On the second day of Christmas
20 December, 2020
On the beach in the cold and rain
It is a different year with a different kind of vacation. It is a vacation of refuge where we plan to stay away from others, fish, and walk on the beach. We won’t be alone the whole trip, but we’re not doing it like we have in the past. Laurie and I spent a LOT of time figuring out the best way to make this work and to keep everyone healthy.
We will be joined tonight and for most of the visit by Mary and Jeff, friends from Tennessee. They are retired and have had little contact with anyone outside of their home. Our daughter Heather will come for a couple of days as will my friend Brian, but they will be short term visitors. We decided on procedures we hope will mitigate the risk.
All six of us either were or will be tested right before coming. Jeff and Mary are low risk as they are retired and stay isolated at home. Heather works from home and has very little contact outside of her household. Brian works at a place with a VERY strict masking and distancing policy, lives alone, and usually works alone. Laurie is teaching via ZOOM from home. The highest risk in the bunch is me, and I’ve been especially careful and the university has a universal masking policy when inside. We are far from a reckless bunch.
We will be joined tonight and for most of the visit by Mary and Jeff, friends from Tennessee. They are retired and have had little contact with anyone outside of their home. Our daughter Heather will come for a couple of days as will my friend Brian, but they will be short term visitors. We decided on procedures we hope will mitigate the risk.
All six of us either were or will be tested right before coming. Jeff and Mary are low risk as they are retired and stay isolated at home. Heather works from home and has very little contact outside of her household. Brian works at a place with a VERY strict masking and distancing policy, lives alone, and usually works alone. Laurie is teaching via ZOOM from home. The highest risk in the bunch is me, and I’ve been especially careful and the university has a universal masking policy when inside. We are far from a reckless bunch.
Lots of space to spread out in our living room
We intend to do most of our socializing/eating outdoors and have included outdoor heaters in our kit to make this more tolerable. The house is set up so we are on the top floor, Jeff and Mary will be on the middle, Heather will be on the other end of the middle, and Brian will be on the ground floor. Everyone will have their own bedroom, own bathroom, and own entrance to the house. We selected this house for precisely this reason. We will mask where and when we think it necessary.
We put a LOT of thought and planning into this. We will be socializing with no one outside of our group, and will be distanced from those within our group. We plan on very few trips to the grocery, and zero plans for eating at any restaurants. We’ll cook our own food, walk on the beach, fish, and stay distant from anyone we encounter. The number of winter visitors here is minor and there aren’t that many locals to start with. Some people may not view this as a vacation, but considering the other options we think it’s great.
We put a LOT of thought and planning into this. We will be socializing with no one outside of our group, and will be distanced from those within our group. We plan on very few trips to the grocery, and zero plans for eating at any restaurants. We’ll cook our own food, walk on the beach, fish, and stay distant from anyone we encounter. The number of winter visitors here is minor and there aren’t that many locals to start with. Some people may not view this as a vacation, but considering the other options we think it’s great.
LOTS of decks outside. There's even a screen room if the weather is bad!
We arrived late yesterday in Salvo, NC and got everything moved into the house. It was no contact check in where the rental company texted us when the house was ready and we could move in. The house is keyless entry with a keypad so we didn’t have to go into an office to pick anything up and didn’t have to be in contact with anyone. We did wipedowns on all high touch surfaces before moving in, even though the rental company has a Covid sanitizing program in place.
The villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo butt up to each other and spread several miles up and down the banks. During summer, there are a few ice cream stands, small mom and pop restaurants, and small shops. There are several bait/fishing stores, some of which are open year round, but most things are closed. It has an economy based on visitors, but they’re different than the Myrtle Beach crowd, they’re more interested in visiting the beach for the beach.
We drove to Avon (around 15 miles south) to Food Lion to stock up on perishables like eggs, milk, and bread. We were greeted at the door by a Food Lion employee who gave us a freshly sanitized cart and warned us that masks were required to shop in the store and it was enforced. We found that mask compliance in the store was 100 percent. Plexiglass shields were in place at all the registers, and people were staying distant. We were quite impressed.
The villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo butt up to each other and spread several miles up and down the banks. During summer, there are a few ice cream stands, small mom and pop restaurants, and small shops. There are several bait/fishing stores, some of which are open year round, but most things are closed. It has an economy based on visitors, but they’re different than the Myrtle Beach crowd, they’re more interested in visiting the beach for the beach.
We drove to Avon (around 15 miles south) to Food Lion to stock up on perishables like eggs, milk, and bread. We were greeted at the door by a Food Lion employee who gave us a freshly sanitized cart and warned us that masks were required to shop in the store and it was enforced. We found that mask compliance in the store was 100 percent. Plexiglass shields were in place at all the registers, and people were staying distant. We were quite impressed.
Laurie the shuffleboard queen!
The woman who checked us out told us that the locals were very adamant about keeping the virus in check. She said they wanted to keep their numbers low and stay healthy and this was why things are going better here. For the record, our home county in Tennessee has a daily rate of over 150 cases/100k population. Dare county NC, where we are staying, has a rate of 22/100k, one seventh of the rate where we live. Say what you want but it is difficult to argue with results. Few here have it and they are intent on keeping it that way.
I didn’t do much today. I slept late. I lingered over reading the news while eating breakfast. I had a second cup of coffee. We needed a cutting board so I masked and gloved up and went solo to the Dollar General in Waves. Very few people were in the store and of those there, mask usage was 100 percent. They are serious about keeping this in check and I truly appreciate that.
After returning, we played shuffleboard on the table in our living room, then we walked on the beach in the rain. We ran across a man and his daughters on the beach, the only other people as far as we could see. We spoke briefly at a distance of about 20 feet and found they were from Sweden, currently living in Washington, DC. Like everyone, their normal Christmas routine was derailed and they chose Salvo for all the same reasons we did.
I didn’t do much today. I slept late. I lingered over reading the news while eating breakfast. I had a second cup of coffee. We needed a cutting board so I masked and gloved up and went solo to the Dollar General in Waves. Very few people were in the store and of those there, mask usage was 100 percent. They are serious about keeping this in check and I truly appreciate that.
After returning, we played shuffleboard on the table in our living room, then we walked on the beach in the rain. We ran across a man and his daughters on the beach, the only other people as far as we could see. We spoke briefly at a distance of about 20 feet and found they were from Sweden, currently living in Washington, DC. Like everyone, their normal Christmas routine was derailed and they chose Salvo for all the same reasons we did.
A mermaid's purse, common on the beach. These are actually an egg casing for skates.
Laurie and I are intently aware that this is not the same as mulled wine at a Christmas Market in the Austrian Alps. It’s not the same as skiing in Chamonix, France. It’s not the same as wine and cheese with locals in a tiny Swiss village or eating special Christmas foods and wines in Portugal. But we’re lucky to be here. We know it and are very thankful for it.
Goodnight everyone. We hope you are well and stay that way. Be sure and check out our "Ghost of Christmas past" below. Maybe I’ll make it to fishing tomorrow.
Goodnight everyone. We hope you are well and stay that way. Be sure and check out our "Ghost of Christmas past" below. Maybe I’ll make it to fishing tomorrow.