We made it to North Carolina!

After a rather stressful Thursday and Friday, spent packing, upgrading our iPhones (David got a 4, I got his old 3g), and getting maintenance done on the car, we finally left the house at 5pm Friday and were on our way to our family vacation. Well, traveling with children...not nearly as relaxing!

First stop was of course Rein's Deli in Vernon CT. When I mentioned this on Facebook, about 15 of my friends had to weigh in on their favorite dish there. Sofia loves the mushroom barley soup, Sam's a kosher hot dog fan, and the rest of us get pastrami and corned beef (which are Hebrew National and I was once assured are cut on a separate cutter...what I don't know won't hurt me...). Yum. But it was crowded last night, and service was very slow.





But we got back on the road at 8:30, and headed south. David, being a total maniac, drove all night, even though I kept making him "promise" to wake me up for a shift. I woke up many many times, to check on him or help him navigate changes in roads. But he did not relinquish the wheel until 6 am. And by then, we were already in Virginia!

So I got to drive for about 3 hours, while they all slept. Actually, Micah and Sofia had been awake at 5:30, but fell back asleep when David did, which was great.

We got to New Bern, about an hour from our destination, around 9:15, looking for breakfast. Walked around town a bit (lots of statues of Bears in New Bern!) before finding someplace. Yummy - grits and biscuits, plus egg for Sofia, pancakes for boys, and I had... trout! Yes, Trout and Grits. With a biscuit. Ah, the South.




Stopped at the Visitor's Center, and watched some boats at the launch...




Finally got onto the Island - lowest part of The Outer Banks. First we walked a bit in Atlantic Beach, then drove out to Emerald Isle, where we are staying. Couldn't check in yet, so played mini-golf...which was a bad idea, since Sofia has no idea how to play and Micah is a VERY sore loser! And it was very very humid.



But we finally got into the house. Nice place - 3 bedrooms, with Sofia sharing with Micah instead of with Sam (we figure they are the two who wake up earliest, and there is a TV in their room).

Got the car unloaded, and unpacked everything. David passed out. I took a shower (finally) and then took Sofia to the grocery store. Back home, the boys were exploring the beach:




That's our house for the next week!


Kids are asleep now, and David and I are thrilled with the lightening-fast Internet connection, so we are being geeky.

Tomorrow, probably beach and then aquarium, but who knows...

(Oh, and if you are a stalker reading this and thinking our house is empty, it's not, E is staying there and neighbors and police are all watching...)