Outer Banks, North Carolina, was never on my radar until I watched the Netflix series, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I love that show…though it was actually mostly filmed in South Carolina. Regardless of where they filmed it, the show itself caused me to research Outer Banks and now I wanna visit.
Outer Banks are a chain of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. If you read my previous bucket list post, you already know I love the beach. OBX also has lighthouses, wild horses, hiking, and kayaking (something I’ve only done once and quite enjoyed).
Cape Hatteras LighthouseRoanoke Marshes LighthouseBodie Island Lighthouse Currituck Beach LighthouseThe wild horses of OBXPea Island National Wildlife RefugeNorth Pond Wildlife TrailNags Head Woods Preserve
I have decided to start a bucket list of places I’d like to travel. A coworker said to me, “You’re almost 40. Stop waiting on other people to do what you want,” and she was right. There are so many things to see, just in the U.S. alone, and I have visited frighteningly few places in my lifetime. I would like to remedy that over the next couple of years.
With that in mind, welcome to my new blog series! I am going to post about places I’d like to go, and hopefully I’ll be sharing a follow-up about actually being there soon!
The first location is Jekyll Island, Georgia.
Okay, it’s not super exotic or anything, and it’s not even terribly far from home, but…
Great Dunes BeachFort Frederica National Monument Abandoned Jekyll Island Amphitheater Georgia Sea Turtle Center
There’s a fair amount to do there, and I love beaches and the water.
“Why not just go to Florida?” you may ask.
Well, I’ve been there. And there are places in the Sunshine State that will definitely be on my bucket list. However, Florida doesn’t have Driftwood Beach – and that particular destination has been on my radar since I first heard about it.
I visited my brother in Colorado for his birthday. He and my sister-in-law have moved since I last saw them, and their new home is in the middle of nowhere. Actually, it’s in an area considered to be a ghost town, which is right up my alley, haha! Needless to say, I wanted to explore all the deserted structures nearby, but we also visited Bishop Castle, North Lake, Monument Lake, a few cemeteries, and Lathrop State Park.
It sounds like we were constantly running around; however, we had plenty of downtime, too. We lazed around the house with a fire going, watching horror movies and TV shows (mostly of the cooking variety). My brother caught up on “Outer Banks,” and his wife and I got him hooked on “Squid Game.”
It was so relaxing. I didn’t want to come back. We’re already planning my next trip. I want to go out in the summer, because I always seem to go when it’s cold. On the other hand, Marilyn Manson is touring in September and has stops in both Denver and Albuquerque, soooo…
Anyway, here are some photos from my trip.
The most haunted building in TrinidadMonument LakeNorth LakeBishop CastleLathrop State ParkThis was at one of the cemeteries in AguilarSame cemetery Another Aguilar cemetery Walsenburg cemeteryNot far from where my brother and his wife live. I Googled it and the area is defined as a ghost town.
I just spent six wonderful days with my brother and his wife in Colorado, and I am devastated to be back home. Well, actually, home isn’t the problem; work is. My job sucks, but I won’t whine here. I’m sure everyone has complaints about their places of employment. Lol.
Anyway, I flew to Colorado Springs last Monday. My brother (Rick) and his wife (Jayne) picked me up from the airport. We had lunch and drove to their house, where we watched “The Osbournes Want to Believe” and ate dinner. We crashed pretty early, and once I’d caught up on sleep, my vacation could fully begin.
Tuesday was relaxing. We got coffee and did a little sightseeing, including the Catholic cemetery in town, then binged “Outer Banks” and made these really delicious grilled cheese sandwiches with blueberry jalapeño jam, smoked cheddar, horseradish mustard, and caramelized strips of bacon. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. Then, we hauled ass down to this really small haunted house, because it was Halloween and we wanted to do something in honor of my favorite holiday.
Wednesday was exciting, as it was the day we traveled down to Albuquerque for the Wednesday 13 Performs Murderdolls concert. This was the main reason for my trip, though I extended it into a nice family visit instead of a two-day run for nothing but the show. I’m going to write a review of the concert, so I won’t go into details in this post. Let me just say it was worth the 4 hour flight and 3.5 hour drive. Meeting Wednesday 13 (and guitarist Roman Surman) was everything. I’ve been a fan of Murderdolls for 20 years, and I thought I might die. Haha! Wednesday could not have been nicer. I told him that he’d always been my favorite Murderdoll and he said “So give me a hug since I’m yours.” I melted. Oh, and he said it was obvious I wasn’t from New Mexico because of my accent.
Ok. I’ll stop. You can read the rest when I share my review.
Thursday was another lazy day. Rick smoked burgers for dinner and we watched TV. He and Jayne had to work on Friday, and I used that time to do an interview with Adam of EverFelt and bond with their cats.
Rick and I stayed up late, finishing season 3 of “Outer Banks.” When I got up Saturday morning, Jayne was at work and Rick had already found our first college football game of the day. Now, this may seem strange to y’all, but this was the thing I was most excited about, besides the concert. My brother and I haven’t been able to watch football together since he moved to Colorado. Our whole family are huge Alabama Crimson Tide fans, and this past weekend was a big game: Alabama played LSU. Jayne was bored, but Rick and I were happy, especially given that Alabama won.
