Escape to BHI

Edited to add: If it was unclear at any point, my family and I are taking COVID very seriously, strictly following the four major preventative measures of good hygiene (e.g., thorough and regular hand washing), maintaining physical distancing,  wearing masks in public when in situations where physical distancing could be compromised, and staying in our house.  We have taken every precaution possible when receiving deliveries, and we are extremely careful when handling any sort of take-out.

For these reasons, and given that we’ve been completely quarantined for 14 days prior (realistically upwards of 30 days prior), my parents (who are in an at-risk age group) felt comfortable seeing us.  We did not come within 6 feet or without a plexiglass barrier + mask to anyone else while traveling.

My parents reviewed guidelines set forth by the Village at Bald Head, felt comfortable with the procedures in place on the ferry (limiting capacity, masks required, sitting outside, and maintaining 6 feet between passengers), and checked with their property management company before we traveled.  Once on the island, we maintained a minimum of 6 feet distance between other people (in the rare instance where it was required) and picked up take-out food in a golf cart or cooked meals using the groceries we carried with us.

I realize people have different comfort levels right now and are in different areas of the country that may (out of necessity) have much stricter guidelines, so I genuinely apologize if this post made some feel upset. Many readers have shared that they want me to continue to be honest about what we are up to rather than alter content due to the pandemic, so that’s why I wrote about our trip. I acknowledge that we are fortunate to have a home in a vacation destination, but this post was not meant to ‘rub it in anyone’s face.’ I have turned off the comments at this point because they were no longer constructive.  I’d love for those commenters to direct their energy more productively towards those who may not be following medical guidelines (intentionally or unintentionally) or who are downplaying the severity of the virus and the real tragedy that it has brought to millions of people in this country and throughout the world.

Thanks for reading!

Hello and happy hump day! We are back from a week at my parents marsh house on Bald Head Island. Both families have been in isolation for 8 weeks now; the change of  scenery was bliss and getting to interact with other humans was amazing!

Emerson spent the first 3 days telling my parents “I’m just so glad I get to see you” over and over because she was thrilled to play with someone new.

The island is closed to day visitors and renters, so it was also really nice to just enjoy the outdoors without many people.  We had a lot of chilly weather but bright sunshine almost every day.

Emerson slept in this inflatable toddler bed from Amazon for the first time and loved it! Highly recommend.  Avery slept in our room and it did not go so well.  We were up every night at 2AM and 6AM:(  But we had my parents help and it was lovely to have a break from 24/7 parenting.  

Avery loved the beach and squealed with delight each time we got in the golf cart to visit.

She also loved this beach tent which Emerson hated as a baby.

We didn’t do much of anything except take walks along the beach,  eat, and chat.

We brought most of our groceries with us and cooked shrimp + grits and nachos, and then did takeout from a the market and one of the restaurants on the island the other nights. Isn’t the marsh gorgeous?

I think the highlight of the trip for me was when Matt and I had a 30 minute date night down on the dock on mother’s day. I will never take a babysitter or a night out at a restaurant for granted after this pandemic!!

Matt also took some time off of work which was amazing for him (well until today when this inbox was nuts).

There’s nothing like an empty beach!

I’m grateful that we were able to go!!!   But man, Emerson has shed many  many tears since we left!

Hope y’all are having a good week. Fingers crossed for more NC beach trips this summer!!