Plugging Back In

A friend told me a while back that it usually takes her about two weeks to get back into a normal routine after vacation. I believe it.

When you're used to going 100 mph, then you slow down to maybe 15, getting back up to speed can be rough -- obvious by my lack of blogging of late. I got back safe and sound from the Outer Banks on Saturday, June 19 and spent the rest of my weekend at my parents house before coming back to DC. Since then, it's been a bombardment of happy hours, birthday outings, new job celebrations, World Cup watching (and crying), restocking the fridge, and oh yes, catching up on work and getting back into the working groove.

Our trip to Avon, North Caroline was calm, quiet and blissful. About an hour past Kitty Hawk, Nags Head and the more touristy parts of the OBX, there's not much down in Avon except a grocery store, gas station and few shops and restaurants. You can make the drive from one Welcome to Avon sign to the other in about 5 minutes, maybe 6 if you get stuck at the light.

We spent most of our days getting up whenever, going to bed whenever, and laying around on the beach with a full cooler.

The house my parents rented from a family friend was fully stocked with beach access, a pool, pool table and an incredible view in between the dunes overlooking the ocean. It sounds like a scene from a Nicolas Spark's book, doesn't it? By the way, Rodanthe, as in from the book/movie "Nights in Rodanthe," is a township right before Avon.

We did venture out a few times. We went to the worst mini golf course I've ever seen. It was like someone had just mowed patches on a big lawn. Come on, at least give me a windmill to aim at or something.

Tad taking charge.
Leslie and Josh, super excited to play.

One of our day trips included an outing over to Ocracoke, an island filled with artisans, gift shops and Black Beard museums located a few miles off Hatteras Island and it's only accessible by ferry.

We also stopped in Frisco (more than once) for Scotch Bonnet fudge -- ooohhhh so good -- and drove around Buxton for apple uglies.

And don't think we didn't sneak in a few exciting moments here and there. I was there with my parents, my sister, her boyfriend and Tad. My father often likes to take dinner time as an opportunity to bring up sensitive or controversial topics relating to current events. He finds the discussion fascinating but it usually leads to a lot of eye rolling from my sister and someone saying, "well I just don't agree" then silence. Case and point, first night we're there, my sister's boyfriend began going off on Obama's policies and how the unions are fueling the deficient and unemployment. Until then, I had never met anyone who had not only listened to Rush Limbaugh outside of the "Daily Show" but also consciously took on his views, God bless him. It was all poor true blue blood Democrat Tad could do to bite his tongue.

Another exciting thing was I got to try out wind surfing for the first time, which was awesome, I'm completely hooked. It was sort of like snowboarding -- another sport I love -- with a sail. I think I fell off seven times by my last count and I was definitely sore afterwards. Totally worth it.

Avon is the type of place you go to relax, probably retire to one day, and it can be a nice change of pace. Not a lot going on and sometimes that's just fine.