North Carolina "Vacation"

I can hardly call going to Camp Lejeune for a work-related visit a vacation, but Abby was able to accompany me and after my commitments were complete for the week we drove back to Norfolk via the famous Outerbanks of NC. We began on Wednesday by driving down to the base, while I spent the day on Thursday going from meeting to meeting with my new boss as he became acquainted with the units/people that he is now in command of because of his new position. Friday was spent playing a round of golf in the morning, visiting MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Cherry Point, tasting some North Carolina BBQ, and then driving up the coast with my amazing wife (of about five weeks now).

Several parts of the trip really stood out to me; here are a few. One, was being around Camp Lejeune, home of II MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force) who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. After having spent two years in Okinawa with III MEF, being on one of the two major Marine Corps bases just put a very new spin on things. While I was busy doing exercise after exercise with other countries, my counterparts who were stationed over here were fighting wars. Even just being on base at Lejeue, I got the feeling that this was a warfighting MEF; it just felt different. Not what I was used to, but indeed a welcome change of mindset and mission.

Another point that stood out to me was visiting a new place with Abby. We have gone to places that neither of us have ever been, but this was the first time it happened in a vacation like setting i.e. going through the Outerbanks. This is tough to describe, but was just a really cool thing to experience together. It makes is really look forward to the many new places we will go in our lives together, whether it be on vacation or where we go to live.

A cute shot on Nag's Head Beach with Atlantic Ocean in background.

Another highlight was our visit to the Wright Brothers National Monument located in Kill Devil Hills (not Kitty Hawk like many people think); it was so cool! Especially after having now flown airplanes and being a private pilot, I think it took on a bigger meaning for me. It was just cool to know that what the Wright Brothers had done some 106 years ago had a direct impact on my life, not to mention how incredible it was for them to accomplish that feat. The monument and surrounding placards and museum exhibits really did it justice.

Kill Devil Hill - where the Wright Brothers tested their gliders prior to the powered aircraft.

A final note about our trip that was really cool... Abby was born in North Carolina near Camp Lejeune and got to visit the first house she ever lived in! This was her first visit back in about 22.5 years! So now I have taken her back to the place of her birth (NC), and the place she lived when she was a baby/toddler (Okinawa). She says that next on our list is to visit Naples, Italy, since her dad was stationed there when she was 6-9 years old... we'll see about that one!