Monday- 10/29- The kids and I had a great adventure day today. We started the morning trying to watch the sunrise, but a low cloud bank blocked the view. The kids didn't mind though... while everyone else on the beach was wearing, pants, winter coats, winter hats, and carrying coffees, our kids were playing in the waves in their pajamas... it was only 54 degrees out and windy;)
After breakfast we headed over to the Wright Brother's National Monument. The visitor center just re-opened last week after a renovation so it was great to see a newly finished museum. We learned lots about the Wright Brothers, their family, the importance of perseverance, the scientific method, and (of course!) flight. We were also able to tour the grounds to see where the first flight happened, what the island was like in 1901-1903, and the monument itself. We were all happy to get out and stretch our legs for a few hours before beginning our driving again.
Just after noon-time we headed south again. We went back and forth about our route for the day, but eventually decided to skip Roanoke Island and head for the full outer banks byway complete with two ferry rides. This ended up being way better because it broke up the trip and made our actual in the car driving time relatively minimal today. We took a quick jump out at Cape Hatteras light house, but to be able to make the ferry in time we didn't climb to the top. We saw lots of sand dunes and lots of garbage piled up on the side of the roads as people are continuing to clean up from Hurricane Michael.
Today we reached the 1,000 mile mark!
PB & J Count: 11
Tuesday- 10/30- Today we decided to be purposely slower about getting up and going. I think everyone is starting to feel worn down from the travel. We had a wonderfully large hotel room on Emerald Island and we were lucky to find a hotel as this was one of the few actually open after the hurricane. AND it seemed like almost everyone else staying there were construction workers and contractors working on other area hotels.
We passed by some great sights including Camp Lejeune, but the kids really wanted to get the driving over with and get to "Carter and Jackson's grandparent's house" in South Carolina. Who was I to argue? So, we drove for just over 6 hours making only one brief bathroom stop at a Lowe's (of all places!). We arrived at the beautiful Edisto Beach, SC and the kids immediately took to the area and were so thrilled to find that the Sturkie's had a dog! Once everyone settled down, the kids got to get up close and personal with the island's deer population, take Matilda (the dog) for a walk, and eat dinner at a super fun restaurant complete with an amazing scavenger hunt! In the evening the Sturkie's were kind enough to humor the kids while they put on a talent show for them before bed. Noah and James played violin, Audrey played the ukulele, and Ben gave a book report on his new favorite series, Dragon Masters.
PB & J Count: 16
Wednesday- 10/31- We got an early start in hopes that we would make it back in time for trick or treating on the island. The kids and I drove back up to Charleston for a tour of Fort Sumter and to explore Patriot's Point which is an impressive naval museum. Our first stop was the Vietnam Experience and a very pointed introductory video that will certainly be a jumping off point for studying the Vietnam War. After the hanger with the video you walked out back and into a courtyard set up just like a field camp in Vietnam during the war. It was complete with sound effects and helicopters. The best part was that all of the volunteers providing information and answering questions were all Vietnam War Veterans... so neat!
Our ferry trip and visit of Fort Sumter was also so exciting and much anticipated. It was much smaller than we were all expecting and that is when we realized the obvious... it was the first fort we had visited that had been taken and destroyed in a war. The pictures of the excavation, restoration, and preservation were amazing. We didn't get to see all in the museum we would have liked, but it certainly did not disappoint!
After Fort Sumter, we turned our attention back to Patriot's Place. We started with touring a WWII submarine, followed by a WWII destroyer (that was actually in battle!), and finished on the aircraft carrier. We really could have stayed at this museum for another day and the kids are already planning our return trip;)
The carrot to pull the kids away was certainly trick or treating. I had been telling the kids that there were unlikely to be able to trick or treat in South Carolina, but when we were out at the restaurant last night they gave us a sheet with participating businesses that would be handing out candy. We weren't sure if/how the whole thing would work out, but when we arrived at the first stop there was a wagon getting ready to pull kids around to the trick or treating locations, so we asked the driver and the kids jumped aboard for the first half of their route. The kids had so much fun and it was very convenient to not have to get the kids out of the car and buckled at every stop! They were thrilled with their candy haul this year;)
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