15

As of September 15th, Jason and I have been married for 15 years. With Mom and Dad here visiting, we took off for a long weekend to the coast. It was wonderful. I realized that most of our couples time is super fun, but not relaxing. This weekend was so rejuvenating. We stopped at the temple on our way out of town, stayed in a condo right on Carolina Beach. We had a deck facing the ocean and just sat and relaxed, read, took walks, toured old mansions and generally had a fabulous time. Having a smart phone definitely helps in finding yummy, affordable seafood too.

 View from our deck

 The Bellamy Plantation in Wilmington, NC. It is not really a plantation, but a big fancy house. Those wrought iron gates were so beautiful! The magnolia trees are original, planted in the 1870's when the house was built. I can not put into words how much I love old trees. We learned a lot about the Bellamy family and also their slaves. It was fascinating and heartbreaking. The house has marble thresholds at the doors. The ones used by slaves were worn down concave, the others showed no sign of use at all.

  We also toured an actual peanut plantation called Poplar Grove. It was less fancy, just as interesting.

Poplar Grove stayed in the family until the 1970's. It was full of original furnishings, linens, clothes and toys. These books and quilts were just so amazing to me.

 USS North Carolina, battle ship retired right after WWII

We have toured quite a few ships, yes I dearly love my husband. This is definitely the best one. Because the NC was retired right after the war (battleships became obsolete with the creation of carriers) it is just like it was in service in the 1940's. Plus there are tons of original stories, experiences and memories from actual sailors that made it more interesting for me.

The only picture of both of us. Silly, not flattering. But there we both are.

Thank you Mom and Dad for much more then watching our kids for a few days! This was taken earlier in the week at Mabrys Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway.