We spent the Fourth of July going to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. It was a perfect day of warm weather, sunny dispositions, and lots of surf and sand.
The night before we joined the Camp crowd for the "Third on the Fourth Fireworks" at camp. Over a thousand kids, counselors and adults all sitting on blankets in a big open field next to the river - it was electrical. This was TJ's first "real" fireworks where he comprehended the sounds and bright sparkling explosions. Of course, to him, it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e.
We got up for breakfast and hit the early ferry to the south side of the Neuse River. We drove through pine scrub forest until we hit Morehead, NC and made our way over the causeway to the beach. Parking, believe it or not, was easy to find and we unloaded to the dunes.
This was TJ's first "real" visit to the ocean - you know, the one where he realizes waves and surf. He chased the water out and it chased him back in. He screeched and laughed. We loved it and it was amazing to see the fun in his eyes of such a simple act as playing in the surf and sand. We did confirm that TJ is a sand castle buster, not a builder. I, unfortunately, am a sand castle builder. Having TJ "Godzilla" Brown around is dangerous.
Sam played the part of the protective big sister and reminded me once again that that sibling bond is very strong. Of course her main goal was to listen to her iPod and get a tan, but on the whole she wanted to be with us - very cool for a soon-to-be teenager.
Our trip included a visit to the "famous" Sanitary Fish Market, a staple of the Seafarer and Seagull crowd for years and years. The restaurant is one of those community places that grew out of a reputation for good food and through word of mouth and very clever marketing of tee-shirts. Fried anything (mostly fish) and a staple of southern food that I actually like, hush puppies! We ate way too much and spent way too much but it was worth it.
On the trip home I reflected how happy I was to be with my family on a day where everything was pleasant.
God bless America!
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