This year our budget and schedule was slightly tighter than after our wedding when we spent 12 luxurious days in Hawaii. But it worked out perfectly that Stephen randomly had the day off from school and I wasn't working! He asked what I wanted, and I told him I would love for him to plan a special adventure and surprise me. So, Wednesday morning he gave me hints on what to wear, packed up a bag for us, and off we went!
He said that he memorized the directions for a more circuitous trip so that I wouldn't be able to guess where we were going as easily. But as he learned, I am obviously rather uneducated when it comes to where things are in Eastern NC so I was definitely confused and had zero correct guesses. Once we were getting a little closer, he was really excited and wanted to tell me where we were going so I told him to give me a hint. He said that we had never been there together. Hmmm. We must have been there at some point, just separately. I still had no idea.
So we kept heading on down the road, enjoying the gorgeous sunshine, blue sky, and each others' company. I started noticing black, swampy water next to the long, straight road and knew I had seen that before. The signs to Manteo also gave me some tips, so I guessed that we were going to the beach and he said that was partly correct. While brainstorming, I kept peering out the window at that black water, hoping to see an alligator. I'm not sure why, but ever since college I have wanted to see an alligator in the wild. I guess it was because I went to college in Florida and expected to see them all over the place there, but I don't think that I even saw one while living there. Low and behold, within sight of the Alligator River, I saw a MASSIVE alligator floating/sunning right by the road! It was awesome!!!
With that goal accomplished I began to focus more on the destination and got excited when I guessed that we may be going to a lighthouse... and we were! The Bodie Island lighthouse had opened the weekend before so we were going to climb the lighthouse, have a picnic lunch from a little sandwich shop Stephen had found, and climb Jockey's Ridge! I have always loved lighthouses since I was a little girl and Grandaddy and Mema took me, Hilary, and my cousins on trips to visit them. It meant so much that Stephen would plan a trip to do something I loved, and that he put so much time and thought into the details!
The whole day was so much fun, and I can't believe we are just over two hours away from the Outer Banks. We will definitely plan to make another trip back there soon! Year four, here we come!
~ Buckwheat
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