Friday Favorites: Carolina Beach Edition

 We FINALLY made it to North Carolina after having to post-pone our trip from June and struggling to find another rental.  It was well worth the wait though and we are already on our way home as you are reading this.  I did revert back to my old weekly re-cap/ summary style for this post only because I don't want to forget what we did each day.

We packed up the car Friday night and left early Saturday morning.  I love my packing cubes! 

We made a stop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and a stop mid-afternoon for lunch at Red Robin before hitting our final resting spot of the night-- Drury Plaza Hotel just outside Richmond Virginia.  It was a beautiful hotel and we managed to snag adjoining rooms.  It's so odd travelling with teens... the car was so quiet with them all wearing headphones and playing devices the whole way.

After enjoying our complimentary breakfast on Sunday we headed out and made great timing.  We got to our rental around noon (but we knew check-in was not until 3) so we headed out for some lunch at Olive Garden.  Much like everywhere else in the country most places down here are struggling to find help and only 1/2 the restaurant was open to guests.  We had a long wait but that was fine with us and we went shopping nearby while waiting for a table.  Lunch was delicious (of course).  By the time we finished and made our way back to Carolina Beach our rental was ready and it was SO cute!  I loved all the little decorating touches everywhere.  Each bedroom had it's own full bath and balcony! We got some grocery shopping done and then I connected with my sister and we made plans for the next day.

Monday was a beautiful beach day.  After breakfast we walked the 3 or so blocks to the beach and got settled.  I don't think we lasted even 2 hours on the beach; it was HOT!  My sister and nephew came over around lunch and a few of us headed back to the beach mid-afternoon.  It had cooled off a bit but the waves were brutal; which didn't stop us from having fun though.  

After showering and getting dressed my brother in law and my other nephew showed up and we all went out to dinner.  We walked to Hang Ten Grill for dinner-- the food was delicious!  After dinner a few of us went to get ice cream at Celtic Creamery where we got some amazing homemade ice cream.  Ian tried their surfer special- 4 homemade mini donuts, two scoops ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  The donuts are made fresh on the spot upon ordering and even the whipped cream looked homemade.  

We walked on the beach on the way home and it was so pretty with the sun starting to set. 

We knew Tuesday was supposed to be a rainy washout of a day so we planned to head to the Fort Fisher Aquarium only tickets were sold out for the day.  We decided to check out the fort itself; we walked around the fort first reading all the placards about it then spent some time going through the museum. 

We were back at the house by noon and after much searching and debate ended up going to the movies to see Jungle Cruise.  It was a bit of a disappointment and we walked out to pouring rain (which continued well into the next morning).

After the movie I took a quick nap while my husband went to the grocery store. We headed to my aunt's house for a delicious steak dinner and had a wonderful time visiting with my family. 

My husband and Ian were supposed to go out on a fishing charter Wednesday but it was canceled due to the weather.  We decided to head down to Myrtle Beach and check out WonderWorks.  My sister, nephew and aunt all joined in.  We walked around Broadway on the Beach (a development of shops, restaurants, and attractions), ate lunch at Sweet Carolina's, checked out everything at WonderWorks, and ended the day with some Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  I got the cookie cookie sundae and it was SO good! 

 

It was still pretty cloudy on Thursday but since most of the threat of rain had passed we decided to FINALLY head to Airlie gardens.  My sister painted a garden owl that was part of their new art installation this season and I had been wanting to go see her owl as well as the others displayed there and what I heard were beautiful gardens (each artist that had their drawing approved was given an owl sculpture to decorate).   Ben and Ian were supposed to be gone on a fishing charter but that never panned out so they reluctantly headed to the gardens with the rest of us.  

My sister's owl

After the gardens we went to get pizza with my aunt and uncle at Slices of Life then we headed to a carnivorous plant garden that both Alec and Evan wanted to see.  We had just learned a few months ago that Wilmington and about a 70 mile radius around them is the only place in the U.S. where they grow naturally in the wild.  

Alec is pointing at a Sundew; the one carnivorous plant we had the hardest time finding

We headed to Boombalati's for what we were jokingly calling our daily fix of ice cream and then drove out to my sister's house.  She made dinner for us all and then we said our goodbyes; heading back to our rental house to pack up and hit the road. 

We definitely had fun but were so ready to head home and get back to our normal routine and healthier eating habits. 

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