Over the past several trips we've made to the Outer Banks, I've learned so much from Mary Gaylord about how to find a great house for our vacation. She's shown me the features to look for, the companies and what they offer, and how to get the most for your money. It's actually a fun process to find just the right house. When I say I spent literally hours and hours looking through catalogs and websites...
There are so many places to choose from it's unbelievable! Having been to the Outer Banks before really helps visualise where the house will be. Fortunately many of the companies offer maps and aerial views of the properties to assist you. I remember spending an afternoon on our first trip, just driving around enjoying all the beautiful homes. Every time we thought we saw the perfect house, along came another one looking even more interesting and beautiful. Oh, to win the lottery right now... I'd have to get some property in OBX...
We would take walks, just enjoying the features we could see from the street as we walked by. It was even more fun to try to guess what the inside of some of these homes was like. I guess it's just one of those fun things to imagine and take a head vacation to...
This montage will show you the house we stayed in. It was a three story, 8 bedroom, 10 bath home. The top floor had a Master King bedroom, Master bath, cooking kitchen complete with 2 dishwashers, a microwave, frig, oven, 3 sinks and marble counter tops. The kitchen was set up perfectly for our needs. There was also a beautiful living room with a fireplace, a huge dining room complete with two tables, able to seat 14. In the main hall that ran the entire height of the house was an elevator, accessible to all floors. It was perfect for Mom and Tricia, and sure helped when we had to unload groceries, etc. There was another wing which had a master king bedroom and master bath, as well as a"media room" which held a TV, daybed and desk for computer use. That room also had it's own bathroom. There was a full bath for use by everyone, right around the corner from the elevator.
The second floor was where the most bedrooms were. There were 5 king master suites, each with their own bathrooms. The end of one of the halls also took us to a bedroom perfect for kids, with 2 sets of bunk beds and its own bathroom. Smartly, the laundry area was also on this floor.
On the ground floor there was the main entry, a huge family room area which held the pool table, another frig, microwave and wet bar, as well as an ice machine, TV and bistro table area. This floor also had a full bath right inside the pool door, so you didn't have to go far if you needed to use it. Just outside the pool table room was a covered patio area and a grilling center with a gas grill. Just beyond that was the pool and hot tub area.
All of the bedrooms had their own deck access and faced east towards the ocean (except the kids bedroom). The volleyball area was on the west side of the house, and the basketball goal was off the east side of the driveway. Unfortunately, I found the basketball goal with my car one morning and took out a taillight. With a TV in each room, no one was without their favorite shows. Every bedroom allowed you to sleep with your sliding door blinds opened so you could watch the sunrise in the morning. As relaxed as everyone seemed to get, there were very few sunrise risers each day.
The rules for this vacation were simple: There are no rules! Relax, have fun, and try to enjoy dinner together as a group if you can make it. Everyone was together each night for dinner, yet by day we all did our own thing. It was fantastic! There were some poor weather days, so everyone just hit the shops and tourist traps. There was plenty to do, yet nothing you had to do.
So here's where we stayed: OPUS I, Corolla, N. C.
Friday, June 12, 2009
PT. 2 - God Does Amazing Work
Our trip to the Outer Banks reminded me of just what beautiful work God does. Just when you think you've seen some of his best work, you go to the Outer Banks and see Him take your breath away. It's beautiful. Nothing else need be said, He shows you it all...
This blog entry is photos of the beauty of the entire area we enjoyed. There was so much more to see and do, it would take an entire summer and then some. You would think the beach itself would be enough to keep you in awe, but then you see the off-road beaches, the life on the beach and in the water, homes, wild horses, the Corolla Lighthouse, views... Like I said, it's breathtaking. So let me share some of it with you, and hopefully, when we plan next years trip you will want to enjoy it with us. If so, just comment and say so. We'd love to have you! The guest list has begun...
This blog entry is photos of the beauty of the entire area we enjoyed. There was so much more to see and do, it would take an entire summer and then some. You would think the beach itself would be enough to keep you in awe, but then you see the off-road beaches, the life on the beach and in the water, homes, wild horses, the Corolla Lighthouse, views... Like I said, it's breathtaking. So let me share some of it with you, and hopefully, when we plan next years trip you will want to enjoy it with us. If so, just comment and say so. We'd love to have you! The guest list has begun...
PT. 1 - What a Vacation Memory! Ahh, the People!
One of my favorite memories is of past vacations. Now we have new memories to add to the old. As a matter of fact, there are so many pictures for this vacation, all merged by 6 families, that I'm going to have to do this in 6 separate blog entries. Some times you just have so much fun, even doing nothing, that you want to capture it all on film and remember it forever. That's how this trip was.
It started being planned last November. As the pieces fell into place, we started to invite people to join in the fun. One thing we knew, this was going to be an adults only vacation. Nothing against children, but sometimes people need a break from it all, just to chill and do nothing. So the plans began. By January we were inviting people to join and trying to determine what size house to get. When you vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina it's best to rent a house, pool and all, and plan your vacation. In addition to no children this one trip, we were wanting to "Pay It Forward" for everyone who had helped us get through a rough year. Thank you was the main reason for the trip, and there were a lot of people to try to coordinate.
