Well we finally got a chance to get away. Mom and Dad usually give us a weekend away at Christmas and we planned to go to Williamsburg, Virginia back in February, but the week before we went I started having contractions again and when they subsided I was in my third trimester and the doctors didn't want me to travel. So, things have finally settled down with Jacob and we decided to go to Wilmington instead since it was closer. Here is the van all loaded and the boys ready to go to spend the weekend with Gran and Papa:
We dropped the boys off around 8:30 on Friday morning to Gran and Papa's and by 9:00 we were on the road. We reached Wilmington and our hotel before 11:00 that morning (great to be so close - and it helps with gas prices being so high too!). We stayed in a Comfort Suites on Market Street and it was a great hotel. It had a swimming pool and an exercise room and we enjoyed both (well only I used the exercise room).
After checking in and relaxing a little while, we headed out to the mexican restaurant we ate at last time that had a buffet. It was wonderful again, but we ate too much. After that we set out to find several stores we wanted to shop at. Well I went the wrong direction and ended up looping back around and somehow found what I was looking for - the scrapbook store(the theme of the weekend became that I didn't know where I was going and often went too far for Mitch's taste before I turned around to head back - he ribbed me good-naturedly the whole weekend about not finding places). We spent awhile in there and Mitch helped me pick some things out that he liked. The ladies in the Scrapbook Nook were wonderful and even told us how to get to the store that Mitch was looking for (and I found it on first try) Cannady's sporting goods. It was a neat store and everyone in there even knew where Otway was. After that we headed to Jim's Pawn shop which Mitch heard about on the radio when we were in the scrapbook store. Oh my gosh - this was seriously Mitch's dream come true. I have never seen so many guns in one place and all the rifles were out in the back so he could look at them. He had a great time in there looking at all the rifles. We then ran to Lowe's foods hoping to find a beer we bought down there a few years ago that we loved, but we didn't. We did run in AC Moore where we bought some really nice coat racks for really cheap prices. Mitch has to stain them, but they will be really pretty when finished. At this point we decided we had done enough shopping, we were still full and tired so we went back to the room to rest and get in the pool.
While at the pool there was a family down there - it was a husband, wife, their son and the grandparents. We were in awe of the little boy who was three just jumping right into the pool (with his parents right there). Logan would never do that, but hopefully with time he will. We played around in the pool, racing and dunking each other and just relaxing. We were finally driven inside by a big crack of thunder.
That night we finally decided to go eat about 8:30 (the mexican food really filled us up) and we decided on Texas Roadhouse. I knew mom and dad had eaten there and said it was great and they were right. We had a wonderful meal and a great waiter. They made a big deal about it being our first time there for some reason. But it was a really great restaurant - everyone should try it out if you see one! After eating we did our traditional anniversary thing (even though it wasn't our anniversary) we went to Books-a-Million and looked around and read for about an hour. We both love that store.
Saturday morning I was up bright and early as usual. I called mom and dad before 8:00 to see how things were. I then went back upstairs and woke up my grumpy husband. I was ready to get going. We got dressed and headed out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast which was delicious as always, went by a used bookstore and then headed down to Myrtle Beach, SC. Mitch wanted to go to Bass Pro Shops. When we got down there, Mitch was just about out of the van before I stopped (just like he did at Cannady's the previous day). He went into Bass Pro and I went next door to the mall. Guess where I went - Waldenbooks and Books-a-Million (which were across from each other which I thought was strange). I had a good time in both places. I headed back to the car a few minutes after that where I took this picture of the mall sign with the temperature. Believe me it felt every bit that hot and even more! Myrtle Beach in August is not the place to be.
I eventually looked around Bass Pro and found Mitch who wasn't quite done yet so I went and found a bench and read awhile until he was done. After leaving there we went to a pawn shop a friend recommended and looked around. It was connected to an antiques store and we looked around in there too and learned that a N'Sync poster is an antique? Strange - I really think it was less an antique store and more a flea mall.
Before leaving SC we had to do the tourist thing and buy fireworks so we stopped in a fireworks store just outside of Myrtle Beach and looked around. We got Logan some of those snap things you throw on the ground - I remember I use to love those.
That evening, we rested and read awhile in the room. We were rather tired from the heat, so we never made it back out to the pool. We then showered and headed to Front Street Brewery which is probably the main reason we go to Wilmington. Beer brewed there and great food in a fun atmosphere. What was really funny was as we sat to the bar to wait for our table and we each ordered a beer we both ordered the exact same beer! Usually we get two different ones so we can each try one, but this time we ordered the exact same one and it was a great beer (I guess after 13 years together we are starting to be more alike). When we were seated a band started playing and I thought they were pretty good. We ordered and had a great dinner. Mitch also enjoyed the beer sampler which is a small glass (like the size of four shots) of each of the beers they make. That is an interesting thing to try, and since Mitch home brews this is one of the reasons we go there. After eating we walked back to the van, looked out over the waterfront from the parking deck for awhile and then headed to find a drug store to get Mitch moustache wax, which was the other joke of the weekend. The whole weekend every time we went past a drugstore, he would say "I wonder if [insert store name] has moustache wax?" So finally I took him to a CVS and we found moustache wax!
Sunday I didn't wake Mitch up as early, but I didn't let him sleep really long either. We had to leave by 3:30 to get home so I wanted to get the most out of the day. We got ready, loaded the van, checked out and headed to Cracker Barrel again for breakfast (both days it appears we got there before the rush and were seated within five minutes, but when we left there was always a ton of people waiting on the front porch). After breakfast we headed out to the Battleship (U.S.S. North Carolina). For some strange reason we were under the delusion that it was air conditioned inside. Ha Ha on us! It was in the upper 90s outside and all they had below decks was fans. Everyone we saw (including us) would frequently stop under the fans to cool off. We were drenched with sweat in the first 15 minutes. But it was a cool visit. We got to see an alligator and take a picture of it.
We also enjoyed looking around. We didn't spend as much time as we wanted to because of the heat. I also got to see the room that commemorates the N.C. soldiers that died during WWII, and found my great-uncle's name on that wall (mom told me who to look for) - Carlos Warren Jones. That was pretty interesting to see.
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We did a little more shopping and then headed back home to pick up the boys. All-in-all it was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to get away again.
Some more pictures from the battleship (as with all pictures you can click on them to enlarge the pictures):
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