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15th - Heading down to Williamsburg, Chesapeake Bay in Virginia (where the first English tried to settle but got wiped out by disease and the Indians).It's a really rainy day today and so all the lovely scenery we hoped to see now we are officially in the South was pretty impossible.We did however cross a spectacular 15 mile bridge and tunnel system over rough seas which was worth the journey.We enjoyed the fact that this hotel has a pool and went swimming.
16th - Another day, another space museum!I actually had to convince Ralph to go to this one as he thought I had endured enough space until we get to Florida, but it seemed silly to me to miss one out when he is so fascinated by the subject so we spent the day at the Virginia Air and Space Museum which has the command module used by the second group of astronauts to go on the moon.We then went to an indoor go-karting track.Although I have been go-karting before about 10 years ago, Ralph had never been.These karts can get up to 40 mph.We had a great time there and Ralph absolutely loved the experience.I had to be stopped at one point for them to pull the pedals forward as they realised I was too short to reach them properly - totally embarrassing when you are racing against 3 men!Still Ralph did really well and was driving the kart as fast as it would go.
17th - Today was just a travelling day, from Virginia to Kitty Hawk and the start of a scenic drive down South Carolina's Outer Banks. Although Virginia was officially the first southern state we visited, it was North Carolina that first felt like we were in the south. It has tons of confederacy flags from the civil war hanging outside houses and buildings, and the people sound a bit like Forest Gump. The scenery there is breathtaking, with beautiful wooden houses on stilts over the many jetties and rivers and long deserted beaches.
18h - Today we are taking a scenic drive from Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers flew the first ever plane (which we saw in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington).My auntie Carole and uncle John (A.C. and U.J) bought us a book before we came out here which gives hundreds of scenic drives through America and we are doing two of those drives over the next few days.We did one in Cape Cod and it was even more spectacular than the book had said it was going to be.We are having more luck with the weather in that it is warm and sunny again.So far we have only had about 2 days of intermittent rain and that has been on days we had decided to go round museums - someone is definitely looking after us!
Kitty Hawk is on the North Carolina Outer Banks, which is 100 mile long peninsular only half a mile thick (at its thickest - mostly you can see ocean on both sides of you) and is littered with hundreds of shipwrecks. The weather picked up again so we headed for the vast sand dunes that lured the Wright Brothers for their aeronautical japery. Kirsty wanted to try a beginners guide to hang-gliding but the winds weren't strong enough so instead we watched the many hang-gliders in the area jump off 80 feet high dunes and fly exactly 80 feet - straight down. We then travelled about 200 yards to the other side of the peninsular to play our version of baseball on the beach using bits of driftwood and large shells, before setting off to drive south along the peninsular.
The drive down the Outer Banks was beautiful with water on either side of us and sand-dunes creeping into the road. This area is really just for fishermen as there is nothing else to do unless you're a birdwatcher, but the scenery is breathtaking and the two ferry rides were very scenic - especially the second one that let us watch the sun set over the ocean. After all that driving, it was time to crash at the first hotel we could find (and that's the best we can say about that motel!).The first thing we noticed on arriving in mainland North Carolina was the amount of churches.There were literally at least three for every mile we drove.This being a Sunday it was also difficult to get anything to eat as EVERYONE was at church.We have since been told that North Carolina is in the bible belt and so the amount of churches is normal for this area as well as other bible belt areas such as Alabama and Georgia.
19th Nov - Today was another hot day and therefore Kirsty declared it a beach day. She had seen Topsail Island mentioned in the hotel brochure, so we headed for that. Once the jeans were swapped for shorts everything was wonderful! It's surprising what simple pleasures amuse when you've left all your worries behind - I've not built a sandcastle since I was tiny and Kirsty dug a very deep hole in the sand… and stuck her head in it. Before heading off, we took a walk along the beach and got talking to an old couple and their friend who were fishing and just passing the time on the beach.We had a wonderful time chatting to them and even more fun trying to decipher each other accents.This was made more amusing when they told us we were in true "Forrest Gump" country.We then drove the 2 hours to get to our next hotel in the capital of North Carolina, Raleigh, literally minutes from where we will be spending thanksgiving.The hotel was a Hyatt that we managed to get at a special rate and was a total class above anything we are used to with the budget for hotels we have set ourselves on this trip.It has everything, even a Starbucks, and is so modern and stylish with a huge HD plasma screen TV in every room.We were in heaven and decided we would be quite happy just to stay there for the rest of our trip!We were so inspired we even put in some time at the gym!
20th - We had a relaxing day in our hotel (as we had vowed never to leave) and received a phone call from Ralph's friend Darran who has come over to see his sister and her family who live near Raleigh in North Carolina.We have kindly been invited to spend thanksgiving with them and are due to head over to stay with them for a few days from tomorrow. It will be a real flavour of America to see the Thanksgiving traditions properly - so we are very grateful to Michelle, Charles and Darran for the invite. Darran had arrived the evening before and invited us to go out that evening with him and his brother-in-law Charles.They picked us up that afternoon and Darran delivered some much longed for supplies from my mum - some jeans I had ordered that had not arrived before I left, sweets for me, deodorant (they have really strange deodorant over here) and best of all (a complete surprise) a huge bar of Cadbury's chocolate - total heaven!It was so nice to be with someone we knew from home - we have not seen anyone we know (apart from on webcam!) for nearly 6 weeks now; so we really apologise to Darran and Chuck for not shutting up for three hours!We went to a bar which serves over 80 types of beer where Darran took pride on drinking his 200th pint (done over a period of 4 years whilst he has been visiting his family) and gets a commemorative plate on the wall of the pub for his efforts.He just has to decide what to put on it now!We then went to a brewery which also acts as a bar for the boys to sample more of the many beers on offer.Ralph has not drunk much at all since we have been here (he has no drinking buddy and I always remind him of the budget we have set ourselves) so it's fair to say he was pretty drunk when we were dropped back off at the hotel at 8 p.m.!We settled down to watch a film and eat the Cadbury's chocolate - yummy!!!
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