oceanside on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (Hatteras Village, to be specific) in a beautiful rental house with Granny, Popsy, and Uncle Malachi. Yes, the Lohmans invited us to share the renewal of their OBX-in-September tradition, which, after the beautiful week we had (suspense = over), we hope will continue, at least until Lulu’s in Kindergarten!

While the events of the drive down are somewhat foggy (hee hee–I bullishly refused to stop for the night until we were on the island–only to find out that the stupid hotels on the OBX all close at 11:30… seriously, who does that?), Granny and Popsy saved the day by inviting us to share their room at the hotel in Hatteras (Uncle Malachi deserves special commendation because he gave up his bed!), giving us zero need for any drive time on Sunday.

While I’m not going to bore Lulu’s loyal readers with a complete recount, there are several highlights to the trip, most of which have been documented and uploaded to Lulu’s Flickr (see the link on the homepage of the blog). We’ve not yet had time to upload the videos to YouTube, but I just may do that this week, so you’re all in luck.

The absolute cracker-jack-est moment of the trip was when someone (Kel? More likely me) had the genius idea to put Lulu in her Bumbo seat at the water’s edge. She promptly reached down into the sand, grabbed a handful, and ingested it while we (the wonderful parents that we are) were distracted by some pap (probably a pretty pink shell or some other oceanic errata). No harm was done, though her leavings the next day had a decidedly gritty texture. At least she didn’t try to eat her first seashell.

Then there was the restaurant where Lulu pitched her first public conniption. It started innocently enough with Lulu making kissy faces, but promptly devolved into a cup of Gerber puffs bound for the floor, some rather vocal utterances of disapproval that her banana-flavored teething fodder had been squandered, and some overt threats that her sippy cup would meet a similar fate. Luckily, however, Kel remembered how much Lulu enjoys looking really cool, Popsy performed one of his patented STFU walks around the restaurant, and the crisis was averted.

Of course, I’d be remiss to leave out the beautiful weather we had all week (until it was time to drive home–in the dark–and the torrential rain decided to pay us a visit). Sunny. High 70s, Low 80s. Reasonably calm surf. Granny and Popsy picked a great week to introduce Lulu to the ocean.

I also can’t forget to thank Granny, Popsy, and Uncle Malachi for taking time out of their relaxation to babysit Lulu while Kel and I went out to dinner, went shopping, and generally lazed about enjoying the fact that we had family members at our disposal for a whole week. You guys are the best!

We had a truly legendary time at the beach, and hope that next year, more of the family can make the trip to the OBX. For anyone who has never been there–definitely recommended if your ideal vacation is to truly vacate, relax, and just enjoy the tranquility of an almost empty beach–without silliness like beach passes, a three-square foot towel radius, and traffic jams.

Thanks again, Granny and Popsy (and Uncle Malachi, who turned 18 while we were there!)

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