We went to Atlantic Beach, the place where we got married back in 2003. Some people think we're crazy for going to the beach when it's cold, but we really like it a lot. I don't get sunburned. The beach isn't crowded. The restaurants don't have waits. The only drawback is that some restaurants, stores and attractions are closed for the season. But seeing as this was more about the three of us spending time together than anything else, we were okay with having limited distractions.
We went on Thursday and came back on Sunday, so we had two fulls days and two partial days. It takes about 4 to 4 1/2 hours to get there.
Thursday night, we went to one of our favorite restaurants. Unfortunately, we didn't call first. When we got there, we found out they were still closed for the season. They weren't opening until the next night. So we ended up trying a restaurant we had never been to before. The parking lot was full on a Thursday night in winter, so I figured that was a good sign. And I was right. It was a nice place with great views of the water and great food.
Biscuit was so good. It helped that we were sitting near the bar where there were several TVs mounted on the walls. He had his choice of race cars or hockey to watch, and they both captured his attention enough that we could relax and have a leisurely dinner. Jeff was a backup P.A. announcer for his college's hockey team and ran the penalty box at most games, so he's liked hockey for a while. I had been to Charlotte Checkers games back in the day. And once we started dating, Jeff and I would occasionally go to Carolina Hurricanes games together. But we realized that even with all of that, Biscuit has never really seen hockey for any amount of time.
"Play ice skate baseball, Dad." Biscuit said. Ice skate baseball. How cool is that?!?
Biscuit had snacked some on the trip, so I figured we could let him munch off of our plates. He had shrimp, hushpuppies, corn and fries. And he was quite taken with all of it. He ate well over the whole weekend.
When the server brought back the change from our bill, there was a green piece of folded fabric under the money folder. I asked him what it was, and he said the owner of the restaurant was so impressed with Biscuit's behavior that she wanted to give him a T-shirt. How nice was that?
The truth is, Biscuit was good at all three of the restaurants we chose for dinner. The first night he had the ice skate baseball and race cars as a distraction, and the second night was easy because it was a family restaurant that's kind of noisy all the time. But the third restaurant has more ambience. And it was Valentine's Day weekend. So I was a little worried about being a distraction for couples seeking a little romance. My worries were for naught. Biscuit was so good during the whole meal that we ordered dessert. And were able to sit and enjoy that, too.
Breakfast and lunch, on the other hand, were no picnic. Biscuit didn't sleep well while we were there, so when he got up, he was just pure joy to be around (she said sarcastically). He said he was hungry, but he didn't want to eat. He said he was ready to get up, but he said he was still sleepy. He wanted to go outside, but he didn't want us to get him dressed. Saturday morning, I finally told Jeff that if we didn't get Biscuit out into the sand soon, I was going to toss him over the balcony.
Once we finally force-fed Biscuit breakfast and wrangled him into some clothes, he was his happy, normal self. But boy were our mornings trying.
It rained all day Friday, so we spent a good part of the day at the aquarium. There were several groups of elementary schools kids there, and I'm not sure what was more fascinating to Biscuit, the kids or the fish.
Saturday was still a little cool, but we bundled Biscuit up and took him out to play in the sand. With a sweat suit, baseball cap, hooded coat and sunglasses, plus the pacifier that we couldn't pry out of his hands that weekend, all you could see of Biscuit was cheeks and hands. We made sand castles, picked up shells and chased the sea gulls. Biscuit played so hard Saturday morning that he took a 2 1/2-hour nap, leaving time for Jeff and me to hang out on the balcony watching the dolphins play in the ocean.
After Biscuit woke up, we saw a huge flock of sea gulls in the yard outside our balcony. Jeff took Biscuit to see the ruckus, and Biscuit started yelling, "BIRD! BIRD! BIRD!!!" The people in the room next to ours were throwing little pieces of bread out to feed the gulls, and they heard Biscuit. Jeff said all of a sudden, this disembodied hand reached around the edge of the balcony to hand over two slices of bread. Jeff said it was very nice, but it was a little freaky to see a hand appear like that. It's sort of an unwritten rule that you don't feed the sea gulls, but it's so much fun, everyone does it anyway.
We tried to visit Fort Macon on Saturday afternoon, but we had barely made it in the door of the new section of the fort when a man stepped out of a hallway and laughed real loud, scaring Biscuit enough that he tripped over his own feet and slammed his head into the wall. It was so hard and so loud that everybody around us stopped what they were doing and turned around to see what was going on. I scooped up Biscuit and moved out to a spot that had better light, so I could see the damage.
I glanced up at his forehead, and it was flaming red. I started to get shaky, then just as my first aid knowledge started kicking in, Jeff reached up and wiped his hand across Biscuit's forehead. Most of the redness disappeared, then Jeff showed me his fingers, and there is was. Apparently, the walls in that part of the fort were made out of the same pine they would've used when the fort was built, and the stain on the wall had a powdery finish, which rubbed off on Biscuit's head as he scraped down it.
Even though I realized that the scrape wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it was, he still hit hard enough that I was worried about a concussion. Biscuit had already had his nap, so we just kept him up and going for the rest of the afternoon. Jeff knew I was too distracted to enjoy the fort that day, so we left with the plan to stop by on our way out of town.
The next morning, the only evidence you could see on Biscuit's head was a bluish line across his eyebrow from his sunglasses. Last year, we couldn't get Biscuit to keep sunglasses on, but on this beach trip, we could hardly get him to take them off. He was wearing them inside at Fort Macon, so when he fell, the frames of the glasses pushed into his forehead.
Before we left Sunday, we stopped back by the fort and were able to get a good look at the new addition they opened this year. It included a lot of stuff about the fort, which we've seen several times, plus a lot of information about the animals, plants, sea shells and other things you can find on the island.
All in all, it was a fun trip. Or as Jeff likes to say, "Refreshments were served, and a good time was had by all."
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