Going to Carolina

So as I mentioned, I had made plans to go see Nola and we were going to head to the beach for a scrapbook retreat.  That is exactly what we did.  This is the 3rd year I've gone out for this particular retreat.  It is at Carolina Beach in North Carolina.  It is held at the Courtyard Marriott which is right on the beach.  It doesn't take much convincing to get me to go.

This year, I flew out Thursday morning.  Nola was at the airport to pick me up which is always very sweet.  We went back to her house to go through my package of scrapbook stuff I had sent out before and to get ready to go.  This year, I shipped a box of my supplies out ahead of time so I had already picked out papers and had a plan (I always carry the actual photos with me though just in case).  We picked up chatting right where we left off.  We also worked on getting Nola's stuff together.  Nola has a scrapbook room that would thrill even the most prepared scrapbooker.  She has every tool  you could hope to use.  She is kind enough to stockpile enough that when I come out, I don't need to bring tools with me which makes it much easier.  We worked pretty hard to be organized and methotical about what we packed to take to the beach.  We were pretty happy with ourselves about that because it makes it easier to transport and easier to handle.

Gregg had unfortunately hurt his back the night before I got there so he was pretty low key.  It was great to see him.  Because Gregg was laid up, Nola took  me out to dinner at a fun pub place.  It was game night so it was crowded but we got a great place in the bar area and had the best burger!  And you  know I know my burgers. They had delicious French fries too.

Friday morning, we (I mean Nola) packed up the car and we headed out for the 2.5 hour drive to the beach.  Funny thing about the freeways in North Carolina.  The streets are lined with tall trees.  So it is just miles and miles of fall leaves. You can't see much off the side of the road.  We made a pit stop at a funny  little rest area in the meridian of the freeway.  It is actually nicer then most rest stops I've ever been too.  And we got down to Wilmington in time for a late lunch.  We drove through the historical part of Wilmington.  We also drove past the Corning plant where Jennie did her internship while in college.  We used Yelp to find a place for lunch.  We ended up on the Riverfront at this quirky seafood place, Dock Street Oyster Bar.  It was 1/2 block from the river. 

We walked in and were almost bowled over by the yummy smells.  It was for sure seafood but then lots of garlic too.  It was toasty warm inside.  Although I don't like seafood, I love fresh shrimp and I always look forward to having fresh and local sources shrimp when I visit.  Nola also talked me into trying a crab dip (which was delicious if I say so myself).

My shrimp steamer plate.  Oh Yummy!

 While we were there, there was even a horse drawn carriage that came by.  I know I say this every time I go to North Carolina but I think I should be living there.  I simply love it.

The Riverfront pier with the bridge in the background.

The carriage that went by while we enjoyed lunch.

A cool building I would love to own and run a fun restaurant out of.

After lunch, we made our way the additional 30 minutes to Carolina Beach.  It was a cold and overcast weekend weather wise but I say a cold day at the beach beats any day away from the beach.  I actually didn't make it out to the sand this year.  The hotel had torn out the boardwalk and I wasn't really feeling up to the effort to get out there.  But Nola did and brought me back a bag of sand which is perfect.

Looking down the beach from the hotel balcony

Looking up the beach from our balcony.

There were 58 scrapbooking ladies at the retreat.  It is always amazing to see what everyone had and brought with them.  Nola  and I kept it simple which was perfect.  Friday night, we worked on making cards we planned to do together.  We also made some charity pages for a project the organizer was working on.  Saturday, we both dove into our scrapbooking projects.  Nola worked on her "Book of Me" and I was focused on scrapbooking our events from earlier this year.  This year, I took all paper and no kits so it takes me longer to put together pages.  I used to do a page in less than 30 minutes but this time, each page was taking about an hour or so.  But they came out nice and one lady even said they were "fancy" which I took as a huge compliment.  I've never been accused of having fancy pages before.  When it was all said and done, I made about 10 cards and 10 scrapbook pages.  I was able to finish our cruise photos we took in April and finish Moab.  I did a few other photo pages too but I consider it all a success.

Saturday night, we treated ourselves to dinner out.  We went back to the Surf House which was another Yelp recommendation we found last year.  I ordered exactly the same thing as I did last year and it certainly didn't disappoint.  Now I could eat Shrimp and Grits every day if it was like this!!

Shrimp and Grits with a Bourbon cream sauce.
Yes that is chunks of sweet potatoes!  Oh My God!!!  So good.

Me and Nola at Surf House

Sunday afternoon came all too quick.  We (I mean Nola again) packed up the car and took me to the Wilmington airport.  I flew out from there because it is closer and quicker for me. Nola sadly had to make the 2 hour drive home alone.   The good news is by the time I landed in Atlanta, she was already home.

I really enjoy scrapbooking with Nola and I love sharing this time together.  I really got spoiled with Nola time in November.  It reminded me of when we were younger and she lived in Utah.  We would get together and craft together.  It was exactly like that.  Maybe I appreciate it more now then I did years ago because we don't get to do it often.

My flight home was uneventful for the most part.  I got home about 8:00 MT.  Here is a photo I took of the sunset I saw as I was in the air.  It was spectacular.

 I had a great time.  Until next time....