Wild horses...

...couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses
couldn't drag me away
-Rolling Stones, "Wild Horses"

***There were 3 songs I thought would be good intros for this anniversary trip. So as not to waste good musical inspiration, you get the 3 part blog post. Here's Anniversary Post, Part 3. Find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.***

Ahh, the wild horses.  The last 2 touristy things we wanted to do were to drive on the beach and to see wild horses.  How convenient that you can do both simultaneously!

On Saturday we headed north to where Highway 12 ends. I will admit that I was more than a little nervous about how sweet Maddie the MDX would handle sand in her britches, but she was a champ.

Dear hubby letting a bit of air out of the ol' tires. 

 More surface area or something? Car maintenance is outside my domain.

That's where the road ends and the sand driving begins.

 I held my breath there for a little while.

And lookee there! That's my car – with ocean right beside it!

 

Wild horses – right there on the beach. It was every bit as cool as I had imagined. But after we saw them, I pretty much said “Okey doke. Checked that off our list, now let's get my sweet little car back onto pavement where she belongs, whaddaya say?” While it's definitely preferable to drive on the beach at low tide (when there's wider areas of packed sand available), Driver Derek did just fine in our low clearance vehicle at high tide. Next time, however, we'll take the truck, primarily because it's not mine, therefore I worry less about it.

 And interestingly, I would not want to stay at one of the secluded houses up there - the ones that are only accessible by driving on the sand.  Because the beach is a freakin' highway.  I saw ONE person sitting on the beach, and that was only because she was in a chair right beside her parked car.  Next summer when I'm dragging towels, lawn chairs, umbrella, sand toys and 532 other things over to the beach, there might be a moment when I'll think, "Boy, sure would be nice to toss this stuff into the back of the pickup and drive it right onto the sand."  But then I'll remember that there would be no beach to enjoy because it would be covered with 4x4 vehicles out for a joyride.  And I'll get my dear hubby to drag all the stuff.

 Then we headed to see the Currituck Light at Corolla, which really is beautiful, inside and out.

   

 I climbed all the way to the top, and I was not scared one little bit. Nope. Not at all freaked out by looking down. No sireee. No fear here. Can't you see by the way I was willing to look right over the edge? I never considered myself scared of heights, but apparently I am. But the views really were gorgeous.

(See, not skeered!  I'll just stick really, really close 

to this large secure thing.  Not skeered a bit.  No sir.

I'm smiling!  Can't smile when you're scared!)

(Please notice the white knuckles.  I was holding on tight. 

But definitely not scared.  Nope.  Not a bit.)

And after we left the lighthouse, we headed back the northern route and spent the night at a B&B in Edenton.  

Lovely front porch - we spent the evening enjoying their porch swing.

It was cute and we enjoyed walking around and looking at the historic homes on Sunday morning.    But we were glad to head back to Raleigh and see our baby boys again.

Thus endeth our Outer Banks adventures and our 10 year anniversary second honeymoon.  It was a much needed getaway and a great time to reconnect and remember why we got hitched in the first place.   Happy anniversary, babe.  

And thus endeth the blog post series.  Next week, back to my regularly scheduled updates on the wee ones, which I know is what you're really wanting anyway. Thanks for following along on my little side road!