Cycling To A Thinner Shadow: It Is Still The Beach

I am Frankie Heck. If you do not watch The Middle, you have no idea what I am talking about. If you do watch that show, you know the character Patricia Heaton plays is a frazzled mother of three who is constantly intruding in her children's lives, and makes goofs more times than not. I am reminded often by our daughter that I am just like Frankie, and after what happened to us on our vacation, I can no longer deny that comparison, and here is why. In the season finale of The Middle, the family traveled from Indiana to Orlando to go to Disney World on a trip the daughter had won in a contest. When they got there and presented their tickets at Magic Kingdom, they were told they were at the wrong PARK! Frankie had mistakenly booked them a vacation at Disney LAND. After flipping out a bit, they were upgraded to deluxe accommodations, and everything worked out perfectly because is was television. For the Kingstons, things did not go as well.

I plan family vacations for us. It is why I have a job. I work so I can take vacations, and I am constantly thinking of where we can go next and when. As a matter of fact, as I type this, I am thinking of somewhere to go during Thanksgiving..............and Spring Break.............and Kira's senior trip. For years, I have used Vacation Rentals By Owner, and have booked some killer deals. As proof, I was responsible for booking this:

This was our family vacation during Spring Break two years ago, and it was fabulous! This is proof that I do a pretty good job of finding great vacation spots.

This year was no different. Back in December, I found a two bedroom condo in Carolina Beach, which was a beach south of my beloved Outer Banks, and one we had never visited. After cajoling Anthony into an 8 hour drive, I booked it with the owner for July 5-12. At least, that was what we both agreed to. The contract was signed, all fees paid, and we were looking forward to our week at this new beach and our lovely views of the ocean from our condo. When we arrived, however, we found our condo already inhabited and not by us. Thankfully all we saw was someone else's stuff and not the someone elses. I flipped out and immediately pulled up the many correspondences that had transpired between the owner and myself since December. Apparently the dates we had agreed on were different than the dates the owner actually reserved for us, and while those dates (the 12th-19th) were clearly listed on the contract, I had missed the error. Again and again, I missed it. Even though I went over the contract several times, I still missed it!! We had driven 8 hours and had nowhere to stay. I continued to flip out, realizing that it was entirely possible that we would have to drive home and that there would be no Kingston vacation this year. Thankfully, I have a cool headed husband who called the owner and after many calls back and forth and a night in one of the worst motels I have ever stayed in, where they didn't even ask how our stay was because they knew the answer, we were booked into the Surfside Motor Lodge. Yes, we went from a two bedroom condo, to a motor lodge. Think church camp with smokers, and you will have a pretty good idea what I am talking about. It was oceanfront, but the dune was so high that the ocean seemed pretty far away, although we were able to see dolphins our last morning there. We had a balcony, but it wasn't really ours since it was shared by everyone else, although whenever someone saw me out there, they quickly retreated back inside. I am pretty sure I gave off the vibe of "I paid for an oceanfront balcony, and this one is mine." Kira had her own bedroom, which doubled as the living room, kitchen. Anthony and I had our own bedroom as well, and even had our own individual beds which was not a bad deal at all.

That was our walkway to the beach, and our balcony was the top floor end of the building in the foreground.

The day we got there, we had some adapting to do----a LOT of adapting. There was a kitchenette which thankfully included a full size fridge, but absolutely no utensils or pots and pans. We took off for Food Lion for food that I could cook there, and then to Dollar General for items to cook with. It is not difficult at all to get what you need at Dollar General for less than $30 and we did just that. Granted, we had brought paper products, dish washing detergent and the like from home, because that is what you do when you are staying in a condo, but we did not think we would need items to cook with. I was able to cook breakfast every day, and fixed a couple of other things with just these items:

Those were really good ice trays, by the way, and who can't use a couple more plastic storage bowls?

We went to bed that first night resigned to our new and unexpected living arrangement, and very thankful that we had a place to stay. I could have been depressed and angry over spending so much money on a condo we never got to use, but the depressed one was probably the owner because he came out of pocket for 7 days at a motor lodge, and as far as I know, his condo is sitting empty this week. I am grateful that he didn't hold us to the signed contract, and that we weren't forced to go home. I learned a lot about us as a family, and me as an individual. First, I realized that you don't need a fancy condo to make great memories, and that I am in no position to be a hotel snob. I like nice hotels, and never rent a condo that doesn't have great reviews, but I am not above anyone else, and can make most anything livable as long as I have plenty of air fresheners and a comfortable bed. As for my family, they are THE BEST!!! Neither of them complained about my egregious mistake, and both found themselves comforting me and making the best out of what could have been a disaster. The wifi did not work, which meant Anthony couldn't do a lot of the work he planned to do, which was a good thing. He spent more time at the beach with us, and we spent more time sitting around playing cards and binge watching Flip or Flop on HGTV.

Other than spending as much time as possible at the beach, we took the ferry over to Southport, which is a beautiful town on the Cape Fear River, ate great Italian food, visited Fort Fisher, Wilmington, and Kure Beach. We went to the Boardwalk a few times where we had the best donuts EVER, and where Kira shopped for souvenirs. I walked to both piers, the Carolina Beach one and the Kure Beach one which was over three miles away. I formed blisters between my toes, because I chose to walk back on the road wearing Teva flip flops, which was very dumb. All in all, we had a fantastic vacation, and one we will never forget.

The biggest takeaway? It doesn't really matter when we stayed. What mattered was that it was still the beach, and as long as there is an ocean close, I can adapt to just about anything.

These were taken in Southport, which is just the prettiest little town of less than 4,000 residents. I could seriously live here.

These were taken at Fort Fisher, and the trees were so beautiful. The sound of the cicadas was so eerie and altogether wonderful to hear.

Different sunrises. My favorite is the top one where the shrimp boat is going out and the paddle boarders are up early taking advantage of the calm Atlantic.