We finally had a final group list and had the time of our lives. Tricia and I were joined by Mary and Steve Gaylord (sister and brother in-law), their dog Bailey, Mom Schultz, Marcia Bourque (sister), Jeremy Smith (nephew), Lisa and Steve Schultz (brother and sister in-law), and Julie Madera (niece). Although so many others were invited, for a multitude of reasons, our guest list was the group of eleven of us.
I've started the memories with pictures of the people who were there, in order for the rest to make sense. Unfortunately, some people were more "picture takers" so there aren't as many shots of them to share.
There are a few special memories of some of the photos...
-Grandmama, was always covered up and cold while the rest of us were hot, but she did leave with a sunburn! She loved exploring all the unique shops and tourist traps.
-Jeremy, who we hadn't seen in years, reminiscing about looking at the stars each night and thinking of each other, or him being just plain crazy and fun... Lily Tomlin in the big chair!
-Julie says her sunscreen will protect her, then she's fried the next day, but she still keeps her commitment to study, so proud of her! She's so much fun!
-Lisa shares the first chance to get to know her and find out how lucky we are that she's in our family. She cheers for the Orlando Magic and takes some great photos!
-Marcia still loves to shop and laugh. I loved just watching her spend time with Jeremy, something I know she misses doing. And the "head joke"... you're killin' me!
-Mary was my pool pal and my cooking partner. I don't know how we made all the food fit in the refrigerators, or the look on her face when she saw all the cupboards of dishes... lots of bowls! We still had too much food!
-Steve S. makes the best pool fairy wrapped in a raft we have ever seen... he won the fishing contest with his TROPHY FISH catch, and allowed me to feed him his beer so he didn't have to leave the pool to drink!
-Steve G. woke each morning to watch the sunrise and see the daily news with me. He'd return from his daily fishing to tell us about the one that got away. A big thank you for taking everyone to the off-road area to look for horses and terrorists. About that grass skirt...
-Tricia ended every day with me by saying "thank you" for giving us this trip and the awesome people we shared it with. I will never forget the smile that finally returned to her face when she spent time with everyone...
I'm not as talented as many of you on making a montage, but I'm sure you'll get the idea. The computer kept changing the order of the pictures, so forgive a few "mix ups". Just take a few minutes... more than 5, I think, and enjoy the montage! Remember, with over 700 photos to share I will be posting 5 more montages of the trip! Enjoy!!!!
It started being planned last November. As the pieces fell into place, we started to invite people to join in the fun. One thing we knew, this was going to be an adults only vacation. Nothing against children, but sometimes people need a break from it all, just to chill and do nothing. So the plans began. By January we were inviting people to join and trying to determine what size house to get. When you vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina it's best to rent a house, pool and all, and plan your vacation. In addition to no children this one trip, we were wanting to "Pay It Forward" for everyone who had helped us get through a rough year. Thank you was the main reason for the trip, and there were a lot of people to try to coordinate.
We finally had a final group list and had the time of our lives. Tricia and I were joined by Mary and Steve Gaylord (sister and brother in-law), their dog Bailey, Mom Schultz, Marcia Bourque (sister), Jeremy Smith (nephew), Lisa and Steve Schultz (brother and sister in-law), and Julie Madera (niece). Although so many others were invited, for a multitude of reasons, our guest list was the group of eleven of us.
I've started the memories with pictures of the people who were there, in order for the rest to make sense. Unfortunately, some people were more "picture takers" so there aren't as many shots of them to share.
There are a few special memories of some of the photos...
-Grandmama, was always covered up and cold while the rest of us were hot, but she did leave with a sunburn! She loved exploring all the unique shops and tourist traps.
-Jeremy, who we hadn't seen in years, reminiscing about looking at the stars each night and thinking of each other, or him being just plain crazy and fun... Lily Tomlin in the big chair!
-Julie says her sunscreen will protect her, then she's fried the next day, but she still keeps her commitment to study, so proud of her! She's so much fun!
-Lisa shares the first chance to get to know her and find out how lucky we are that she's in our family. She cheers for the Orlando Magic and takes some great photos!
-Marcia still loves to shop and laugh. I loved just watching her spend time with Jeremy, something I know she misses doing. And the "head joke"... you're killin' me!
-Mary was my pool pal and my cooking partner. I don't know how we made all the food fit in the refrigerators, or the look on her face when she saw all the cupboards of dishes... lots of bowls! We still had too much food!
-Steve S. makes the best pool fairy wrapped in a raft we have ever seen... he won the fishing contest with his TROPHY FISH catch, and allowed me to feed him his beer so he didn't have to leave the pool to drink!
-Steve G. woke each morning to watch the sunrise and see the daily news with me. He'd return from his daily fishing to tell us about the one that got away. A big thank you for taking everyone to the off-road area to look for horses and terrorists. About that grass skirt...
-Tricia ended every day with me by saying "thank you" for giving us this trip and the awesome people we shared it with. I will never forget the smile that finally returned to her face when she spent time with everyone...
I'm not as talented as many of you on making a montage, but I'm sure you'll get the idea. The computer kept changing the order of the pictures, so forgive a few "mix ups". Just take a few minutes... more than 5, I think, and enjoy the montage! Remember, with over 700 photos to share I will be posting 5 more montages of the trip! Enjoy!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
