We Are Family

Summer is in full bloom and tourists are ever so prevalent on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But isn’t that really what summer is all about ….. Family Vacations, Family Reunions and each of us in some form a traveling tourist?

I remember as a child, growing up in Florida, our annual summer family outings back to Georgia to visit my mothers’ parents and all of my relatives in Athens, Ga or off to Lake Jackson, Ga. spending time with my Dad’s side of the family. The traditional picnic lunch was eaten in one of the many roadside parks while traveling. When not traveling to Georgia many weeks were spent entertaining relatives at the beach. As time went on and I got older, my summer days with family were shared with trips to the east coast surfing with friends. In a lot of respects my east coast travel buddies became my “second family.” Family can be defined in many ways in this day and time but without a doubt it remains an important and integral part of each of our lives.

While traveling recently to the North Carolina island of Ocracoke, I came across a local surf shop with a display of surfboards. In an odd sort of way, with the different sizes, shapes and appearances, it was if this collection of surfboards were representative of a family. Everyone lined up properly for that once a year vacation portrait. I look at it and I hear the old tune by Sister Sledge … We Are Family. “We Are family, I got all my sisters and me, We are Family, Get up everybody and sing!”
Enjoy!!!