Beaufort Beach Trip - Part I

 

Following the boat out of the Neuse Sports Shop parking lot can only mean one thing - we are on the way to the beach! Morehead/Beaufort/Atlantic Beach - here we come! 

We found an adorable little rental in Beaufort that had ample parking for our boat - and they even welcomed us with a homemade pound cake! 

We arrived later in the evening on Wednesday, which was fine by us - time enough for us to work a 3/4 day, pack and unpack upon our arrival. 

On the first full day, Brent and Brock opted to brave the humidity for a nice jog. TWO miles later, they arrived back hot and sweaty! I do envy the way Brock wants to work out with his Dad. It is quite admirable! 

After cooling down and getting all clean, we took it easy relaxing on the porch swing and rocking chairs - letting Moose do his guard-dog duty. 

For the first time, we all were able to go check out our property together. 

It has some amazingly old trees on it - 40 foot high magnolias. We hope to keep as many as possible. 

The family headed to Front Street in Beaufort to window shop and get some dinner. Spotted Brock trying out his phone to snap a photo of his huge fish & chips meal! I guess it looked better than it tasted. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I think Kade's meal was the best out of our dinners. He loved it so much, he asked for seconds!

Trying to recreate the picture from so many years ago of Brent holding both his boys' hands walking to the restaurant in Beaufort! 

I think we did an okay job - not exactly the same stretch of Front Street, but close! 

July 2025   vs.   June 2017

After walking around the shops a bit more, we stopped for some ice cream! The ice cream was melting so quickly down the cone, I couldn't keep up with it! Brock and I both struggled with our cones, but Kade was smart getting his in a cup! 

Repurposed sail cloth made into very expensive, but gorgeous, maritime-themed bags! They look super durable.... but just had to say no after peeping that $200 pricetag! 

The boys looked sweet hanging out on a bench waiting for me to shop. 

A random historic house on Front Street I liked while walking back to our vehicle. :) 

The next day was boat day! After putting the boat in at Radio Island, we were off to Shackleford Banks! 

Thankfully, there were several boats we could follow out there so Brent could place his little breadcrumbs for the next time (lots of sand-dunes make it a bit tricky to maneuver over there!). 

We anchored up and enjoyed our traditional Bojangles on the boat before everyone got in the water. Brent did show off his cast net throwing skills. Alas, no bait fish caught. 

We all swam to shore and walked a bit closer to the two wild horses we spotted. We hung out along the beach and played in the water before swimming back to the boat for some refreshments. 

The boys were inspired by the cast net and wanted to catch their own fish, so Brent hooked them up with a little net. They swam back to shore and set to work. 

Brent and I watched the boys work TOGETHER from the boat - commenting again how easy it is for them to get along when we are at the beach!

Looks like they caught something! They put their lifejackets on and headed back to the boat - a good 100 yard swim! 

They were so proud of their catch! 

The boys lined up their fish just like the professionals do at the end of a charter! 

Brent did have a meaningful conversation with them about the ethics behind fishing for a purpose - perhaps the demise of these fish lacked that? 

Well, at least the birds got to have a nice meal! 

Connecticut/New York Trip - Part II

Brian and family had an earlier flight than we did on Wednesday, so after a late brunch eating everything we had bought/collected, we said our goodbyes and both made our way to different parts of the city. 

We were thrilled to discover the Mets had an afternoon baseball game scheduled on Wednesday, July 2nd (technically a double header that day) against the Milwaukee Brewers. Even though we couldn't stay for the entire game, gates open an hour early, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy some baseball!

Parking was amazingly close to the stadium and we were in line only 10 minutes before the gates opened!

It's baseball time!

Our first stop was the Mets team store where he picked out a brand new Mets shirt, which he promptly changed into. 

We took Brock to many Mariners games while in Seattle, but I forget he was so young - he most definitely does not remember it. He was amazed at the size of the stadium!

We headed up to our seats after picking up some lunch - Section 404 for $22 per ticket - not bad! It was really so empty in the stadium, the seats were just fine being so far up. 

We were definitely entertained! A huge jumbotron to watch and lots of entertainment between every inning! 

Brock was so happy watching everything and commenting on the baseball, the players, the field, the stadium, the seats..... he was really enjoying everything! 

Very focused on watching the game - and keeping an eye out for any foul balls that come our way!

People were trickling in, but even at the third inning it was pretty sparse. So glad we were there for the Third Inning so we could see the "5 Borough Mascot Race" featuring mascots representing each of the five boroughs of New York! The mascots include a pizza slice for Brooklyn, a skyscraper for Manhattan, a ferry for Staten Island, a giraffe for the Bronx, and a subway car for Queens. 

We made it to the start of the fourth inning before it was time to head to the airport. 

And then on our way down the stairs to the main level, we got the notification that our flight was delayed 40 minutes. We had time to explore the stadium a bit more so watched one batter from the concourse level. We got to see the runner on first steal a base! 

Safe!

Brock is such a salesman. He talked me into dessert - preferring the Dippin' Dots over the soft serve ice cream in a souvenir cup (aka his shirt). All good - I got a souvenir cap with my kids meal chicken tenders. :) 

Slowly making our way towards the exit, but stopped to check out the Memorabilia shop. There were some expensive items in here!

The main entrance of the stadium is filled with Jackie Robinson pictures - learning when I came home that this area is called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda and honors Robinson in all sorts of ways! 

These big numbers are under the main staircase..... 

.....where you can actually stand in his footprints! Even Brock's extra-large feet have some growing to do! 

Dropped off our rental car and took the tram to our Terminal and received another delay notification. We popped in a few stores checking things out. Brock standing in front of a LEGO Empire State Building. 

So nice that Brent ordered us dinner at Starbucks from the comfort of North Carolina. He thoroughly enjoyed the NY sandwich prices!! Thank you hunny! (See his name under "In Progress")

We finally did fly out - thankfully - bad storms all over the south delayed many flights. Our flight ended up departing 90 minutes later than it was supposed to. We were tired from our trip, but so happy to be home! 

Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Brent was teaching Kade the true art of grilling meat. 

Enjoying the fruits of their labor - steak cooked to rare perfection! Look at that smile!