Memorial Day Weekend - Day 1

I was feeling bad about missing Memorial Day weekend at home this year. It has always been one of my favorite holidays, and we never miss decorating the family graves. I felt so blessed when my friend Nicole decided to come for a visit that weekend. We had such a great time together - giggling, talking, singing and making many great memories.
I have been wanting to go on a road trip, so we decided to drive down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I'll try to keep the commentary short so you can mostly enjoy the pictures.

Emily-Kate, a friend from BYU, was gracious enough to have us stay at her house in Norfolk, VA Thursday night. It was great to see her and her boys. Thanks again for being such a wonderful hostess.

As soon as we crossed the border into North Carolina we saw a Christmas store. Since trip-based ornaments are a tradition, it was a great chance to get them bought first thing. It was an interesting beach-meets-Christmas store. LOVED the furniture, though. It was amazing. Here I am at the 'beach' with Santa.

Our next stop was Roanoke Island Festival Park, where we saw lots of beautiful flowers.

Roanoke Island is the site of the first English settlement in America.

We visited the ship Elizabeth II to see what it was like for the settlers on their journey.

Nicole didn't see this sailor sitting in the corner and he gave her a start when she almost stepped on him!

Feelin' the breeze aboard ship.

Fun grasses that grow in the marsh.

A nice view from the ship's window.

The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse. We didn't actually tour it, and it is pretty tiny as lighthouses go.


The rest of the park was not what we expected. We thought there would be more about the settlers, who mysteriously vanished and were never seen again, but it was mostly about the Native Americans on the islands. We made the best of it, of course.

She reminded me of Mother Willow from the movie Pocahontas.

Nicole performing her Native American circle dance.

Me learning the art of turning wood.

Tourists with shrunken heads!

A cape fit to meet the Queen in.

Nicole sporting her skirt over a "bum roll". She's always up with the latest in fashion. Watch out Drizella and Anastasia!

A plaque for Virginia Dare, "first born of the English in America".

Since we got such a late start getting there, we decided not to drive back to Norfolk, and instead found a Comfort Inn on the beach. It was so nice to spend the evening walking in the sand, finding shells, and listening to the waves.


We ate dinner at The Dunes Restaurant.

Nicole had a trio meal with shrimp, crab and scallops.

I had . . . . drum roll please . . . . Mahi-mahi.
Yes, I ate a fish other than halibut, and I liked it well enough to eat at least a third of it. That's great progress for someone from my family :)

Here are a couple of videos of the ocean and our first sighting of a tiny sand crab.