There hadn't been much to write about lately, so I stuck to reading posts instead of creating them. Jeanna, you did a fantastic job of updating us on recent happenings--I especially liked seeing pictures! Also, we LOVED seeing your house via the images you sent through e-mail. We are so excited about seeing it in-person! Perhaps there I shall find myself getting mercilessly pounded in chess by Bryan or being in the way while Jeanna cooks or watching the dogs adorably push every possible limit :P. Mikey and I are home again after a mini vacation in Wilmington, NC. It's always a good place to go because it's not so far away, not terribly expensive or crowded (especially not now, during off season) and we have fond memories of at least one great trip there before we were married.
The "quick" version of all the fun stuff we did, with pictures:
We ate breakfast at Shoneys before driving out. Upon arriving, we bought beach towels and headed to the cool, windy beach. It took forever to find free parking but once we did, we settled in ocean-front: me to knit and read, Mikey to nap.
When it got too cool, we put on our shoes and walked, then headed back to the car.
Nearby was a park with a nice little lake and some gazebos, so we read for a little while on benches that the ducks were very liberal with. Yes, folks, Mikey read :).
We rode around for what seemed like FOREVER to find a Mexican restaurant (one of our little rituals) and then I got impatient and made Mikey pull over at the first one we saw. La Costa ("apparently Mexican for 'we don't sell cheese dip'," says Mikey) ended up being one of the worst Mexican restaurants we've ever eaten at. Regardless, we ate our food, I discovered I don't like margaritas (at least from La Costa), and finally we were full and tired.
We checked in to the hotel we stayed at last time, the Quality Inn. They have a great continental breakfast...with Waffles! We watched a movie and went to bed.
After eating breakfast at Quality Inn, we looked in some brochures for points of interest. Deciding on a few things, we checked out and headed for the Aquarium. Here we took in a 15 minute presentation on cephalopods (with a spastic presenter whose shirt was way too short for being around little kids) and gave our own names to some crazy-looking fish.
Fort Fisher was right next door, so we dropped by, looked at some old stuff, watched a 15 minute film on the history of the place, bought some confederate magnets and walked around the remains of the site.
We were by the public beach access from the previous day, so we stopped in again. This time, Mikey read and I read/napped on a towel. The beach sounded beautiful and the sun was delicious, but the wind kept pouring sand over my clothes and in my hair and ears, so we finally got up to go. Our stomaches were grumbling anyway!
We always stop in at ANDY'S for some cheese-steaks (there aren't any of these restaurants in Greensboro or surrounding areas), so that was our next stop.
At the hotel, we had seen a brochure on Wilmington's SERPENTARIUM, so we went for a visit. A snake-lover's dream come true! They had 23 ft. pythons and boas almost as big; they had black and green mambas, man-eating crocodiles and cobras, vipers and rattlesnakes to our hearts' content! Each caption told plenty of information about each snake's region, habitat, anatomy, venom and history of kills. They even had some stories and pictures of deadly snake encounters and of those who lived to tell the tale (the director of the Serpentarium had been bitten badly at least twice). Death-heads (1-5) marked each aquarium to show the deadliness of the snake--lets just say they favored snakes who earned a 5! It was a really interesting place to visit. We are quite happy with our small, docile pythons (who are doing quite well and growing quite large, by the way)!
(YES, this is the 23ft. python stretched out comfortably around his "little" friend in the corner.)
When we left the snakes, we headed towards a tea-by-the-sea place I wanted to sit and knit at, but it was closed :(, so we took our business across the street to a coffee shop, where I had coffee and a cookie and Mikey had a strawberry smoothie.
As you might be able to tell from the last pictures, we were worn out from sun and sand and walking so we got back in our car and headed on home. We got here around 8:30, making good time, and have been doing laundry and catching up on some stuff since then.
Tomorrow is Easter and for one reason or another, Mikey and I are going to need to be at both services at our church. We are glad we're going to be in-town for Easter: we really like to celebrate with our church family on such occasions. Looking into next week, I'll be on Spring Break but Mikey will be working and doing school like normal. I have a friend coming into town that I haven't seen in about 3 years, so I am excited about that! Also, I have had a constant pain in my leg that has been going on for a while and is getting worst. Last fall, I went to the doctor twice and the Orthopedic specialist twice, got numerous X-rays done and an MRI and still had no clear diagnosis. Frustrated at a lack of results and at a series of doctors who didn't take me seriously, I let it lie, but since it's been getting worst, a friend of mine recommended a couple of other doctors and the possibility of having a chiropractor look at me. I will probably work on that during Spring Break as well since I am getting increasingly frustrated with the situation.
We have been thinking about you a LOT lately, especially Mike since it's his BIRTHDAY! We can't wait to see you in person again....sometime this fall, I believe, is the current plan. Well, I hope you enjoy the pictures and the longest post ever :).
Much love, Laura (and Mikey, aka: the Kid)
posted by Laura Fissel Saturday, March 22, 2008 @ 8:03 PM
