Vacation Time!
We’re down at the Outer Banks this week, Kitty Hawk to be exact. After losing Molly, it’s especially nice to be here, away from the usual routine for a few days.
My friend, Janis, and I have been coming here to the same motel for a very long time—we think this is our 28th season, assuming we’re right in thinking our first trip was in 1983. It all started when we had a Girl Scout troop and decided to have them earn their way to a few days at the beach. We found this great place, the only one willing to take 15 pre-teen and teen girls and four adults, and the experiment was a resounding success so we kept coming back every June. Eventually, Janis and I retired from the Girl Scouts and the trip morphed into a family thing, the two of us and assorted children and grandchildren over the years. As the grandchildren have gotten older, most now 16 and up, the selection of kids and their moms each summer has varied greatly. This year, I’m the only one from my family and Janis has three of her grandkids plus one brought a friend and another brought a boyfriend who’s camping nearby. So, there are 7 of us this go ’round and none of our daughters came. Sometimes, it just works out that way.
My 16-year-old grandson, Drew, being the really weird kid he is, chose school over the beach. He’s voluntarily doing 
this 3-month online pre-calculus course that requires 5 to 6 hours of homework every day. Like I said, he’s weird, and we frequently wonder where he came from. He seems to be a throwback to my dad, who was an electrical engineer and had a similarly strong affinity for math and science. My dad, though, was also seriously attached to the outdoors and nature while Drew has a thing about bugs, bugs in all shapes and sizes and icky proclivities or lack thereof. Janis says maybe that’s why he’s such a good crosscountry runner—he runs fast to stay ahead of the bugs.
Anyway, while I was packing for the trip, I had my usual quandary of what books to bring with me. I don’t do the ereader routine but space is not an issue and there’s a gaggle of kids to carry stuff so weight doesn’t matter. The dilemma was selection, what would strike my mood at the appointed time. So, as all bookophiles do, I had to plan for all contingencies.
I ended up with three physical books—The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton, A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams and MEG: Hell’s Aquarium by Steve Alten. On the iPod Touch, I can listen to Under the Dome by Stephen 
King, Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik (a re-read but first listen), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Altar of Eden by James Rollins, and All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (a re-read and re-listen). I’ve got most of my favorite genres and styles covered—mystery, comfort fiction, dark fantasy, action adventure, Southern fiction, horror, historical fantasy, humor—so I think I’ll be OK for a week. If not, I’ll just have to run down to the terrific local independent bookshop, Outer Banks Books. They’re always good for a fix 
June 21, 2010
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
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4 Responses
I so love The Outer Banks and I’ve been to Outer Banks Books many times. I’ve t-shirts and books about the area to prove it. Wish I was with you, or at least following in your footsteps. As a reporter, I reported on the Cape Hattaras lighthouse’s move from the sea to safety.
So many memories…
Ah, yes, the wonderful lighthouse. A bunch of us went down to watch some of the move—or, more accurately, crawl. You had to keep your eyes on it to see it happening. I still have the t-shirt
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