I went down to Carrboro, NC to visit my cousin and after we got to our dinner destination, their first question was, "So where is the next stop on the Hannah Express?" I immediately guffawed and snorted a little beer out in laughter because, this summer, that question was totally deserved!! I have been non-stop this summer - living it up - and I have loved every minute of it. Isn't this what you're supposed to do on summer break??
So, it goes something like this:
At the end of May, I kicked off the Summer of Hannah with an venti iced chai heading to the Outer Banks for a few days to visit one of my longtime friends and her family (and meeting her first baby for the first time!!). That was relaxing, weather was great with some clouds here and there, and I always feel a trip to the ocean is great for the soul. That first grain of sand in the toes is just awesome.
A week and a half later, I'm in a 31-foot RV with my brother and his family en route to Wyoming/South Dakota for three weeks. And I would leave again tomorrow if I could and take the exact same trip. It was that good.
The next weekend after returning was spent at our lake house for July 4th celebration(s) with most of the family grilling out, swimming, and watching the fireworks extravaganza shooting off from the marina across the cove.
The next weekend (yes, this does seem ridiculous) kicked off our annual family beach week at Nags Head. I could not even begin to tell you how awesome the weather was. That's always a gamble…each year…you reserve a house and just hope you can get at least a few days on the beach without sweating to death or flies biting your legs off from the land breeze or getting swept away in a nor'easter. We weren't on the beach a few days, we were down there every day and all day. It never topped 95 degrees, there was hardly any humidity, and the most perfect ocean breeze six out of the seven days. It was incredible. Everyone got along, we ate a lot, and I got to go to my favorite restaurant for dinner one night without a long wait. It's the little things. Woop woop!!
Wait, I'm not done.
The weekend after the beach, I loaded up my tent and air mattress for a long weekend of great music at Floyd Fest!! If you live anywhere near central or southwestern Virginia and have never been to Floyd Fest, you are missing out. They cap it at 15,000 people, so it is one of the smaller summer music festivals. I mean, that does sound like a lot of people, but by the second day some folks are starting to look familiar. The weekend was kicked off seeing my buds from Langhorne Slim & The Law, followed by The Lumineers who were great live. Some other bands we saw throughout the festival were North Mississippi Allstars, Donovan Frankenreiter, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Trampled By Turtles, Devil Makes Three, Old Crowe Medicine Show, Rising Appalachia, The Last Bison, and our new fave Larry & His Flask. There were SO many other bands, but for some reason I have gone completely blank…just know that there's just music being played at any given time on any given stage in any given area.
And theeeeeen, there was the weekend trip to North Carolina the next weekend to visit my cousin and his life partner in their new house that they moved into 8 months ago and I'm just now seeing. It was built to their specifications in a new little neighborhood centered around a creek that runs under their driveway and it is just too cute. My bestie came over from Greensboro to join in on our Saturday night cookout, and left with a nose ring. See, we don't do anything half-ass around here. Fern snuck out and gave me a little panic because she doesn't really like to listen when it's something she doesn't want to do (like come in from outside), but she did end up coming back and stood there barking at the house from the driveway to let me know she was ready. Never a dull moment.
So those are all of my big adventures this summer.
Shew, I'm tired. (But always rearing to go somewhere else!!) I'd love to hear about your summer adventures!
