Outer Banks, North Carolina

It was the day after my college graduation and Bryce and I were in his packed Honda Odyssey with his siblings Brian and Annalise, Brian’s girlfriend Olivia and Annalise’s Australian Shepherd Maverick, on our way to a beach vacation in the Outer Banks.

Bryce’s parents, Renée and Bob were caravaning right beside us in their truck with the family’s Labradoodle Lola.

It was a long 10 and a half hour drive that ended up being closer to 12 once all the stops for bathroom breaks and food were factored in.

But we made the most of it while we sang, talked and napped.

When we made it to our house for the week it was just past dinner time but we all quickly found our rooms, dropped our bags in them and then took the few minute walk (in our case, skateboard) to the beach to watch the first sunset of the vacation.

After the sun was mostly down we headed back to the house and on the way Bryce and I found this little cove across from the house that was filled with turtles.

We had never seen that many turtles in one spot before.

And turtles are kind of our animal so we thought that was exciting.

We decided then that we would be visiting the turtles once a day for the duration of the trip.

Everyone started unpacking and exploring what was going to be our home for the trip.

The place slept so many people that even with the seven of us, there were two rooms unoccupied. Those two rooms together slept six or seven more people because they were filled with bunk beds.

The three story home was equipped with a pool table that we spent countless hours playing, a hot tub on the first of two wrap-around porches and a pool out back.

Everything you could want for a beach vacation and more.

It wasn’t until 10 or 11 that night that we all finally sat down for dinner. Then we were off to bed to get rested for our first official day in the Outer Banks.

Day one was largely spent on the beach a short walk away.

Enjoying the water, relaxing and working on our tans.

The second day we decided to visit a different beach nearby that wild horses lived on.

Bob drove the truck through the sand with Renée and the dogs inside while myself, Bryce, Brian, Annalise and Olivia sat on beach chairs in the bed.

It wasn’t long into the drive when we started seeing the horses.

We found a spot to park on the beach, got out and set up where we’d be spending our day.

It was really hot out so we quickly jumped in the ocean to cool down before starting a competitive game of Spikeball.

We spent the day walking around the beach and the dunes, dipping into the ocean and burying Bryce up to his head in the sand.

Once we were nice and sunburnt we made the drive back to the house and spent the remainder of the day relaxing there.

Bryce, Annalise and I took another sunset walk to the beach and watched the waves crash while we talked and dodged the crabs scurrying around our feet.

The next day was my birthday.

The big 22.

I may or may not have woken up around three or four in the morning to the sound of balloons being thrown into mine and Bryce’s bedroom.

I also may or may not have smiled to myself as I was half asleep listening to the commotion thinking about how thoughtful Bryce is.

But I kept my eyes closed so I wouldn’t ruin the surprise.

In the morning when we woke up, the room was in fact filled with a bunch of colorful balloons.

When we moved upstairs for breakfast there were “Happy Birthday” banners everywhere and the smile on my face continued to grow when Bryce told me he was up all night decorating and his family had been helping him blow up balloons for the surprise.

That was one of the sweetest gestures anyone has ever done for me and to this day I am so thankful to everyone that helped.

Bryce then made me breakfast - an egg sandwich, and I opened some presents.

After breakfast we played Nintendo Switch Sports which was one of the presents Bryce got me and we took turns winning different games.

Then we got in our bathing suits (Bryce and I had cute matching ones on) and moved outside to the pool to play a game and lay out in the sun with everyone.

After we got too hot we played a quick round or two of pool inside then got showered and dressed to head out to play some mini golf and have dinner.

The mini golf was a lot of fun. It was pirate themed so it reminded me of Pirate’s Cove at home but a little fancier because we took a train to get to the first hole.

After I beat everyone in golf (joking) we took a short drive to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner.

I got an alfredo dish, as I always do.

It was delicious and a big enough serving for me to enjoy it again the next day.

We made it back to the house, changed into comfy clothes and then Bryce and I were called up to the kitchen.

When we turned the corner up the stairs we were met with a dark room lit with candle light coming from an ice cream cake and everyone singing happy birthday to me.

As I blew out the candles and enjoyed the dessert with everyone I couldn't help but think of what a great birthday I had and how thankful I am to the Beyerbachs for going out of their way for me.

The next day all of us found ourselves back on the wild horse beach because we enjoyed it so much last time.

But this time it didn’t go as planned.

A police officer came up to us once we were already set up on the beach and he asked if we had a day pass to be there.

Confused, because we didn't need one last time and nobody had even mentioned anything about a day pass, we asked how to get one.

He told us where to go and Bob and Renée were on their way there.

The rest of us stayed back and about 10 minutes later we decided it was silly to go buy a day pass then come back because it was going to take a while. So we called them and told them to come back and we will just go to the beach closer to our house instead.

So we packed the truck up again and went back to the other beach.

The day after that was pretty chill.

We lounged in the hammocks we strung on the porch, played some Switch, and went shopping for a little bit.

Bryce, Annalise and I walked around a store called Super Wings.

Bryce got a football that says Outer Banks, I got a light blue sweatshirt that said the same and Annalise got a pretty yellow bathing suit.

Oh, and Bryce and I each got another shot glass to add to the budding collection that represents the places we’ve been together.

After that we decided we wanted to get Dairy Queen.

Because how can you be on a beach vacation near a Dairy Queen and not stop in for a Blizzard, you know?

Bryce and I got Oreo Blizzards and Annalise got some sort of freezy misty twisty lemonade slush thing. Then the three of us hung out in the pool and the hot tub for a bit and made our daily visit to Turtle Cove across the street.

We finished the day with a walk to the ocean with some music and enjoyed another Outer Banks sunset while we took some pictures with each other.

Lastly, Bryce took me back to the turtles for the second time that day because we just loved watching them together.

And just like that it was the last full day of vacation.

Bryce, Brian, Annalise, Olivia and I spent the day on the beach by the house, not ready for the vacation to come to an end.

We threw a football, swam in the ocean, and enjoyed each other’s company in the sun.

The night was wrapped up how every other one had been, with dinner all together around the table.

We packed up and before we even made it out the door the next morning there was already talk about doing it all over again next year.