I Promise This is The End

Or... "How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Part 5)" (Help me, Lord.)



Once we were somewhat unpacked and settled, we had our first visitors. Dan's mom and dad came to see us before school started for Elijah. We gave them plenty of "tours" (as well as we could, considering we still don't know where everything is!), and we saw a few "extra" sights. More on that later. The boy took his Nana and Pops fishing (imagine that) just about every day they were here.

There was plenty of museum visiting and lots of eating out. But, the most memorable event, by far, was our "road trip" to find the "Urquhart Family Grist Mill." To fully appreciate this part of the tale, you must know that my father-in-law is obsessed with family history. The man is a fountain of genealogy knowledge. Knowing that the "Urquharts" of long ago originally settled in NC, he is elated with the thought of visiting old cemeteries and historic family churches. Do I sound thrilled? (Don't worry...I get enough sermons. He tells me I should take all this family history and genealogy way more seriously than I do.) So off we went. In search of an old, run-down, barely-still-there grist mill that once belonged to an Urquhart. The drive was nice, and we ate BBQ by the Cape Fear River. The trouble was, we were going on some pretty weak directions from some folks who saw this place a few years ago. When (after HOURS driving around and looking) we called for clarification, none of them even gave similar directions or landmarks. I will defend myself at this point and say that I was the QUIETEST of the complainers in the car. Yes, eventually we found it. Dan and his dad went to this one last spot (kind of guessing at location), and they found it. Nana, myself, and Elijah were so tired. And hungry. And tired of looking and finding nothing... so, we sat in the car. And missed it. Oh well. At least I made Dan take the camera and get some proof that this place really exists. And my father-in-law? He was one happy family historian.