ahhhh.
This weekend was amazing. That is the only word to describe it, honestly. After everything that has happened recently, I just needed to get away from everything and everyone. There was one person I brought with me, my dearest Nick. :) He is one of my bestest friends, and this weekend wouldn't have been half as amazing if he weren't a part of it. (thank you so much.)
After a long day at work on Friday, Nick and I left around 5:30pm. We knew we wanted to get out of Florida before we stopped for the night, but we weren't sure if it were going to actually be possible. Luckily enough, we made it all the way to South Carolina before stopping for the night. We stayed at this horrible dingy Howard Johnson that was being remodled. Though, the room was clean, and there weren't any roaches in sight, so it worked.
We left around 10:30 the next morning for North Carolina. Unfortunately we finally had to actually decide where we were going. We knew we wanted to go to North Carolina, and probably to the beach, but we had to decide which beach. We ended up going to Wilmington, NC. When we finally arrived at our destonation, the first place we hit up was the mall. :D Just walk around a bit. They had an Orange Julius, so we went there because I haven't been there in years! It brought back memories. :D
After that, we decided to go out to the beach. Wrightsville Beach was the closest, so we headed there. I've never seen the Atlantic Ocean. "What!?" you may ask... seeing as though I've lived in FL for almost 10 years now.. But seriously.. before this weekend, I had never seen the ocean. I've seen the Gulf many times, but the ocean was something new.
We drove up and down the island, and stopped at some little public access beach spot:
It was gorgeous. Sincerely breathtaking. We left after a while to find some place to stay. We'd figured we'd end up staying somewhere in Wilmington because we never thought we'd be able to afford a place on the beach. Though, for curiosity's sake, we stopped at a little privately owned hotel, The Surf Suites. They had 2 vacancies. A room on the first floor. They lady at the desk gave us a key to go look around. As soon as we walked in our jaws dropped! It was an actual suite! With a living room/kitchen/separate bedroom to boot. It was more than we could've ever dreamed of. We closed the door disappointed because we never thought in our wildest dreams we'd be able to afford it. We walked back in the lobby and the lady was like, "Well? how'd you like it?" and I told her we loved it, and asked how much. "$90 a night." I looked at Nick amazed because I'd have thought it was going to be well over $100. Nick looked at me, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. Though he still looked apprehensive when he asked, "Can we think about it and come back?" And the lady said, "Well, I can't guarentee that it'll still be there, but how about if I give you 10% off, bringing it to $90 with tax?" I looked at Nick and smiled... and said, "We'll take it!"
We ordered pizza delivery, which we sat and ate on the couch. From the couch, the living room looked like this:
The view from our porch was so amazing:
Though... the best was getting up to watch the sunrise. That is something I have always wanted to do, but I haven't ever been able, seeing as though I'd never seen the east coast. Being there, I made sure I saw it.
Though, seeing as it was about 25 degrees outside, we ended up watching the rest of the sunrise from our livingroom with a patio door between us and the cold. Afterwards, it was back to bed for a couple more hours... we did after all have a long trip home. We left around 10:30 today since checkout was at 11. I was extremely sad to leave. That beach and sunrise is my happy place. Whenever I need to relax and think happy thoughts, that's where I will go. I felt at peace in a hectic world. This weekend I finally achieved happiness. An emotion I haven't felt in quite some time. It has carried over for now, but only time will tell to see how long it actually stays with me.
I love North Carolina... and maybe I'll move there some day. Everyone is extremely friendly and very polite, which is a change from the rudeness of Tampa... very refreshing. I hope to go back to my happy place soon.
:)
After a long day at work on Friday, Nick and I left around 5:30pm. We knew we wanted to get out of Florida before we stopped for the night, but we weren't sure if it were going to actually be possible. Luckily enough, we made it all the way to South Carolina before stopping for the night. We stayed at this horrible dingy Howard Johnson that was being remodled. Though, the room was clean, and there weren't any roaches in sight, so it worked.
We left around 10:30 the next morning for North Carolina. Unfortunately we finally had to actually decide where we were going. We knew we wanted to go to North Carolina, and probably to the beach, but we had to decide which beach. We ended up going to Wilmington, NC. When we finally arrived at our destonation, the first place we hit up was the mall. :D Just walk around a bit. They had an Orange Julius, so we went there because I haven't been there in years! It brought back memories. :D
After that, we decided to go out to the beach. Wrightsville Beach was the closest, so we headed there. I've never seen the Atlantic Ocean. "What!?" you may ask... seeing as though I've lived in FL for almost 10 years now.. But seriously.. before this weekend, I had never seen the ocean. I've seen the Gulf many times, but the ocean was something new.
We drove up and down the island, and stopped at some little public access beach spot:
It was gorgeous. Sincerely breathtaking. We left after a while to find some place to stay. We'd figured we'd end up staying somewhere in Wilmington because we never thought we'd be able to afford a place on the beach. Though, for curiosity's sake, we stopped at a little privately owned hotel, The Surf Suites. They had 2 vacancies. A room on the first floor. They lady at the desk gave us a key to go look around. As soon as we walked in our jaws dropped! It was an actual suite! With a living room/kitchen/separate bedroom to boot. It was more than we could've ever dreamed of. We closed the door disappointed because we never thought in our wildest dreams we'd be able to afford it. We walked back in the lobby and the lady was like, "Well? how'd you like it?" and I told her we loved it, and asked how much. "$90 a night." I looked at Nick amazed because I'd have thought it was going to be well over $100. Nick looked at me, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. Though he still looked apprehensive when he asked, "Can we think about it and come back?" And the lady said, "Well, I can't guarentee that it'll still be there, but how about if I give you 10% off, bringing it to $90 with tax?" I looked at Nick and smiled... and said, "We'll take it!"
We ordered pizza delivery, which we sat and ate on the couch. From the couch, the living room looked like this:
The view from our porch was so amazing:
Though... the best was getting up to watch the sunrise. That is something I have always wanted to do, but I haven't ever been able, seeing as though I'd never seen the east coast. Being there, I made sure I saw it.
Though, seeing as it was about 25 degrees outside, we ended up watching the rest of the sunrise from our livingroom with a patio door between us and the cold. Afterwards, it was back to bed for a couple more hours... we did after all have a long trip home. We left around 10:30 today since checkout was at 11. I was extremely sad to leave. That beach and sunrise is my happy place. Whenever I need to relax and think happy thoughts, that's where I will go. I felt at peace in a hectic world. This weekend I finally achieved happiness. An emotion I haven't felt in quite some time. It has carried over for now, but only time will tell to see how long it actually stays with me.
I love North Carolina... and maybe I'll move there some day. Everyone is extremely friendly and very polite, which is a change from the rudeness of Tampa... very refreshing. I hope to go back to my happy place soon.
:)