NC Fall Vacation

Had a great break back to NC, for a couple of weeks. Caught one neat picture while on a visit to Harker's Island, above.

On the first night home, while eating out with friends, one who jokes a lot told me that the Kansas City Royals were in the World Series. I expected him to say, "Kidding!", yet he did not. I can say that this was the first thing I googled when I arrived home that night. Kansas City Royals going to the WS is absolutely surreal, and reminded me how out of touch I truly had been!

Other highlights include....

- Eating at The Cheesecake Factory, shopping at J Jill and a great visit with family and friends.

- Best friends and their kids visited the beach, and took my mom and me out for lunch and a really fun visit that included an award winning homemade chocolate cake. (Several great visits with these friends.) Ate at Sanitary Fish Market, where you can eat great seafood and practically be sitting on the water. Lots of fishing, sea birds, and leisure boats.

- Seeing a great friend and colleague when I first arrived from the 32 hour trip in country, and was so exhausted, and getting to "catch up" and have a great conversation with her. Also getting offers from others who were about to go abroad themselves, to drive me to a store to buy supplies when my suitcase was not here and I was tired and had no easy transportation.

- Being in the middle of all the mid term election ads, phone calls, campaigns and creative "mud slinging" commercials between political parties on TV. I remember when I first went to India, and people would sometimes ask me if I was a Dem or a Republican. I probably looked like a deer in the headlights. Haha. That is one neat thing about being in India during the outcome of this election....no one will ask me about Tillis or Hagan for this campaign!

- Participated in "breaking into" a church (with the pastor and wife who were accidentally locked out) for a great service. We actually broke in with metal stakes from a political campaign sign that was in someone's trunk. Again...election season, Thank You! Was great to see this church family.

- Had a great meal with some friends last night where I think a couple of us at the table laughed so hard that we cried. How can talking about something as simple as "pre-engraved gravestones" result in a tear-inducing conversation? It is literally a time where you "had to be there". The table shook with laughter at one point and my stomach hurt.

- Driving on the open highway. I was lucky to get a rental Dodge Avenger in black and it is "stealth". It is fast and it is fun! I drove "like an Indian" of course, at 90 miles per hour if I got the chance.

- Shopping and eating too.much.food.
Another excellent restaurant in Morehead City/on Atlantic Beach that we discovered for the first time, though it has been around for a while, is Amos Mosquitos. Absolutely excellent food that goes a step past local seafood to include a "Louisiana" bayou type atmosphere, with views on the marsh side of the sound. Excellent scenery, an enclosed patio, and the most HOSPITABLE experience from management and staff that I have had in a long time in North Carolina. Friendly atmosphere, yet also upscale and fun. All of the food is made on the premises, even the peanut butter ICE CREAM PIE. Will definitely return there. Wednesday night fare includes "deep discounts", so get there early.

- Starbucks. Starbucks. Starbucks. It is interesting that when I first was thinking of going to India, I googled Starbucks, and discovered that the very first one had just been built and opened in Bangalore in November 2013. Now, today, in less than 1 year...there are 8 (maybe more) Starbucks in Bangalore! That shows how quickly Bangalore is (still) growing. If there was one next to my office or my home there, I am positive I could keep their light and water bill totally paid with all of the coffees I would buy!

- The neighboring town, which borders Morehead City, is Beaufort, NC. This is where I was born and lived the first years of my life. While I was home last week, it was featured in a national, major magazine, Travel and Leisure, as the "#1 Small Town in US". There is a small island across from Beaufort where there is a population of wild horses that roam, which you can see from the beaufort waterfront, or on a boat tour, if you are lucky.

- Listening to 570 AM comedy radio! 24 hour comedy. Heard some of my favorite comedians. Below is a link to a short Brian Regan "Why dogs bark" YouTube that is just hilarious to me, especially the last minute of the snippet. When I first was planning to go to India, I wondered if I would find people who laugh at weird stuff like me, and have found "just enough people" where I am able to laugh hard at least once every day.