Outer Banks

We drove up to the string of islands off the Carolina coast (the islands are called the outer banks) with our friends the Phelps (Adam and Jessica) We drove around Roanoke we saw the place where the lost colony  was last settled before they went missing (google it if you care about the story... because I don't know it very well) and we ate lunch at Big Al's which just so happens to be an amazing diner that we just randomly went to but were really glad we did!

Then we drove over to Kitty Hawk to see the place where the Wright brothers made their first flight. We drove down the strand to Cape Hatteras and saw the light house there (we didn't get to walk to the top of it because they were charging 7 bucks a person to climb it which was completely retarded!) From there we got on a ferry that took us to Orcacoke Island where we got some delicious ice cream. Then we got on another ferry that took us two and a half hours back to the main coast to Cedar Point. It was a long dang trip! We didn't get home until around 12:30 in the morning but we had a great time! 

Here are some pictures... Please keep in mind that I am six and a half months pregnant and not just plain huge :)

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park

Camping is the greatest thing ever! We finally got to go this summer with a slight break in the insanely ridiculous heat and the annoying nightly occurring rain storms that we always have in this blasted place. We camped at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park in Seven Springs, NC it was so much fun, even though we were only able to stay one night.
Right off the bat we had a minor set back... Sean burnt the heck out of our tin foil dinners and we didn't have anything extra packed for dinner so we had to drive into town to get something to make. We were laughing our heads off when we unwrapped these things:

We tried eating the unburnt parts for about 2 seconds before driving to the store for hot dogs.

The chili dogs were delicious and the s'mores for dessert were amazing as well.

In the morning we made what I call "mess" I think the more known term is "mountain man breakfast". It was sausage, eggs, hashbrowns and cheese in the dutch oven, and it was good! After breakfast we hiked one of the trails that led to the river and walked along the cliffs. The park also had a swimming area roped off in the lake with a diving board out in the middle, we were dang hot and it looked awesome but it was closed for the day and they charge 5 bucks a person to swim there, which was lame. 

Here our some more pictures from the trip:

This is the swimming area

Our camp site

a giant caterpillar

End of the trail

Sneads Ferry Shrimp Festival

That's right folks! We went to a shrimp festival! There was a parade (which we missed... sad, I know!) music, dancing, fair booths, food, and shrimp de-heading competitions! There was even girls competing to be crowned "Miss Shrimp"... basically it was everything amazing and fun that you would expect when attending a shrimp festival... we set our "festival fun bar" pretty high, and this one didn't disappoint! It was seriously hotter than you-know-what on Saturday and we were sweating like nobody's business but we still managed to have a good time.

 

This crazy contraption was making homemade ice cream, which we bought and enjoyed.

Pulling heads off shrimp...