Part 2: Kitty Hawk, NC Aquarium, & Points West

July 20

Our hotel was so close to the Wright Brothers memorial and museum -- we could see the memorial from our room. Since Charlotte loves airplanes so much, we couldn't miss it.

"Wright Brothers: On December 17, 1903, from the near foot of Kill Devil Hill, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful powered flight 1/3 mile west." We really annoyed the car behind us taking this picture! Oh, well... :)

Replica of the Wright Brothers' plane (Charlotte and Daddy peeking through)

The memorial

Mama and baby trying not to cook in the heat

Daddy's test flight down the air field (the markers are the lengths of each original flight)

Charlotte the intrepid space ranger!

Driving the "plane"

It got too hot to do anything outside, so we decided to go to the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island. It was small, but we were impressed at how nice it was. It was easier for Charlotte to enjoy than our own aquarium in Boston -- that one is hard on toddlers.

Looking for river otters -- Mama didn't get any good pictures, but Charlotte thought they were amazing! The funny thing is that two river otters turned up on my mother's lawn in Maine a few weeks later. They are quite rare in Maine so it was pretty amazing to see them. Maybe they were looking for Charlotte??

Looking for manta rays in the touch tank

Fishy encounter

After a lovely week at the beach, we drove west to Durham, where we spent time with Holli, then stayed with Mike and Kendall. Charlotte got to play in the pool at our hotel on yet another hot morning. I'm upset that I didn't get any pictures of Holli with Charlotte, they really hit it off!

July 23

I'm getting out!

Mama and me

Splashing in the fountain at the park by Mike and Kendall's house

July 24

Mike and Kendall took us to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on the Duke campus. They were gorgeous and Charlotte loved them. So did Elmo.

Stepping

Can I swim in here?

Please??

Looking at lily pads

My favorite

Hee hee!

July 25

Another driving day, west from Durham to the mountains. We stayed with Chris's cousin Michael and his wife Naomi. (their wedding was in May in Indiana!) The area where they live is so beautiful, I wish we'd had more time to see it.

"Oh no! Duck boo-boo Woody"
This was Charlotte's favorite game that she invented, her duck biting Buzz and Woody. It was so hilarious to listen to. I tried to get some on video, but she would stop every time she saw the camera. (she's such a ham!)

"Duck boo-boo hat"

We didn't go to Charlotte this time, but I thought she'd like this sign!

A sippy for Elmo

View of the mountains from the Penland School of Crafts, where Michael & Naomi studied pottery. They have their own studio, Bandana Pottery, and they make some beautiful things. Again we had the video camera out more than the still camera, so we didn't get any pictures of Michael and Naomi. Sorry...

Inside Michael & Naomi's kiln

View of the tree farm across from Michael & Naomi's house

Their studio & kiln

On Tuesday we drove to Washington. Charlotte loves to "drive" too!

We stopped at the Natural Bridge in Virginia. Five years ago, after Mike and Kendall's wedding, I had really wanted to stop but we didn't have time. It was outrageously expensive, and surrounded by very touristy stuff, but we felt the need to see what all the fuss was about.

There is a rather steep but pretty stairway going down to the river bottom, or you can take the shuttle bus. We opted to walk down and take the bus back up -- a good choice.

Charlotte is sitting on an arbor vitae tree that was supposedly over 1,000 years old when it died.

Mama, can we go that way?

Charlotte sprinting away from the Natural Bridge

View from underneath - there's a highway going over the top!

Daddy and baby

Combining two of Charlotte's favorite topics.... cowboys and dinosaurs??

On to Washington in Part 3

Back to Charlotte