OBX, Day 5: NC Aquarium, souvenirs & Tropical Storm Danny wimps out

This was our last day in the Outer Banks. :(

Because we'd basically done everything we wanted to do, we got a nice, lazy start to today. We didn't even leave the room till after lunch time (well, I went to the lobby to get breakfast, and B had to make a potato chip run, but other than that...). This about sums up the morning: I read, B did stuff on the computer, and H painted in her new paint with water book. It was quite nice. :)

Today was another blazing hot day, and there was a chance of rain, so we thought indoor activities were in order. We decided to go to the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, and it was so worth it! It was a neat place, and we got to see lots of the fish and other animals that are native to this area up close. We especially enjoyed looking at the turtles. (Picture to be added later. The aarp weefee connection is very slow tonight.)

H really liked the sharks, and I have to admit, they were pretty cool. She stood right next to the glass of their tank and talked to them as they swam past: "Hey you shark! Hey, big shark!" They did not seem to pay much attention, but she also didn't seem to care. I think she just liked looking at all the different kinds of fish - especially the big ones. I liked the river otters. There were some cool snakes there, too. I think B just liked watching me and H look at everything. We did get to touch stingrays (well, I did), and there was also a tank where you could touch starfish, sea urchins and hermit crabs. H stuck her hands right in both tanks, which I found amusing; I mean, she refuses to walk in water even with water shoes on, but she will plunge both hands right into a tank with swimmy/crawly/spiny things in it. Weird.

We finished our trip to the aquarium in the gift shop, where we got H a big stuffed shark. She named it...Shark. I was hoping for something more creative, but whatever. We brought him back to the hotel, where he met Chilly the penguin, and they seem to be getting along fine. H also introduced Shark to Leap and Tad the toy turtles, but he tried to eat them, so I'm not sure that relationship is going to pan out very well. Leap and Tad kept having to hide in their shells because, as H put it, "The shark wants to eat their squishy bodies, but he doesn't want to eat their shells."

After the aquarium, it was still too hot to do anything outside (we briefly mentioned Festival Park, but decided we'd had enough of being sweaty on this trip), so we set off to go souvenir shopping. We learned that one of the difficulties with being from a major metropolitan area is that none of the malls around are very interesting, because you can get any of that stuff at home without having to worry about going over the weight limit with your suitcase. Still, we found a good store with lots of OBX stuff, so B got a hooded sweatshirt. Then we headed back to Kitty Hawk Kites, where we'd seen some T-shirt possibilities for me and H during the week. I got a long-sleeved Life is Good T-shirt with the Cape Hatteras lighthouse on it, and H got one that says, "I climbed Jockey's Ridge." I think all of us liked that spot best out of all the places we went on this trip.

This evening we went to someplace called Miller's for dinner, after our third unsuccessful attempt at Tortuga's Lie. I don't know what time you have to get to that place to get a parking spot, but it's just going to have to wait till our next trip out here. We also drove by Carolina Seafood, and it, too, had no available parking. It was a little humorous, actually, because we just kept driving up and down the same road, looking for a restaurant that a) looked good and b) had parking. Miller's ended up being a good choice. H said they had good applesauce, AND you get a whole basket of hush puppies with your dinner. I love hush puppies dearly. B and H liked them, too.

After dinner and a bath for H, we played two more games of Kids of Carcassonne, then we ate popcorn and rocked out to music for awhile on B's iPod. H invented a new dance we're calling the Postage Stamp, since it looked like she was licking a stamp when she did it. It is hard to describe, but believe me when I tell you it was hilarious.

We all agreed we've had an awesome vacation, and the best part was getting to spend so much time together. It has been blissful. I'm sorry it's almost over.

Tomorrow is a travel day...let's hope it goes smoothly!