Day 22

You know me, I don’t like New Jersey. Also, if you’ve followed me the last couple of years, you know we have a problem when it comes to going home after our vacation. We just don’t want to do it. And so we procrastinate. We find things to do to delay the inevitable. Since we really like it here, we decided to stay an extra day.

Clouds rimmed the horizon this morning, blocking the sun. Once again. We couldn’t watch it rise. But G3 and I did have a pleasant walk along the beach.

A year or so ago, a friend of mine recommended Duck Donuts. I am not a donut person, but G3 is. He has been begging to try Dick Donuts since Ana told us about them. This morning, driving through Nags Head, G3 spotted a Duck Donuts. Since we are on vacation and all healthy eating has been tossed aside, we stopped. Unlike Dunken and Krispy Kreme, the donuts are made to order. And you can watch them being made. Kati was enthralled watching them. But I think it was the novelty she enjoyed most. G3 and Kati enjoyed eating them, especially the maple bacon ones. I thought they were way too sweet.

G3 wanted to play mini-golf so we went this morning before it got too hot. The cloud coverage kept the heat down. I like playing mini-golf, especially since it—like many summer activities—reminds me of Dad. He always had fun playing and he always—or almost always—won. I don’t think I ever beat him. G3 holds the putter like Dad, which made me smile. It’s probably because when he was little, dad showed him how to play and tried to help him aim better.

I still owed Kati a winery from one of the battlefields, so we drove over to Roanoke Island to go to Vineyards on the Scuppernong. The wine was all fruity and extremely sweet, but since the tasting was free we bought a bottle to enjoy this evening on the beach.

This afternoon, we returned to the beach with better waves. We were the only people there. It was fantastic. Even though it was cloudy and cool we went swimming and had a great time. G3 got knocked around a great deal on his boogie board, but he managed to keep his trunks on this time. There were a few jellyfish, but we got lucky. They didn’t sting any of us today.

When we got here we learned that we couldn’t have any wood fire at our campsite. We were disappointed. Yesterday, G3 read somewhere that you can get a FREE permit to have a campfire on the beach at night. I am so glad he is perceptive. The first thing we did this morning was pick up our permit.

To have a fire on the beach, you need to dig a hole in the sand. We didn’t have a shovel. But somewhere in the vague recesses of my mind, I remembered Dad telling me that when I was really little, he used to dig holes—really, really deep holes—for me to play in at the beach, using a clam shell. I collected three decent sized ones while we were swimming earlier and they worked fabulously for digging our fire pit.

Dinner consisted of hot dogs cooked over our roaring fire, and carrots, tomatoes, and crackers with hummus. Kati and I shared wine and G3 toasted marshmallows.

There were so few people on the beach it felt as if we were isolated from the world. You don’t get that at the beach in Jersey unless it’s the middle of winter. Nor do you get it in New York.

Being lulled by the ocean and warmed by a fire, I felt as if I were in heaven. The night was cloudy and we couldn’t see the sun set on the other side of the island. The clouds, however, were tinged with a touch of pink. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect ending to our vacation.

Once it got dark, the crabs came out to play and they were scuttling up and down the shore line. The second we shined the light on them, they froze. Aside of fiddler crabs at the treasure beach in Long Island, I had never seen so many crabs. We stayed at the beach until our permit expired at 10.

I hear thunder in the distance. I hope it doesn’t rain.