The Microwave Picnic

Lately I've been thinking about  a trip I took with my mom to North Carolina. We were heading out to Charlotte for my Step-Sister's wedding and I'd decided, if I was going to be that close to the Atlantic ocean I wanted to go all the way to it and see the ocean. I'd been to see the Pacific on numerous occasions but never to the Atlantic. When I was planning the trip I had several people laugh at me and say "One ocean looks just like the rest." Now that I've traveled a bit, I can tell them that is just not true.

In southern California, the ocean meats up with sandy sunny beaches with various shades of aqua and blue. Heading north in California, the landscape grows bluer and cloudy. In Galveston, Texas, the boardwalk and beach borders a browner churning water of the Gulf of Mexico. Ireland, the air is crisper, bright green borders the smooth sandy beaches with deep blue water. The Atlantic off of Bald Head Island is rich and relaxed. Some might argue that the differences lay in the beaches and surrounding communities rather than the ocean, but to me, those differences are what makes the ocean in that part of the world.

Anyhow, we spent the day driving from Charlotte down to Bald Head Island and Southport, North Carolina. We'd explored the island, seeing an old lighthouse (Old Baldy) and having a great time. When we finally made our way back to Southport we searched out the hotel we'd reserved with only to find no one was on site and no one was answering the phone. We were stuck in Southport, suddenly with no hotel and the prospect of a four hour drive back to Charlotte that night did not sound appetizing. So I hopped on my trusty blackberry phone and searched out a nearby Comfort Suites hotel, we were in luck, they had a room available. So we drove over and checked in and were treated so well. The drawback now was most of the restaurants in this small community had already closed down for the night, and neither of us had eaten since lunch, we were HUNGRY.

Luckily, next door to the hotel there was a grocery store and our room, had a little wet bar with microwave. I knew we were set for food. I told mom to grab her purse we were going to go get dinner. It was fun running through the Lowe's Food looking for dinner supplies. With my knowledge of prepared food we ended up with a three course dinner of prepacked salad, macaroni and cheese, cooked chicken, a steam in bag microwave veggies, and individual ice creams for dessert. I don't think mom ever realized you could pretty much get a fully prepared and yummy dinner from a grocery store. With my experience of having zero time to cook from hours of school work, I'd become well acquainted with this part of grocery stores. It wasn't a fantastic five star meal by any means but I still think back with fond memories of that night when I showed my mom the ropes of getting a good meal while only having a microwave to cook with. Best part, no leftovers so no food wasted.

It was fun, that little twist of fate in our plans, a lesson learned and one that's proven to be true over and over in my journeys since then. Sometimes the unplanned adventures are the best adventures.