When I was growing up, vacations (like my father) were somewhat bi-polar. There were years when we didn’t take one at all and there were years when we traveled to visit relatives in Georgia, Virginia, or the rustic family owned cabin that sat on a cliff overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.
When I was 14, there was one mania-induced-mother-of-all-vacations that took Dad, Mom, Bryn, Kathi, Rhys and I on a whirlwind trip to Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Columbia, Antigua and Puerto Rico. We departed the USA on one week’s notice. We still have the repulsive oily-hair-mug-shot passport photos to prove it! I am now getting to an age where I forget a great deal of my childhood, but the details of that ten-day odyssey remain etched permanently in my mind. Good times – good times.
Since neither Attila or I grew up with a “vacation tradition” we did not feel compelled to provide one for our children. There were years when we did nothing at all and I used my vacation time to move to a new home (and yes, I had to take the rest of the family with me) or have surgery. Once we went to Knoebel’s Grove. And one time we drove to Charleston, SC because my brother offered us a free beach house. Brent went to the ER twice on that trip due to a herniated intestine.
Six years ago we decided to take a family vacation in Folly Beach, SC (for an entire week!) and visit my brother Rhys and his family while we were there. We rented a house close to the beach. After living with us for two years, our daughter Leigha had only just returned home to her birthmother. I was grieving the loss of my child and was mired in deep depression. The rest of the kids (in their late teens and early twenties) had a grand old time, but I never set foot on the beach.
Four years ago we decided to find a beach house slightly closer to home and ended up in Kure, NC. This time it was Johnna who was missing. She had made the decision to live with her birth cousins and had moved out of our home about a month earlier. Being the momma bear that I am, this turn of events saddened me deeply. I made it to the beach only once that week. Over and over again I threw myself against the waves, sobbing and railing at God. It was exhausting.
When I was working on my Certificate of Financial Management one professor used the saying, “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a trend.” Two years ago we decided to turn our biennial beach excursion trend into a full-blown Balla Family tradition. That year we headed to Kill Devil Hills, NC (our first foray to the Outer Banks).
Attila had broken 17 bones in his right foot less than two months before our scheduled trip. He was only recently out of rehab. I was almost exactly two months into my new (current) job and was overwhelmed and exhausted. I wouldn’t say I was depressed, but I was definitely unmotivated. Once again, I never set foot on the actual beach. I did however swim in the our pool and attempt to get a tatoo.
In late 2010 we put a deposit on our Avon, NC (also Outer Banks) house. Fast forward to May 2011. My children informed me that I better not be depressed while on vacation this time! This is not something you can promise someone, but I certainly planned to give it my best shot.
I worked until 11pm on Friday, May 13th. I was going to work on Saturday as well, but loving friends and family threatened to harm me if I even considered such a thing. I left much work unfinished. The April books (for three companies) were not closed. I felt like I was walking out of a public restroom with toilet paper on my shoe. But I obeyed my family and friends!
Attila and I got a late start, beginning our drive to Avon at 4:30pm on Saturday. I did not go to work but since I had put in a 56-hour work week, I had not yet done our laundry, packed, etc. I also received a call regarding a job interview and spent time on that as well.
For at least the first hour of the drive Attila and I talked non-stop. He began to feel his blood sugar dropping into the danger zone and calmly informed me that he needed to get food into his system – STAT! You don’t have to tell me that one twice. We stopped and refueled – both ourselves and the car.
A while later I got pulled over by a cop. Yes, I was speeding. I thought the speed limit was 65 (which it is for much of the drive down here) but the officer informed me that it had been 55 for quite some time and I was going 71. I was calm and friendly and was not trying to get out of the ticket at all. Really. He asked where we were heading in such a hurry. I told him that our children and grandchildren were awaiting our arrival in the Outer Banks. He told me to drive safely and let us go without a ticket. I was blessed. A speeding ticket was just not part of our vacation budget.
Somewhere along the line I took a wrong turn and we ended up in Newport News, VA. We stopped and asked a group of people for directions. They were sweet and helpful. Their final words were, “Better lock your doors!” Ummmm….okay. I guess we weren’t in the safest neighborhood.
We finished an audio book that I have been listening to for the last few weeks. After that I found a radio station that played songs from the sixties and seventies. Attila and I knew all the words! Funny how we can remember song lyrics from decades ago, but struggle to recall the names of our own children. I grew up with seven cats and three siblings so my mom really had it rough with the name recall issue.
Driving south on Route 12 in the Outer Banks can feel like an eternity, especially at night. But if the moon is high, the sky roof is open, and you are blasting music and singing along? Not so much. Giggling also helps. We had it all!
We arrived in Avon around 2am and unpacked the car. There was a two-inch roach on the headboard of our bed. I squealed (a little) and made Attila grab it with tissues and toss it out the front door. We managed to get ourselves settled and in bed by 3am.
Sunday morning I got up by 10am. No depression in site! In fact, the kids accused me of being manic. I was chattering away about our adventures on the drive down. I told them about finding the roach and Johnna confessed that it was plastic and she had put it there on purpose. She went outside and found it in the grass and after Attila woke up she put it on his pillow so he would find it again when he took his nap. Later on Attila did find it and simply grabbed it up with a tissue and tossed it out the front door again! In this family we are easily amused.
Our original house did not have the cable or internet turned on. We learned that the house is in foreclosure, which explained a lot. Many of the houses down here are bank-owned and vacant. We had ants and several of the beds did not have clean sheets (Johnna found a used tissue in hers).
Monday morning Brent, Jesse and I headed over to the realty company. Internet was a pretty big deal since both Brent and I need to be able to do some work while down here. The realty company was awesome and agreed to get everything fixed pronto and heat our pool for free.
We headed back to the house, happy to be getting the pool heated. It was way too cold for the babies! The manager called us back and with great embarrassment informed us that the pool did not have a heater (although it was advertised as having one). They offered to move us to another house and we figured that we may as well look at it.
Oh my word! The second house is fabulous! It has a much better home theater room (with actual raised movie theater seats), better (heated) pool, cable, internet, a den, a poker table, incredible decks, etc. We made the entire move in just under three hours (ten adults, two babies, one toddler and all of our stuff including food). We like this house so much that we are talking about renting it next year for this same week (which is so much cheaper than during the season).
It has been a really wonderful vacation so far. Attila and I walked up 12 stories so that we could stand at the top of the lighthouse and breathe in the beauty of this island. Last night we drove on the beach with Brent, Tara, Johnna and Henry and managed to get ourselves stuck and then unstuck just as the tide was coming in. We have spent time in the pool, hot tub and movie room. Attila even played a little poker with the boys last night.
Here are some pictures of all the fun!
