All Done...Time to Go Home

I barely made it up in time to see the sunrise over the ocean.  I jumped out of bed, threw on sweats and a hat, grabbed the camera and ran out the door.

Like I said...I just made it.  I took a bunch.

See...pretty...

One more...and this time, not of the actual sun...

So, I said goodbye to the beach for the last time and headed back to the condo to pack.  It took me longer than I had planned...but what the heck.  I had all day.

I hit the road about 10:30 after a cup of yogurt for breakfast.  Coffee was in the thermos.

I decided to stop at The Cotton Gin, a big ole gift shop in Jarvisburg, NC in a building that is actually a converted cotton gin.  That place was a freaking maze with tons of stuff all squeezed in all over the place.  I was in there a long time and got a few things.

After checking out, I headed downstairs to the tasting room for the winery that is next door Sanctuary Vineyards. The vineyards are actually next to the store and owned by the same family.

They re-planted cotton fields with grape vines and voila! I ended up getting a couple of bottles of their Wild Pony White, which is a pretty decent semi-dry white (apparently 60% vidal blanc and 40% chardonnay).  The super cool thing is that a portion of the proceeds goes to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.

The drive took forever...like it always does when you're trying to get home.  Around 2-ish I got to Wakefield, VA and The Virginia Diner.

Apparently, this is the peanut capital of the world.  Also apparently, I was still on a seafood kick.

I got a crab cake, fried shrimp, cole slaw, carrot souffle, biscuits, and lots of sweet tea. I actually liked the crab cake better than the one I had in Nags Head.  The shrimp were fried shrimp (how can you screw them up?).  Cole slaw was tasty, but a bit runny and the biscuits were decent.  The carrot souffle, a Virginia Diner specialty, was freaking amazing!  I have to figure out how to make it.

I got their "world famous" peanut pie for dessert.  I was actually given two little pieces because the slices are usually larger.  Good thing, as I ended up taking one home because I was stuffed.  I'd actually had this pie before and it is yummy, kind of like a pecan pie made with peanuts instead of pecans.  I'm not a big fan of the peanut, but I really like this pie.  It's not quite as sweet as pecan pie, but not in a bad way.

Back on the road and finally made it home at sunset.  I unpacked most of my stuff except for the suitcase...that's still in the car.  I did laundry last night, so it's a suitcase of clean clothes...it can wait.

Vacation over, time to sleep, very tired.  Plan is to go back to the OBX next year and check out more of Roanoke Island, see the unencumbered Bodie Lighthouse, and go hang gliding!