We’ve returned from the South with a spring in the step and a twang on the tongue. Four days on the coast of North Carolina and two days in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. 
We spent quality time with Steve’s family in North Carolina and played in the sand. I taught Jonah about body boarding on the tasty waves and dug holes with Ian.
In Virgina, we stayed at a Parks Department lodge in the woods. I have a huge weakness for mountain lodges and Parks Department buildings. I love their rustic design with wood paneling and stone. I even love the type font that they use on signs. There’s always the hint of a 1930s WPA project. We hiked the woods, ate in a dining room over looking a lake, and spend three hours at a train museum in a nearby city.
For most of the week, we were off the grid. There was TV at my in-laws’ place, but no internet access. In Virginia, there was no TV or even cell phone access. Before the trip, we seriously worried about our ability to be without electronic gadgetry. During a typical week, I spend at least eight hours a day on the computer. If I’m shopping at the mall and I pass an Apple store, I will stop in to check my e-mail and monitor the blog comments. The computer and TV are refuges for Ian who is rather hyper and easily overwhelmed. Could we hack it?
We hacked just fine. OK, I did slip off to a public library at the beach to cull the e-mail herd, but that was just once at the beginning of the week. We played Chinese checkers and Lincoln logs at the game room at the lodge. Jonah and Steve read books on the porch. Ian had his trains to keep him happy during his down time. I polished off two books leaning on a pile of pillows in the room. It was such a good break from the bad habits and time wasters that usually suck up our lives that we’re determined to do this more often. There must be more Connect Four and Vonnegut novels in the future.
Apt. 11d 
I can’t believe you went from the Outer Banks to the Blue Ridge Mountains. How long a drive was that? It’s 2+ hours to the Triangle from Wilmington, then 3-4 hours to Asheville from there. (I used to live in Durham and Raleigh.)
We were somewhat off the grid on our vacation, but not totally. We had a laptop with us and plenty of wifi access.
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We went off grid in Door County, Wisconsin this year, and it was very very good for me. Like you I emerged with a desire to break away from all the gadgetry more often. (Or at least shut the computer off after dinner.)
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We went down to Yerevan for a week, where we were semi-gridded, because we suddenly discovered a bunch of Russians in our grid last weekend. The kids mostly liked it, but mom and dad are just a little concerned.
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Wow. Doug. Are you blogging about your family’s experiences? Is this leading to any writing gigs?
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Blogging a fair amount at Fistful of Euros. Best effort so far is “Questions for Radio Yerevan”. The better half heads the regional office of a German foundation, so she’s been up to her eyeballs in everything, so I’ve had kid duty which naturally limits blogging time.
I’ll have to see about writing gigs. Oddly enough, I have two corporate gigs that should keep me in euros but won’t make me famous. And I don’t really have a desire to go further afield for things that might make me famous but might also have to be posthumously published. But check in at Fistful from time to time; I can write there just for fun.
Julie’s been super, though she says she’ll have to re-write part of her book. She apologized for things going pear-shaped right after we moved to town, which I thought was really sweet.
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