Swapping the Mouse for the Arctic Ocean

Living in Florida when the kids were little, our vacations consisted of heading to Orlando to spend a few days with the mouse—fun for the kids, but for the adults, not so much. Between the long lines, overpriced food, and sweltering heat, it was exhausting. We rarely traveled out of state, and when we did, it was just to visit family on Long Island, New York. I wanted to be adventurous. I wanted a vacation of a lifetime. 

I was discussing this with my sister and we both started searching for trips we could take together. A few summers before, our parents had rented these huge houses on the beach at Topsail, North Carolina for our grandparents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary. The kids loved it and we decided that we wanted to replicate that magic.

We decided that we would rent a house in April during Spring Break. We found a house and it was perfect, it had 3 bedrooms, a large kitchen stocked with everything we needed to cook, a huge deck in the back and the best part is it was right on the beach.

Wow it was only $700 for the week, it was a steal! My sister and I couldn’t believe it, especially since my parents had paid close to $6000 for those 2 houses. We booked the house and told the kids. We were so excited, this was actually our first “family” trip together without any older adults making the arrangements.

We needed two vehicles for our 13 hour drive. The plan was my sister would follow my husband and me, she had this fear of getting lost. When departure day arrived, we packed up the minivan and SUV with swimsuits, shorts, and plenty of sunscreen. The drive was quite entertaining due to the sound of her constantly stepping on the gas trying to keep up with us. You would constantly hear the engine whining like a toy car, it got to the point when we didn’t have to look in the mirror to see if she was still behind us.

We finally arrived at the house right before sunset and it was everything like we imagined, the rooms were great, the deck was bigger than we imagined, the kitchen was perfect for cooking and the weather was beautiful for swimming. We went exploring around the outside of the  house and found a closet packed with all kinds of beach “toys” and the best part was the outside shower, no sand in the house! 

We unpacked and told the kids we would go swimming the next day, since it was getting dark. 

The next day, my husband and I woke up first. He brewed some coffee as we marveled at the glistening water, the shining sun, and the singing birds. Floor-to-ceiling glass sliders opened out onto the deck. My husband slid them open to enjoy the fresh morning air before the chaos of swimsuits and sandcastles—and instantly slammed them shut.

It was freezing outside!

How could it possibly be cold? It was scorching back in Florida, it was Spring Break, and we were supposed to be having a warm beach getaway.

My husband turned on the local news to find that the forecast predicted the upper 60s all week. For Floridians, that is practically polar weather. Yesterday's warmth had been a cruel fluke; we had been utterly deceived.

Just then, my sister woke up. I was still too stunned to speak, worrying about how we were going to break the news to the kids. My husband, who always loved playing pranks on my sister, saw his moment. He handed her a fresh cup of coffee and suggested she step outside to enjoy the morning air. Suspecting nothing—though by then she really should have known better—she took the cup, stepped out onto the deck, and in a flash, my husband shut and locked the door. Wearing only a t-shirt and shorts, she stood outside screaming to be let back in. It was undeniably mean, but entirely hilarious.

With that the kids all come running in with their swimsuits on, ready for their day on the beach. How do I break their hearts, so I leave it to my husband to be the bearer of the bad news. The kids went outside and in between their shivers tell us, its not too cold and they want to go in the water. We redirected them, promising to go explore local tourist traps instead and hoping the weather would magically warm up tomorrow—which, of course, it never did. 

For the next few days, it was getting harder to keep them away from the water, we allowed them to play on the beach and make sand castles but they were determined to get into the water. After the relentless begging, we decided to let them stick their feet in. They immediately swore the water was warm—though stepping into it felt like plunging your feet straight into the Arctic Ocean. We kept telling them not to go too far in and before we knew it, they were swimming, telling us it’s warm, that we should come in.

We let them swim, these kids are weirdos but they were having the time of their lives. 

Eventually, they get out of the water and I notice that their legs are purple. Panicking, I ordered them inside, convinced they had early-stage frostbite. We frantically wrapped them in warm towels while they sat there laughing, talking about how amazing the trip was. Meanwhile, my sister and I were practically in tears, wondering if we had permanently damaged our kids and questioning whose utterly stupid idea this vacation really was. 

Looking back, that spring break turned out to be one of a kind. It definitely wasn't the warm beach trip we planned on, and our poor kids probably lost a layer of skin to the freezing water, but we all laugh about it now. We survived our first big road trip without the older folks, and even though we spent half the week freezing on a deck in Topsail, we wouldn't trade those crazy memories for anything. 

-Jackie