Monday, Monday

My first full day at the beach started with a lesson learned.  I did something unusual, and dressed as Meg yesterday and planned on doing the same today. 

Lesson learned: even though you don't HAVE to, take off your makeup completely.  I did a poor job on my eyes Sunday night and I had to get out the remover Monday morning AND spend extra time washing the old mascara and eyeliner off and making sure I had a good basis for that day's makeup.

A related lesson: your total prep time before going out is S+C+M+D, where S is shaving and

showering time, M is makeup time, D is dressing time, and C is time spent waiting for blood to clot, after you do a poor job at S.  Try to keep C to zero.  I had a little knobby bit just below and to the left of my nose that I hit Monday morning and it added 20 or 30 minutes to my prep time as I waited impatiently for it to resolve itself.  I didn't waste that time.  I stood there anxiously fearing that it would leave a blot that I couldn't cover with makeup, or never stop bleeding until it was time to go home.  I also took the time to get hungrier, since I didn't want to leave the room except in Meg Mode.

After I was finally ready, we went down to check out the hotel breakfast.  The breakfast room was full and the line for the waffle maker was long so we grabbed a light breakfast and sat at a table outside the room, near the registration desk.  We then headed out for our first full day in the Outer Banks.

We started with what could have easily been a walk: our hotel was less than a half-mile from the Wright Brothers Memorial.  We parked and walked to the main building.  We looked at the exhibits and caught the end of a talk.  We went outside walked over by the markers for the first day's flights.  Then I encountered my first problems of the trip.

It was hot.  And my wedges were a bit uncomfortable.

So we did not walk up to the memorial, at the top of a sand dune.

I acted as I always do, and I think everyone around us did the same.  I spoke to the information lady, the gift shop people, and others.

We were Just Tourists.

From there, we went to a shop where I felt very out-of-place.  No, not lingerie or shoes or jewelry. I'm fine with those.

It was a scrapbook store.  Charity's hobby is scrapping and she really wanted to visit this store and see what they had.  She also had a long talk with the owner.  I have less interest in scrapping than I do in football (for the record, very little).

That ordeal ended and we drove south to Roanoke Island.  I think I had been there once before, in a previous visit, perhaps just as an alternative escape route from the area.  The main bridge is backed up for hours on a typical escape day.

We had lunch at Po Richards, a sandwich place on the bay.  The lunch was good, the place was VERY crowded, the ladies' was single stall.  I asked the woman standing outside if she was waiting and she said "yes."  As opposed to, say, "which room did you mean?"

I don't like waiting outside the restroom but lines bother me a lot more than milling so I milled.

We walked along the water and took some photos, then saw a sign for shops so we headed toward the shops.  We looked at clothes in some unique shops (as opposed to the Same Old Shops you find in many tourist towns) but didn't see anything wonderful.  Prices were lower though; the post-summer discounts had begun.

I wanted to see the Manteo Maritime Museum, which was nearby but closed on Monday.  Alert: we went back on Tuesday and discovered it's not worth the entry price (free).

After we saw as much of Manteo as we wanted (it does turn out it was worth a second visit, which we did the next day) we headed back to the hotel.  It was late in the afternoon and we thought a visit to the beach was warranted.  I put on my new bathing suit and made sure everything was, um, under control.  Charity put on hers and we headed for the water.