Weekend Getaway

Tom and I had a weekend getaway this past weekend. It was the first time we have left the kids for more than one night. Usually when we go on trips it is as a family. Tom was off of work, we had a place to stay, so I thought a beach getaway would be GREAT! It was!


After dropping the kids off at MeMa & PaPa's house, we headed to the OBX (North Carolina Outer Banks). Growing up we always went to Emerald Isle/Morehead/Atlantic Beach. Last year was our first visit to OBX and we loved it.


My dad and stepmother have a condo in Manteo. Before heading there we decided to check out the Dare Day Festival. We had a wonderful lunch from Tom Thumb's Cookout. For someone who claims not to like seafood - I sure did eat a lot of it this weekend. Here is my soft shell crab basket (soft shell crab on bun, fries, hush puppies) from Tom Thumb's. They batter and fry the whole crab. Because it is soft shell you can eat the entire thing - legs and all. You should have seen the little girl that was sitting across from me. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she watched me eat the crab legs. I had to look away so I wouldn't laugh. Tom enjoyed a shrimp basket (shrimp, fries, hush puppies).


Saturday night, my dad and stepmother, Tom and I ate at Kelly's. (I can not say thank you enough Jennifer for this recommendation!!!) I did not order the Smoky Fillet Oscar that Jennifer did (even though it sounded tempting. Didn't think I could handle the cheese sauce). I ordered one of the specials: Blackened Tuna with grilled shrimp drizzled with a wasabi/soy sauce served over a bed of rice and green beans. Delicious!!!! Not to mention the homemade sweet potato biscuits and other rolls that filled the bread basket. Kelly's has a birthday club that you can join. You receive a coupon to use towards your dinner. (I'm all about a coupon!!) Then we went to the movies to see the new "Night at the Museum" movie.

Sunday morning we attended Nags Head Church. What a blessing!! Check out the links on their website for podcasts, Pastor Rick's blog, teaching series and The Milepost 13 band. The Milepost 13 band is led by Nate Lawrenson (Confessions of a CF husband). Tom and I got the chance to say hello to Nate, Tricia and Gwyneth Rose. If you haven't checked out their blog - take the time to do so- you will be blessed.

We headed over to Grits Grill for lunch. Jennifer said they served large portions. Tom's omelet was HUGE! I stuck with the seafood theme I was on and ordered a crab cake sandwich. Yummy!!

We visited Jockey's Ridge. One of my favorite places. I wanted to get some good sunset pictures. Tom turned down some random road at just the right time. Check them out in the slide show.

We used a coupon Sunday night at Rita's,. They have a birthday club, also - buy one get one free. Tom and I ordered the cream ice. He had cookies and cream which tasted like snow cream. I had the fudge brownie. Very yummy. It was interesting seeing what other people were ordering. The most disgusting I saw was blue raspberry Italian ice, vanilla frozen custard and Oreo pieces all mixed together - YUK!! The girl fixing it didn't even flinch - I bet she has seen all kinds of weird combinations.

Monday morning (later than Tom wanted I might add) we went to The Dunes Restaurant. We ate there last year and loved the buffet breakfast. They renovated it over the winter. It looked amazing. The food was still as wonderful as we remembered.

We did a little shopping/browsing. I definitely wanted to make a stop on the way home. A little place in Jamesville caught my eye - Mackey's Ferry Peanuts. What a nice store! The cashier was very friendly and full of information (and free peanut samples). You can stop by the shop on your way to or from the OBX or you can order online. The homemade peanut butter, the salted in-the-shell peanuts, the blister-fried peanuts, the flame thrower peanuts and the dark chocolate peanut clusters were the samples we tried. All were very yummy!!! I wish I had bought some of the peanut butter! Guess I'll just have to make another trip to OBX soon!!