-- Outer Banks, NC
Last week Yegi and I went to the Outer Banks with a group of friends. Matt & Sara Beth graciously invited us and 10 others to stay at Sara's parents beach house. When I heard beach house I thought shantee and hammocks (which would be fine with me), but this was more like a beach Lodge. Yegi, Andrew, Emily, and I shared a room of bunk beds which took me back to the days of sleeping on Yegi's old bunk bed at her parents house where I had to pull the mattrass into the floor to be able to fit (head off top, feet off bottom) to sleep.
The whole trip was like a trip down memory lane: Matt, Andrew, Andy, and I, who were roomates in college all rode down together in Andy's company fueled company car. Ford Escapes are not the best vehicle for 6'-4"/225lb guys, but we made the 9-hr trip with little complaints and one pull over from the police 10 mins from our destination.
Background: We went to Folly Beach a.k.a. Charleston, SC two weeks prior and the entire time I was there all I really wanted to do was surf, but I was a pansey and didn't want to do it alone and Will (sister-in-law's b/f) didn't make that trip. The waves were perfect and there were hundreds of people surfing, looked like a lot of fun! Fast Forward to the OBX trip: I have a tendency of getting something in my head and not letting it go. So I wanted to surf and I made sure Andrew, Matt, and Andy knew it. They finally agreed on the 100(0)th time I brought it up. So we rented a couple Lincoln Towncar length longboards and hit the waves. First day was something I have never experienced...I paddled, swam, pulled myself on the bottom sand, jumped over, under, and through waves and NEVER got past the breakers! I tried multiple times throughout the day including my last time at 8pm that night. I tried until it got dark when my arms gave up after seeing that I was still only 15yrds offshore. Strongest currents I have ever encountered and waves that had no lapse in between them.
Next morning was a different story. Paddled out past the breakers and caught my first wave (on a surfboard). It was 3 seconds of bliss. Did this until my nipples bled (literally). Now I know why surfers all wear rash guard shirts in the water. I threw a T-shirt on for the second half of the day and we had a good time. I'm pretty much a pro now and am thinking about changing my name to Kelly Slater (only pro surfer I know).
The whole trip was like a trip down memory lane: Matt, Andrew, Andy, and I, who were roomates in college all rode down together in Andy's company fueled company car. Ford Escapes are not the best vehicle for 6'-4"/225lb guys, but we made the 9-hr trip with little complaints and one pull over from the police 10 mins from our destination.
Background: We went to Folly Beach a.k.a. Charleston, SC two weeks prior and the entire time I was there all I really wanted to do was surf, but I was a pansey and didn't want to do it alone and Will (sister-in-law's b/f) didn't make that trip. The waves were perfect and there were hundreds of people surfing, looked like a lot of fun! Fast Forward to the OBX trip: I have a tendency of getting something in my head and not letting it go. So I wanted to surf and I made sure Andrew, Matt, and Andy knew it. They finally agreed on the 100(0)th time I brought it up. So we rented a couple Lincoln Towncar length longboards and hit the waves. First day was something I have never experienced...I paddled, swam, pulled myself on the bottom sand, jumped over, under, and through waves and NEVER got past the breakers! I tried multiple times throughout the day including my last time at 8pm that night. I tried until it got dark when my arms gave up after seeing that I was still only 15yrds offshore. Strongest currents I have ever encountered and waves that had no lapse in between them.
Next morning was a different story. Paddled out past the breakers and caught my first wave (on a surfboard). It was 3 seconds of bliss. Did this until my nipples bled (literally). Now I know why surfers all wear rash guard shirts in the water. I threw a T-shirt on for the second half of the day and we had a good time. I'm pretty much a pro now and am thinking about changing my name to Kelly Slater (only pro surfer I know).
Other than surfing my favorite part of this trip was the food. I love food and it loves me. The girls did a great job of keeping us all fed that week. I think everyone had a great time on this much needed vacation. The girls that are teachers went back to work the Monday after returning and I know this was a good final trip for my little teacher.
The Booth's are selling the beach house so I propose next years trip be a cold weather location. Hey Matt, Andrew, Andy...I've been looking into heli-sking, I really want to do it and I think you guys would love it. Don't worry, I'll get you the info!
This was my first ever "Blog", hope it was interesting enough to of published...
Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteWish I could have been there to try surfing with you. Can you post some pictures too??