3,163 days later...

Last week, Nan and I decided it was time to unplug and hit the road again. Our destination? The beautiful Outer Banks....specifically Kill Devil Hills.

So how did we end up in the Outer Banks?  Well, when we first started dating, we took a big road trip.  We drove down to Savannah, Georgia and tented outside the city and explored all we could for a few days.  From there, we packed it up and hit Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and did the same thing.

For some reason, we left Myrtle Beach late.  The drive to Ocracoke, North Carolina took longer than we planned and involved am unexpected ferry.  It all resulted in us setting up our tent in the middle of the night and collapsing into a deep sleep. 

We were jolted awake early by a storm—windy, heavy rains, and chaos as we scrambled to pack up. Poles snapped, fabric ripped, and everything got soaked. We tossed our drenched gear into the car and started driving north, feeling dejected and cold, unsure of what to do next.

That was when we stumbled upon a Days Inn in Kill Devil Hills.  We decided to take chance and entered to see if they might have any vacancies.  

It was nirvana.  There was a fire going in the fireplace...there were fresh baked cookies and lemonade set out on a table....and—thankfully—there was a room available.

We stayed for a week and had an incredible time, so much so that we revisited a few times with the kids, creating memories as a family.

Fast forward to earlier this fall. We received one of those emails from an airline offering vacation packages starting at $29! What they didn’t mention was the fine print: the cheap flights required you to leave in 15 minutes and return in 2027, with five layovers ranging from 7 minutes to 29 hours. You could choose from delightful destinations like Chernobyl, Mar-A-Lago, or Medellin. 

You begin to change the parameters and the whole deal begins to look less and less like a deal.

So, we asked ourselves, why not just drive to Kill Devil Hills? We live much closer now, our car is more reliable than any we’ve ever owned, and I have a silly amount of PTO accrued.

All of this means we did some driving, ate some good food, visited antique stores and comic shops, and met friends in person that we had only ever interacted with online.

As I reflect on this trip, I realized I wanted to share my thoughts on the stores I visit and the comics I buy. So, it makes sense to post something before jumping into all of that.

There will be no rhyme or reason to what comes next, but I hope it will be fun!