Day 4: The Mosquito Coast

No run this morning. Instead, I took the wife and daughter on a one mile nature walk around our resort. It was basically a path through the woods. We weren’t sure how Ally would hold up, but she did well. She’s quite the walker, and I can’t remember the last time we had her in a stroller. Sometimes I see four-year-olds being pushed around and I cringe. Anyway, once we began our walk, I knew we were in trouble. Turns out the nature path winds its way through some marsh land, an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, for which I am a magnet. I’m told they sense carbon dioxide, so I must be emitting enough CO2 to be responsible for half the global warming (allegedly) taking place. Even though I was wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt and jeans, they still came after me. The worst is when I can hear them homing in on my ears. I thrash my arms around my head like an idiot trying to get rid of them, to no avail. When we emerged, my exposed parts had plenty of welts, battle scars in the war against my flying enemy.

We brought lunch to the beach, which was still a bit foggy but not enough to deter us. No rain in sight and these things can clear up in no time. Sure enough, right around two o’clock, the fog lifted…and it was time for us to leave.

This year, Ally is running around the beach in her bathing suit, but without a diaper. That means when she has to go, we need to take her to a place where she can, well, go. Turns out, right after lunch, she informed us that her bladder was full and that she would really like to empty it as soon as possible. Okay, not in so many words, but she conveyed the sentiment. Not seeing any public facility nearby, my first thought was to take her into the water. She would have none of it, bless her heart. Not knowing what else to do, I took her to the car (three-minute walk) and drove back to our room (five-minute drive) to use the potty.

Dinner tonight was at Sunset Grille in Duck. As the name implies, sunsets are viewable from the restaurant, which sits on Currituck Sound. Best sunsets on the East Coast, according to the web site. Tonight, it wasn’t to be. Clouds obscured what was undoubtedly a spectacular sunset for the folks in Key West. We ate outside on the deck where it was actually a bit breezy. About every five minutes, Ally wanted to get up to look at the water, which she is fascinated with. We alternated walking her around while we waited for our order. Lauren like the cajun stuffed shrimp she ordered, but my filet was average at best, a bit fatty and overdone. The surprise of the evening was when we found out the couple sitting at the table next to ours lived less than a mile from us. I guess that really shouldn’t surprise us, since most of the cars we’ve seen on the outer banks have Virginia tags. I think they even outnumber the North Carolinians.

I have to say, despite what I said before about Duck being a hotbed of snobbery, Sunset Grille was not like that. Very casual and kid friendly with a laid back clientele and wait staff. I would definitely go back, but I would probably order something different.