Just Us: Our Trip to the Outer Banks! Or, Along Came Florence!

You know, we've been in North Carolina for about 7 years now. Tony is a master at getting around the state and I'm pretty good at getting from point A to point B. We enjoy the change of seasons and are getting used to the oppressive heat of the summer.

This year, we forgot a very important "change of season-- Hurricane Season."

With all of the family activities we have had this year (the wedding, baptism, birthdays, etc.,) and the health crap we have both experienced, we decided once the activities were over, we were going to "get away" to the beautiful Outer Banks in North Carolina for a few days of total relaxation.

We were gifted with a night at a B&B in New Bern, North Carolina and decided to spend our first night away from home there. New Bern is a cute little Neuse River town that has large statues of bears all over that are painted in different colors and patterns (Bern is German for Bear.) It's fun to walk around and enjoy the water and the local eateries.

We arranged for Dixie's Godparents to keep her for the four days we would be gone. Everything was lining up perfectly. And then, along came Florence.

We started watching the weather channel Sunday night as we were packing. We heard that landfall was going to be on Thursday, so we decided to come back on Wednesday instead so we would miss the rain and ugly stuff. Everything seemed so vague. The hurricane could land anywhere from South Carolina to Virginia. It was a category 2, then 3, then possibly a 4, but who knew what it was going to do or go? Certainly not the weather people with their "Euro" models that looked like criss-crossed cooked spaghetti on a map of the Atlantic coast.

We listened to the opinions of the talking heads and the weather channel and decided to make the trip.

Monday morning dawned bright and beautiful. Dixie's Godparents were a bit surprised that we were still going and warned us that tourists and visitors would be evacuated from the Outer Banks first, but again, landfall was expected on Thursday and this was a beautiful Monday? Why not?

About an hour into our trip, we got a text from the Godparents telling us that a mandatory evacuation of the Outer Banks was just announced.

So, here we are, half way to New Bern. Turn back? Naw, Tony contacted the B&B and got the green light that they were indeed open, but we would be the only guests, as everyone else cancelled. Cool, we would have the place all to ourselves. Onward to New Bern!

We got to New Bern and stopped at a cute little pub for Crab bisque and raw oysters (Tony, not me) and met some of the locals. We sat at the bar and watched the weather channel on TV and talked about the Browns game, the weather, past hurricanes and in general stuff and non-sense. I could feel relaxation taking over already.

After a nice lunch, we left the pub and headed over to the B&B. What a cute place! It was built in 1882 and had 9 bedrooms that rented out. How perfect! And, they do a "wine hour" in the living room area for the guests in the early evening hours.

We met Kathy, our hostess, at the door. Sadly, she didn't have good news. She said, they were closing and evacuating too. The storm grew in intensity quickly and the decision was made to close the B&B.

So, long story (sort of ) short. We drove 2 hours to New Bern for lunch and then turned around and came back!

So far, we think we are staying but will have more and better information tomorrow. Our "safe place" is in Charlotte with Tony, Marie and the kids.

Today is Tuesday and landfall maps are suggesting that Florence will make landfall near Camp Lejeune, the area that we were in yesterday. I guess it was a good idea to turn around!

The hospital is on lock down from 5:00 p.m. today until Sunday--so if you are working, you are staying. I don't go in until Sunday at 3:00. That is, of course, if I can get on the highway.

So, here's where we are...in pictures....