And then it was Sunday and time for me to get on a plane and return to Alabama. I had two more days off work, which was lucky because I came home with the flu. Now I’m back in the swing of real life and I kind of hate it. Just counting the days until my next trip…
I still have 11 days before I fly to Colorado to visit my brother, but my mind has already abandoned the real world. I am so ready to escape my job for a week. Plus, while I’m out there, I get my birthday gift: we’re going to Albuquerque for the Wednesday 13 Performs Murderdolls tour – and my brother bought me the VIP experience, so I’m meeting Wednesday 13!!!!!! I’ve been a fan since I was 15, and I just know I’m going to make a fool of myself.
In other news, I had an appointment with a gastroenterologist last week. I had been having some abdominal discomfort, up to and including mild pain just below my breastbone and slightly to the right. The doctor said it was most likely a pre-ulcer or an ulcer. I was given a medicine to coat my stomach when I eat and another that is supposed to help control my stomach acid. I also had an ultrasound done. Well, the office has not called with the ultrasound results, but the medicines seem to be helping. The only pain I’ve had in the past few days has been at work. One of my coworkers said that suggests an ulcer, because I’m hurting only when I’m stressed. I guess we’ll see. If I don’t hurt at all in Colorado, then the problem is my place of work. Haha!
Just wanted to share another personal post, give y’all an update on things. In regard to the music side of the blog, I have two interviews coming up: hard rockers Sever Red and the industrial metal band Corvin’s Breed (who is opening for Psyclon Nine on their upcoming Infection Divinum Tour). These will both be written, as I don’t yet have the option to do video or phone interviews. I’m also continuing my weekly Bands You Should Know, so if there’s anyone I need to do a brief blurb about, tell me in the comments!
I hope this post finds all of you well! Oh, and if y’all wanted to see a half-assed shot of what was visible in Alabama during the annular eclipse…
I was in the parking lot at work with three other employees trying to catch that. The picture might not be great, but we were having a lot of fun! Lol.
I finally did it, y’all! I finally decided to start a music podcast. My sister-in-law has been encouraging me to do this for well over two years now: she says I’d be great at it because I’m so passionate about music.
I posted the idea to my Facebook page, and it was met with enthusiasm and several bands/artists looking to be interviewed. I fully intended to get the ball rolling before now, but technological issues impeded my progress. However, I am fairly certain I should have that sorted soon, and then I can begin scheduling video interviews.
Luckily, I had the chance recently to meet up with Maryland-based metal band Carbonstone and do an in-person interview. They played a show in Alabama and of course I went! As many of you know, I interviewed frontman Corey James for my blog earlier this year, and I reviewed their latest single, “Damaged Like You.”
With Carbonstone was Anoxia vocalist – and Corey’s wife – Chrystal James. She was gracious enough to agree to be interviewed as well!
Having already discussed music pretty thoroughly, I decided to have a little fun with Corey and Chrystal, and Carbonstone guitarist Neely Johns, for this interview. Since I titled my blog (and podcast) “Mostly Music,” we took on topics other than music, such as movies, dessert toppings, and places they would love to visit. But we naturally discussed a few music-related things, too.
The video is going live tonight on my new YouTube channel. For now, that’s the only place it will be. I added subtitles because both Chrystal and I had a couple of instances where we didn’t speak loudly enough, given that we were in a bar and there was a lot of background chatter. I will improve, though! I was just happy that my first in-person interview was with someone I had talked to before. It created a certain level of comfort, and I think that really comes through.
I would love it if y’all would check it out! Consider your viewing of it an early birthday gift. The video will be available at 5:30 p.m. CST.
I spent last week in Colorado. Trinidad, to be exact. I flew out to visit my brother and sister-in-law, and to enjoy five days far away from my job.
We didn’t plan things to do, we just did them. My brother smoked burgers and ribs because I love his cooking. We traveled highway 12 and ventured up to Simpson’s Rest, neither of which we’d managed during my previous trips due to the weather. He took me down to New Mexico, over the Raton Pass, through Carson National Forest, and into Eagle Nest. On my last full day, we drove to Rye and checked out Bishop Castle. I climbed to the second highest level there, but was too chicken to go to the top (especially since it was raining and the stairs and rails were wet).
Other than that, I had downtime with family. We ate good food and watched a lot of Netflix and Hulu. I convinced my brother to sit through the Fear Street films (he actually didn’t mind them), and I think I got him hooked on “Outer Banks.” Oh, and I was introduced to my newest furry nephew, Lucifer.
I could go on and on. However, I’ll just tell my story in pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, after all.
(The cats get uploaded as individual images. I’ll group each day trip into a gallery.)
LuciferLucifer again ❤️HanzoFishers Peak, taken from Simpson’s Rest The sis-in-lawMy brotherSimpson’s Rest North LakeCuchara Cuchara Cuchara Cruising Highway 12New MexicoBishop Castle Double rainbow coming down out of San Isabel National Forest Lake IsabelRandom things
I actually stumbled across this castle on Google first and thought it looked like something from a fairytale. As you know if you’ve been following this blog, I went through a two year obsession with Rammstein, which in turn led to a fascination with their homeland and its many interesting travel destinations. I’m sure this is not the last post you’ll see about something cool/breathtaking in Deutschland.
Mostly Music 