Birthday Festivities

My second decade of life is in its final year and some festivities are in order.  Every one of my birthdays that Kristin and I have celebrated together has involved a trip to a different zoo.  In 2011 we got engaged and then went to the NC zoo, in 2012 we took a trip to Knoxville and went to the zoo there, in 2013 we took in the SC zoo in Columbia, and in 2014 we visited the Virginia zoo in Norfolk.  So it was a hard decision this year when we decided not to take a zoo trip.  Besides the tighter school budget and lack of zoos within day trip distance we had been on the road a lot lately and decided we just wanted to stay around home and take it easy.

My last class of the week is also my least favorite class of the week so I usually reserve that time for doing homework, surfing the internet, and planning.  So last Friday I was a little bummed just being in that class, then I started looking at different zoos online and got really bummed that we weren't going to one this year.  So to break up the blues I got busy planning a stay-cation birthday weekend.  There were a few foundations that had to be planned around.

1. The new James Bond movie came out that weekend so we had to watch the last one at home to catch up on all things Bond in preparation for the new one. (we did not go to the new one because I hate crowded theaters)
2.  The Panthers played Sunday at 1:00
3. Church
4. Time for sleeping and eating

With these key framework pieces set in place I got to work planning the rest of the weekend.  For a while I had wanted to go see Goose Creek State Park in Washington, NC and decided this would be a perfect time to go.  Also, we had not been to the Estuarium in Washington so I figured we could do that while we were there, then get lunch in downtown Washington and head back home to watch James Bond. Perfect! Then I checked the weather and saw there was a 100% chance of rain on Saturday. Back to being depressed.  Plan B was that we would go to the gym and play basketball on Saturday then get Krispy Kreme doughnuts and eat our blues away.

However, Saturday we awoke not to rain and clouds, but to a beautiful sunny morning and decided we should take the opportunity to venture forth.  After a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast we got ready quick, jumped in the car and headed to Washington.

The Goose Creek State Park is a 1,600 acre park along the Pamlico River located between Washington and Bath.  There is an education center and 8 miles of trails (far longer if you get confused..more on that later) as well as boat ramps, camping lots, and a swimming area.  We went in and toured around the education center then hit the trails.  It started off great!  They have a half mile long wooden boardwalk raised over the marsh.

This was easy walking and neat scenery.  It felt more like something in Florida or South Carolina than what we are used to in North Carolina.  Kristin Loves almost all forms of reptiles (there is one very serious exception) so we were hard on the lookout for turtles, frogs, and especially alligators.  Other park patrons may have been slightly concerned by the young couple hanging off of the board walk calling "here wally gator" "where are you?"  We always have high hopes of spotting something incredibly in the wild like a docile black bear or a friendly alligator, but invariable strike out.  Well this time we actually saw 2 bears and 2 alligators!!

Wally Gator

Well technically the bears were both dead and stuffed in the education center and the alligators were babies in captivity at the Estuarium.  So once more no luck, but at least we didn't see any of the highly dreaded reptilians (though there were a few false alarms).

So not really wild alligators

Anyway, the board walk trails soon gave way to a gravel path, which gave way to a park access road, which led deep into the woods, which led to a muddy and root filled path, which led to two very tired hikers dragging themselves back to the car.  We rested up on the drive to the Estuarium and enjoyed a quick tour through there.  It had a few neat exhibits and two really cute baby turtles in addition to the before mentioned alligators.  After this it was a nice refreshing lunch in Washington and a drive back home.

Kristin's favorite exhibit at the estuarium

The rest of the weekend went without event.  We got to watch James Bond at home, the Panthers won, and we had plenty of time for sleeping and snacking.  Plus Hilary and Colin gave me a movie gift card for my birthday so now we're all ready to go watch the new James Bond once the crowds thin down!

Buzzy the birthday boy and his beautiful buddy Buckwheat