Paging North Carolina Folks - Traveling there soon.

[Blu]

What's going on in my thread?

Oh, Repo? I got engaged on the beaches of Ocracoke. My wife loved it. Easily one of the best trips we've had together; we began the next stage of our lives there, so it will always have significance to us both. I love the low-key nature of the Outer Banks.

Took the Cedar Island Ferry out to Ocracoke:

Spent a couple of days there, found a bomb-ass kitty at the Ocracoke Lighthouse:

Ecco and his friends graced us with his presence on Cape Hatteras near the pier.:

And the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is absolutely amazing:

We made our way up the Outer Banks. It's great too, when you're both from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it's early March and things are just opening. People probably thought we're crazy to want to be out on the beach in 40 degree weather. It's a ghost town during then, but perfect when you want to get outta town and be remote together.

I mean, look at this beach, all to ourselves!

(Definitely a country-mouse city-mouse type of situation, I certainly appreciate nature way more after living in a city for the past four years.) It's forever got a special place in my heart...

I lived at MCAS Cherry Point when my father was stationed there. Spent a lot of summer days on Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, Onslow beach, and a 4th of July on Ocracoke. I love the Outer Banks and that's why I wanted to propose to her somewhere special to me that I knew she'd love (and had always wanted to visit).

Now that's why I'm taking her to the mountains of Asheville -- another adventurous place that also has natural beauty and tranquility to it. Definitely gonna take in all the sights after 15+ years of being out in the mountains!

I wouldn't rule out Boone places either, one of our good friends is from that neck of North Carolina. Really depends on where we are on any given day and if it's within proximity. At least on the Outer Banks it's fairly linear -- in Asheville you can go in any direction that interests you.