Daria and I had a quick two-night pitstop in Raleigh and stayed over with Daria’s sister, brother-in-law Josh, and their sextet of kiddos. In total: Jace, Josh, Kate, Carter, Hudson, Mollie, Brooks, and Elliot – Team Reed (5 of 8 pictured below). The youngest, Elliot, is 4 and there are four boys, and so there’s always just the lightest pitter-patter of elephant feet. Kate’s leading the way into high school this year – which is just another reminder of how fast time does indeed fly.

I celebrated a birthday with the Team on this stop-over. I’m still adjusting to life after 30; I’ll keep you posted. As Kate explained, one of the perks of Team Reed is someone is always having a birthday and so there’s always cake. More astute philosophy has never been spoken.

When we went to the local market to load up on items for dinner, I turned the corner and stumbled upon a fella selling fresh crawfish, crawdads, crayfish… I try to never miss an opportunity to eat mudbugs. How fresh were they? Fresh enough to dance on the table for us.

They have a taste that’s somewhere between lobster and crab with a lot more work. We did a simple Old Bay, lime, and habanero boil and they came out very nice. Those, along with the burgers, grilled corn, grilled okra, tater tots, figs, blackberries, and TWO birthday cakes, made it quite a meal – shared with the very best company.

Today, we pack it up and head out on the second leg to Atlanta.