It was such a fun day, and we loved getting to just hang out in the water. The area was sectioned off by a plastic tube, so we would swim out and sit on it. The water was pretty shallow and the deepest it got was maybe seven feet at the roped off part. Tyler tried to teach me how to swim and breathe at the same time--I never quite got those strokes down... We also attempted some amazing flips over one another. I think we had one or two successful ones at the end.
We headed back for the shore to get some sun, and when it became too hot, headed back to the water. This time I put my sunglasses on so Tyler couldn't push my head under (I don't know when it started, but I hate putting my face in water--Tyler tries to help me get over this some times lol). We went out to the roped off portion and were just talking when a 60-something guy behind us said, "Nice glasses." We struck up a conversation and he turned out to be really nice. We told them we had gotten married earlier that year and he gave us some great marriage advice--he told Tyler that I was always right :) He said it had taken him 40 or so years to realize it, and along the way he thought he'd been right, but he realized those were just the ones his wife was willing to let him win. We laughed. He told Tyler it was not 50/50 but 80/20--and I'd decide which 20 he got. He was really funny.
We got to talking about where he and his wife were from and what had brought us to the South. After telling him we'd moved from Wyoming and Utah, he asked if we were mormons and we said yes. He told us he really respected us. At first he had thought Mormons were weird, but then realized after meeting some members that we are just regular people. He said he realized that he had given into the same thing that happens to him--he's Catholic and doesn't appreciate when people listen to rumors or make assumptions about his faith, and he realized he didn't want to do that about us. We also talked about how sad it is that some people are so quick to judge other religions, especially Islam. It was really nice to talk with him, and I really appreciated his views on accepting all people, regardless of their religion. It was such a random way to meet, but we really enjoyed talking to him. He and his wife welcomed us to Durham and then headed back to the beach.
Tyler and I spent our last little bit of time doing gymnastics on the rope/plastic barrier. We tried flips around it and standing up on it from a frog position and balancing as it sunk in the water. I'm sure every one else thought we were crazy, but we had a great time.
After about 2-3 hours, we'd had our fill of the water and beach. We're not really huge into the water (except boating), so we'd spent the perfect amount of time there. We got back to town, grabbed some ice cream, and still had the rest of the day to spend together. We love weekends!!
