2 If By Sea

Road Trip!  We took a family road trip Fall of 2002.  It ranks as one of the best vacations we've ever taken.  We had a goal to take our pups to see the ocean.  Roscoe had fought a battle with cancer, and we were thankful to still have him.  We made his last year count.

We took two weeks and drove to the East coast.  I charted our course and planned to stay at either B&B's that would accept two big dogs, or with relatives. 

We drove to PA and connected with Todd's uncle and aunt, who at the time I had not met.  We had been married 3 years at that point, and Todd had lost touch with them.  We were going to be in their area, so why not stop by and see them?  It was the best thing we ever did, to connect with them.  They are dog lovers, so we were welcome to stay with them.  We ended up rearranging our plans and staying one extra night with them because we just couldn't stand the thought of leaving so soon.  We just found them!

It's one of those things that happens when you find another couple that you connect with so closely and comfortably.  It's always like that with them--we have a close bond no matter how many years pass between visits now.  I remember the warm fireplace and rum & coke filled evenings of staying up until 3am telling stories.  I can still taste the sloppy Joe's our aunt made too.

LOVE this family!

Although I'm not really a fan, it was worth taking this picture as we drove by:

Wow, that's a BIG basket!

Next stop was DC.  Got to meet another uncle & aunt of Todd's and his uncle showed us around all of the must-see sites.  Went to the National Mall and Arlington.  Saw many things I always wanted to see!

Korean War Memorial: unexpectedly haunting and emotionally moving.
I had no idea how moving this is, at least for me it was.

3 year old Boo (aka Amber)
The pups loved travelling.  They got used to loading up in the morning and hitting the road.

Next stop was the Outer Banks of NC.  Finally--we got to see the ocean!  We stayed at a Ramada Inn, RIGHT ON THE OCEAN.  And they ALLOWED DOGS bigger than purse pups!  Can you believe that?  I still can't.  Those poor maids, with all that sand to clean up.  It was actually a decent room.

Roscoe ended up not liking the water so much.  Todd, determined to have fun despite the COLD TEMP, ran back and forth with Amber into the waves and back out.  She had so much fun with her dad.  They were thoroughly soaked and every cranny was filled with sand, but totally worth it.

Amber, Roscoe, Todd in the ocean

Family picture taken by a very gracious volunteer. (Roscoe laying, Amber sitting)
After she gave the camera back, she reached out to pat Amber on the head.
Amber ended up projectile vomiting salt water all over the place--that poor lady!



Had to take the kids through the Brew Thru.
Why doesn't EVERY state have these???

Body Island Light House stairwell from the top looking down--awesome!

Next stop was a lovely Victorian B&B in Wilmington, VA.  They had a nicely landscaped yard all around the house.  On the side, there was a beautiful bathtub buried in the ground full of lilly pads.  I was watching Amber with a keen eye because I knew she had no idea what she was seeing--she had never experienced lilly pads (or any kind of small pond).  Amber thought it looked so inviting, she stepped right in before I knew it, and I yanked her out so fast it's amazing she got wet.  Whoops!  Thankfully no harm, no foul (and they didn't see it happen!).


Yes, that's Todd!

We left the dogs in the room that night while we went to dinner.  I remember walking to and dining at a restaurant on the water, and LOVING their seafood bisque.  They had pewter glasses for water, and it kept the water bone chillingly cold.  Loved that.  We saw a "palmetto bug", and they comped the whole meal including the bottle of wine.  We did not expect that (the food was SO GOOD it didn't even bother us) so we went back the next day and got a tub of seafood bisque frozen to go. 

That night for dessert, we went to a different restaurant and had the most amazing chocolate mousse served in an espresso cup.  It was the most rich and decadent dessert I've ever had.  The butter content had to be amazingly high. 

We walked back to the room & found total destruction & mayhem (not):

Good dogs!

We picked up a pinball cocktail machine in Wilmington, so the dogs were a bit cramped.  But they didn't really mind.  The next stop we made was to see my brother & sis-in-law in VA for a first time visit.  It was such a gorgeous area on the edge of the smokey mountains.  The pups enjoyed playing on the edge of the river.  My brother had them in it before I even knew there was a river there.

So that was our trip.  We loved every minute of it.  Roscoe passed away the following February, and I will always be so thankful we made the time to take that trip.  We made memories I still hold dear.