Life's a Beach

This past Sunday, Toby and I returned from our trip to Rodanthe, NC from a week's vacation.  It was the first time that we had been to Rodanthe, but we have previously stayed in Nags Head (aka OBX) years before.  Rodanthe is just about 30 miles South.  My mom, dad, sister, her boyfriend, and his mom, dad, and aunt all went.  It was a lot of fun and our house was very nice- and more importantly, right on the beach! The only bad thing was the mosquitos!! They were horrible and I guess that area is known for them being bad because the sound and ocean are so close (less then 1/4 mile apart) and because their are a lot of swampy areas. 

So for this post, I decided to do somewhat of a photo diary, showing some parts of my trip.




This is my favorite part of being at the beach- sitting in a beach chair, with a beer in my hand, soaking up the sun.  I did this daily.

On Tuesday, everyone but my mom, sister, and me went on a deep sea fishing trip- or as Toby likes to call it, "Puke Feast 2012".  They were 35 miles offland and EVERYONE got sick.  They ended up catching 4 big tunas (which were delish).  So they had to get up ealry and leave by 4:30am.  This was the only day I got to watch the sunrise and I captured this beautiful picture before the sun appeared.  After the sunrise, my mom, sis, and I walked the beach, went shopping, and had lunch at a great restaurant called Top Dog Cafe ~ I highly recommend it if you are ever in Rodanthe.

On Thursday, we went to Cape Hatterass Lighthouse.  This is my dad's favorite lighthouse and is the tallest in North America.  I have climbed it 3 times now, but this was my first time with Toby and it was a stuggle.

 Here is a picture that shows the narrowness of the stairs, and there are 257 stairs in total, with 8 landings for breaks.

Here we are on a break on one of the landings.  We were sweating like pigs and Toby was not sure he could make it.  The heat index was above 90 degree Fahrenheit in the lighthouse that day.

This is the light that they now use in the lighthouse.  In 1999, the lighthouse was moved more inland, with fear of the shoreline rising and damaging the lighthouse.  I think then, they got rid of the original light and replaced it with a new age spotlight.  I'm not sure whether or not the light is on each night...

We made it to the top!! (Ignore my hair blowing- The wind speed was 25 mph at the top!)

It was a wonderful trip and a nice relaxation.  I must say though, I was very happy to be home, since we were only in our new home for one week, and then we left again for a week. 

The house is coming along good.  I will post pics soon.  I still really can't believe we are in it!