{ The Old Gray House ~ aka The Shell Shop 2014 }

Hello everybody!!  Christina has been nagging the crud-muffins out of me to get this post shared.....she wants to 'move on' to fun fall things, like carving pumpkins and costume parties!  She keeps leaving me little notes stuck here and there around the dorm that count down the days until Halloween.....goodness, that is SO Christina!  Soooo.....I am excited to finally be sharing about our visit to The Old Gray House a couple months ago.  We very much enjoy spending time with and talking with Ms. Mary Parr.  She and her husband own and run The Old Gray House.  Ms. Mary runs the gift shop inside and Mr. Dewey does all the gardening and handles the shells and cool rocks that he sells in the shacks outside.  They have been doing this together since 1988!  Dewey Parr is a grandson of the Gray family and he told us that the Gray family and their descendants have been living on Hatteras Island since the early 1600's!!  Wow!

Now, on with our visit.....as you more than likely read in the last post, we had to stop TWICE to let Christina have her photo taken with her head sticking thru those 'head in a hole' thingies.  I was really getting impatient with her but was really trying to have as much sisterly love as I could muster, even though I could have cared less about those silly painted boards.  So, I was super glad when she agreed to stop after the second one and go to The Old Gray House!  I could not wait!!!!  Here we are upon arrival!  I love this old boat they have out in front.....it's the perfect place for a photo-op!

We decided to go exploring out back before heading into the shop.  This year they added this really cool replica of the Cape Hatteras Light.  Goof-ball Christina suggested a game of "try and keep up with the light beam" which she convinced me to do with her.  It was fun except that I kept tripping on the shells cause my sandals kept falling off my feet!  Ugh!  I got so frustrated cause it let Christina win every single time!  Plus, those pointy things on the shells were totally poking the underside of my foot and it really hurt!  Christina didn't seem to notice my whining though.....she was too giddy, reveling in her multiple victories! 

After putting my sandals back on for what seemed like the 95th time, I looked up and Christina was gone...she literally vanished in a matter of seconds.  I called her name and there was no answer.....but trust me, I didn't get worried.  I figured she was up to something and muttered my thoughts out loud knowing full well she would hear them.  Within seconds, I heard her giggling and she jumped out from behind the lighthouse yelling; "Scared you, scared you......I bet you peed your pantaloons!!"  She didn't scare me of course and I didn't pee myself of course.....but I let her think she did cause that's was sisters do, right?  ;)  And then I had the delayed thought; pantaloons???  Okay now, THAT was totally random - even for my cray-cray sister, Christina!

Next I headed over to this really pretty bird bath.  As I got up close, I was mesmerized by the water.  I loved the way it was soooooo still that you could see yourself reflected in it perfectly.  It was so quiet and peaceful.......for thirty seconds that is, until I heard Christina yelling wildly; "Wheeee!!  Whoop, Whoop, Wheeeeeee!!!"

 I looked behind me and there she was, up in the trees swinging on these beautiful glass balls!  She totally freaked me out!  "Christina, honest-to-Pete, be careful!!!"  I should have known her reply would be that she was fine and that I should come and join her.  Yep, you guessed it, that was exactly what she said, word for word!  Boy, do I know my sister.  "No thanks, sissy!  I'm not crazy enough to get that high up in the air without some sort of safety harness!  Trust me girl, you got all the crazy genes in the family!"  I teased back.

Christina begged and begged me to join her but to no avail.  I mean it, seriously I did get ALL the rational, level-headed genes and there was no way I was climbing a tree and swinging from a glass ball!  Nope, not gonna happen!  She was so lost in her fun that she stayed up there forever.  Finally, I figured a way to get her down.....I challenged her to climb the gnarly old log I climbed last summer (you can see me here) and that got her down lickety-split!  :) 

Christina is much more nimble than I am and she scurried right up the log without even a huff or a puff!  She made it look so dang easy!  Sometimes I wish I was more like my little sis! 

The final stop had to be in front of the shack with all the buoys hanging around!  This is the second year in a row for me to have a photo standing in front of the buoys.  I love all the cool colors, shapes and textures!  Oh buoy, it was fun!  (Hee hee, did you get that????)

As we left to head into the shop and visit with Ms. Mary, I was surprised that Christina hadn't tried to scurry up the rope of buoys hanging right beside me!  You can be sure that I kept that thought completely to myself, lol!  She certainly didn't need me giving her any ideas as she has enough of her own!

So, in closing, if you ever drive down from Kitty Hawk or Nags Head to see the beautiful Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, right before you get to the entrance to the Light, be sure to look for the road on the left, opposite Conner's Grocery store.  You'll see a sign to the "Shell Shop"!  Be sure to stop by to say "hello" to Mary & Dewey Parr......you'll be thankful you did!

  18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Christina's outfit is the Easy Breezy outfit 2013 by American Girl® Doll

Cindy's sundress & sandals are from GOTY Kailey's 'Meet' outfit, 2004 by American Girl®

Cindy's knit cover-up was purchased from a consignor who makes 18" doll clothes and sells them at The Old Gray House.