Day 23- Favorite vacation

From Singles 2011

Let's see. It must have been about 1992. October. I was working at the College of Wooster. It was fall break. My parents, sister, and I had made a plan to spend the holiday on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

My mom and dad picked me up from Wooster and then we tooled down I71 to Columbus - stopping at The Leaf for a piece of pie - to pick up Renee. We were all giddy with excitement. We planned a 2 day drive down with our first stop in Virginia.

This is where my parents, while unpacking the car, recognized that they had bags from Renee and I - and my mother's breathing machine/drug/emergency bag - but no suitcase of clothing for themselves. We all found this to be hilarious. Their suitcase was still waiting on the bed in Versailles. They were hundreds of miles away, preparing to "holiday" in dirty socks and underwear.

Does it sound amusing? Maybe you had to be there.

The next day involved a stop at a local shopping center to pick up undergarments and outer garments. No big deal. Just clothes - we are on VACATION.

We stayed in Kitty Hawk - (That's the birthplace of aviation for you Australians - where Orville and Wilbur Wright, both good ole boys from Dayton, Ohio - flew their first manned flight.) It is an area of sandy dunes. It is are area of windy, sandy dunes. See photo above. I love this photo! Look how happy everyone is.

From Singles 2011

Despite the coats and hats you'll see, on the beach the water was still warm and the days sunny. Renee and I played a game of racing the waves into shore. You had to touch the incoming wave and then run! trying to keep ahead. My mother sat further up on shore with a video camera. At one point she noted that the wave coming in was going to be much larger than the others had been and she tried to get our attention. To warn us.

She needed to warn herself. We were fine. The wave, however, washed in, up and past her, carrying away the video camera bag and sending her sprawling onto her back.

This is all on film, mind you. Great "you were there moment" of water rushing to land and then the picture flips suddenly up to the sky. With screaming.

I had so much fun. It was the last holiday I took with my family as a whole. After, I traveled a bit with my mom and dad - but Renee, old married lady, never again left her husband to come along. I cherish the memory of playing again. Simple. Joyful. Play.

And, the red beans and rice at the local Caribbean restaurant!