Beach Week

Because the world spins on its axis and calendars aren't evenly divided, our regular week at the beach slipped this year, which meant we were unable to rent Pelican Perch in Duck, NC. Enter Pelican's Nest in Pine Island, NC – which featured amazing beach and sound views, and a nicer (read less crowded) beach, but didn't necessarily have the best outdoor dining or sleeping options. 

But we are a flexible crew and managed to make do. Katherine seized on the change in scenery to propose rule changes for the Pelican Prize – including the introduction of negative points for individuals that failed to get a two mile walk in per day (runs don't count) and points earned for such tasks as killing flies. By mid-week there was a mutiny and a point compromise as well as a decision that future trips will include a pre-departure summit where rules and points will be determined in advance through a more democratic practice.

Despite the controversy, we had an amazing time. While the weather was cooler than previous years (the high of the week was 82 degrees) and the forecast routinely called for bouts of rain (which miraculously didn't really materialize), we pretty much managed to get in beach time every day (some of us more than others).  There was surfing, body boarding, skim boarding (which was mandated after Katherine sacrificed most of the skin on her ring finger to pack them), bocci, ladderball, kite-flying, and lots and lots of walks (though primarily during the day because night crabs are terrifying). Land activities included golf (once Katherine made it to the correct course...), dinners out, dinner's in, the occasional bike ride, marbles, cornhole, debunking of the "Lost Colony" tale, yoga, lots of puzzling, pool, and scouting of potential new houses for next year.

In the end, Nora won the Pelican Prize for the second year in a row (though they weren't thrilled to receive said award at 8 am). And despite a long drive home (that even included a college tour of William & Mary) we were still able to make it back in time to celebrate Owen's 16th birthday with some pizza and Doctor Who (followed by a family dinner the next night).

(To see all the beach week pictures, click here.)