Summer Vacap- Part One

So, I know it's been a while since I blogged. 

I am not normally such a slacker.
But I am back for good.
Or at least until Mr. Army Man comes home then I may be MIA for a while.
I'm sure you understand.

But a nice THREE week vacation called...

And boy did I come running.

To start my vacation my mom flew into Raleigh.

I picked her up and we headed to Southport, NC.

It's a cute small cozy beach town about 30 miles south of Wilmington. 

Mom had never been to the beach before. 

So first off I had to take her there.
It was such a privilege to take my mom somewhere she's never been.
Since normally it's the other way around. 

It was gorgeous breath taking. 

We checked into our hotel. 

And dined at the Fishy Fishy Cafe.

It is literally right on the water.

This is a view from our table on the dock.

I did some heavy research on Yelp and this place didn't exactly get rave reviews. 

But who can beat dinner on the water.

For a starter we had the Crab Dip. 

Huge portions. And it was amazing. Extremely cheesy. Delicious.

I had the Fishy Fishy Taco. (Pictured above.)

And my mom had the Salmon BLT. 

I tried everything, it was all amazing. 

The next day, Friday June 15:

We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel, packed up and did some downtown shopping.

This is a great area for antiques and some really nice boutiques. 

The boutiques featured Lilly Pulitzer, Hobo, and the works. 

Completely great for such a small town. 

After hitting up pretty much every shop downtown. 

We dined at the Yacht Basin Eatery.

(Located right beside Fishy Fishy.) 

Not impressed.

I ordered the Lobster Bisque.

While there were huge chucks of lobster, it was served luke warm. 

After lunch, we went right across the road to Flava's.

(It is in a little shack in a gravel parking lot.)

Best ice cream. EVER.

I tried about 6 flavors.

And settled on three:

Banana pudding, black cherry, & nutty coconut. 

All piled into a cone. Yum.

We also hit up the famous Christmas Tree House in downtown. 

It is spectacular. Christmas 365 days a year. AMEN.

I wish I would have taken pictures. 

The entire town was dominated with red, white and blue for the National Fourth of July Parade and Festival. 

Nichols Sparks was said to have started filming Safe Haven there the week after we left. 

(As it's the setting for the actual novel.)

If you can possibly pack more into the day, we finally hit up the beach.

We left early and stopped by an amazing bakery on the way home, The Confectionary. 

We left around 3 so we could make it home by dark. 

On the way home we passed through Fayetteville & mom wanted to stop at the 

Airborne and Special Operations Museum.

So, we did. It was about to close and we made a quick run through. 

Everything is so life like.

If you live in the area and haven't been or if you are just visiting, 

it is a good touristy attraction that is free.

I've been about 10 times.

Not on my top list of things to do but they had a flag memorial MIA/POW victims. 

It was beautiful.

Finally, we made it back to my house.

But just for the night and next day.

Then we were off on our next adventure...