Spring Break - Battleship and Aquarium

We didn't spend all our time at the beach (although Kaitlyn may have liked to). Thursday the weather was rainy and very very windy so we went to the Battleship Museum. The USS North Carolina is permanently docked right there in/near Wilmington and it was very interesting to explore.

Tyler loved the guns and the airplane that was parked on the deck.

Kaitlyn liked hearing how everything worked and what all the different rooms were used for. It was amazing to think about how many people they packed into that space (big as it may seem from the outside) and how self-sufficient they were while out at sea.


However, the battleship only held the kids' interest for about 90 minutes then we were a bit at loose ends as to how to entertain ourselves. We even went so far as to wander around ToysRUs with the kids for an hour. The sun came out for a little bit and we did spend some time in the pool at the hotel, although it wasn't as fun as it could have been. Sam and I got sunburned the first day so the cold pool was too cold and the hot tub was too hot. I spent the whole time with my feet in the hot tub watching the kids go back and forth from it to the pool.
Eventually we took a walk on the boardwalk and ended up down at the pier, where we felt like we were going to get blown away by the wind. Tyler insisted on holding hands or being held the entire time we were out there because seeing the ocean through the gaps in the boards we were walking on really made him nervous.

Friday turned out to be a fantastic day, weather-wise, as well as being my favorite day of the trip. We hit the beach first thing and stayed there until 1:00 or so. After showering we grabbed a late lunch then went to the Aquarium at Fort Fisher. It was great. Not a huge space, but what they had done with it was great.

The indoor displays were so pretty. The kids' favorite thing were all the box turtles that seemed to be everywhere. They also had a few alligators, including an albino one.
Kaitlyn thought the touch tank was great. She was daring enough to touch everything while Tyler held back and just looked. Not surprising - he may be the daring one when it comes to most things but usually holds back when it comes to animals and Kaitlyn is the one that wants to touch them.

Even though it was fake and alligators are probably his most favorite animal, this one scared Tyler. We couldn't get him to quit hiding his face on my shoulder for the photo.

This is my favorite photo of the day (amazing since I only had my phone with me and was taking pictures just with it). This big tank with the fish and the sharks was great.

They also had a garden outside with statues and a pond with more turtles.

On the way back from the aquarium we stopped at the breakwater/beach area and spent some time finding shells. Then we dropped the car at the hotel and wandered down the beach again, having a fantastic seafood dinner (for Sam and myself that is, the kids don't eat that stuff though Kaitlyn did try one bite of crab. She also the clam and mussel shells were fascinating and we let her take one of each home) near the pier before heading inside for the night.

By Saturday morning I think we were all about ready to head home. We spent a few hours at the beach in the morning, then plopped our sand-covered selves in the car, grabbed McD's in the drive through and headed home.

It was a very nice vacation and a fun way to spend Spring Break.