Trip to the Outer Banks

sarahwilk24
Jun 29, 2022
7 min read

Updated: Jul 17

Parasailing on the Bay

102 pieces | LEGO: 60438 (retired)

Assembled by Hunter Williams, October 2024

Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)

June 29, 2022

At the end of June, during their first year of dating, Sarah and Hunter traveled to Corolla in the Outer Banks for the vow renewal of Sarah's friends, Vanessa and Mike. They hadn't had a big wedding the first time around, so they were going all-out for their vow renewal. They rented a private house with 36 bedrooms, called The Black Stallion, where their chosen friends and family stayed to celebrate and enjoy beach time for nearly a week. Sarah's mom, Bonnie, and her best friend, Karen, were also along for the ride. On the first day, Sarah and Hunter spontaneously decided to sign up for parasailing, something neither had done before. In their typical fashion, they almost missed the boat because they were running late from sleeping in too long. The boat tour included one other family of four and a very entertaining crew. The couple was the first dyad to go up, and it was nerve-wracking to watch the boat get further away under their feet. But it was also surprisingly smooth; the wind just picked up and extended them to the end of the boat's rope, high above the Sound. Hunter is not usually a fan of heights, and he certainly wasn't willing to let go of the hand-holds, but he enjoyed it and found it peaceful up there. It was so quiet. Sarah loved the feeling of lifting her hands from the grips on her seat, as it made her feel like she was flying! Down below, they watched as one of the crew members held up a fake chainsaw and pretended to cut their rope. All too soon, their turn was over, and they were slowly lowered back until their feet gently met the boat again. They enjoyed the boat cruise as the other two dyads had their turns.

Family Game Tournament

*Game Tables with Gameboard Tiles from Studbee*

Mahjong Table A: 47 pieces | BRICKPANDA: B3-74

Mahjong Table B: 53 pieces | BRICKPANDA: B3-75

Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, May 2025

Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)

June 30, 2022

The second day of the trip was dedicated to a family game tournament that featured a variety of indoor and outdoor game competitions. Hunter and Sarah advanced past the first round in ladder ball and shuffleboard (despite never having played the latter), but were knocked out of shuffleboard in the second round. Other games in the competition included corn hull, badminton, giant Jenga, dominoes (the rowdiest game, if you can believe it), among others. There was a break in the middle of the day before the tournament finals, so the couple went to the beach, where they relaxed and read together. While walking along the shore, they found Vanessa and others from the vow renewal gathering shells for use during the ceremony, so the couple helped look for some good ones. When they got back to the house, they had some dinner and then swam in the pool and hot tub—both of which were empty (the only time that happened during the whole trip). Sarah gathered up all the pool rings she could find and put them around Hunter, pulling him around the pool as he sang to her. They beat the groom and Vanessa's cousin, Iris, in the final round of ladder ball, and ended up coming in second in the shuffleboard competition. The last event of the evening was a "Minute to Win It" tournament, which pitted two teams against each other in 8 one-minute challenges. Sarah and Hunter were on Team Shrimp, which dominated the other team, winning every single game. Hunter's challenge was to unwrap as many Hershey Kisses as he could with oven mitts on his hands. Sarah's challenge was to knock over a row of water bottles with a tennis ball that was inside a pair of pantyhose she was wearing on her head. The couple competed together in the finale couple challenge, where Sarah had to catch ping pong balls in stacks of cups as Hunter bounced them at her (each time she caught a ball, the cup with the ball had to go to the bottom of the stack in her hands, making it more precarious with each ball). Of any night on the trip, this was the one where they laughed the most.

Catching the Sunrise

326 pieces | Unbranded

Assembled by Mike Alfare, June 2025

Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)

July 1, 2022

They were out of bed by 5:20 am the next morning to catch the sunrise with Sarah's mom. The sky was a wispy pink, with cool tones of purple and blue that reflected off the water. The sun appeared directly on the lip of the horizon and disappeared behind a large barge that was crossing it the moment it rose. Later, Sarah and Bonnie went into Duck, leaving Hunter behind to do his own thing for a while. They shopped and chatted about how things were going with Hunter, agreeing that if things continued to go well with Hunter, he could eventually move into the house with them. Sarah brought Hunter back his favorite: fish and chips. They enjoyed some pool time before getting ready for group photos at a nearby park. When they returned, they helped Vanessa set up for the reception. Her mother had crocheted her some incredible sea creatures, from small clams with pearls in their mouths, to seahorses, massive jellyfish, sharks, and fish. The tablescapes were spectacular. Afterward, they spent some time in the hot tub with friends and experienced the dry heat of the sauna together.

The Vow Renewal

1808 pieces | LEGO: 43225 (retired)

Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, June 2025

Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)

July 2, 2022

The day started with the vow renewal. The whole trip was sunny, but the single hour of their renewal had the highest chance of rain of any due to a tropical storm—so they moved the ceremony inside (and of course it didn’t rain hardly at all). Sarah loved seeing the arch decorated with the floral centerpieces she'd made with Vanessa. The ceremony was very personal and unique because Vanessa and Mike were celebrating 10 years of marriage, which meant they weren't just expressing hopes for their future together, but also gratitude for the past years they'd spent together. A memorable part of the ceremony was a Celtic ritual that involved passing seashells to all the guests and having them whisper or rub a wish for the couple into the shell before collecting them in turquoise buckets with rainbows on them, which the couple would keep. Sarah and Hunter would later take a lot of inspiration from their vow renewal when planning their marriage ceremony.

Kona Ice Truck

194 pieces | LEGO: 60384 (retired)

Assembled by Andrew Deese, Rachel Deese; December 2024

Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)

July 2, 2022

After the ceremony, it was time to party down at the reception. They made merry with floating trays full of shrimp and grits (one of Hunter's favorite delights), hearing the heartfelt and funny speeches, and seeing the surprise lithograph display. One of their neighbors, Owen, used his 3-D printer (and photos Vanessa had collected from everyone) to create custom lithographs of each couple, which were backlit by tea lights, creating a sort of shrine that testified to the power of the love present in the room. The party moved outside to the pool and to the Kona Ice Truck that they'd commissioned to provide free unlimited snow cones to guests. Hunter enjoyed a blackberry mojito snow cone. Hunter, Sarah, and Bonnie left when it was time to catch the sunset, since it was their last night at the Outer Banks. They walked to a place called Sunset Bridge in the neighborhood, but it was a lie: they could only see part of the sunset from the bridge. It was a lovely evening, and they enjoyed the walk.

We're Surrounded!

242 pieces | FAFAFA

Assembled by Mike Alfare, January 2025

Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)

July 2, 2022

When it was dark, Sarah and Hunter went to the beach for a moonlit walk. The moon was barely thicker than a sliver, but they could still see the waves. They walked and talked with no light to guide them other than the moon's, feeling a sense of closeness unparalleled on that quiet stretch of beach. When they turned around to head back, Sarah asked Hunter to turn on his flashlight because she kept seeing little flickers of movement at the fringes of their feet. They were horrified to see just how many crabs had been lurking underfoot for the first half of the walk. They were everywhere, surrounding them! Sarah was amused when one of the crabs charged at Hunter. They were shocked they hadn't stepped on any in their bare feet when they weren't watching where they were going, but it goes to show just how good the crabs are at avoiding obstacles. They got back to where they'd started with 12 minutes to spare before high tide, and had to stay so that Hunter could say he’d experienced high tide (for the SpongeBob reference). Turns out it was Hunter’s first time having a moonlit walk on the beach. They stared at the stars for a little while before reluctantly closing the book on their first beach vacation together.