Does my Blackberry work in North Carolina?

Last night I booked my hotel for my summer vacation. It's done. I'm going. All with 2 1/2 weeks to spare before my vacation time actually arrived. Ok, so I cut it close. It's been an expensive month, however, with the move and the car and the Botox injections, so I just didn't want to commit to anything that would have me sitting on the beach, sure, but eating Pop Tarts because I couldn't afford food.

So now I really don't know what to do with myself. I haven't taken a vacation, a REAL vacation, since 2002. Sorry, but I can't bring myself to count trips home or trips to others' family homes or trips to locales for family get-togethers as vacations. Perhaps that makes me heartless but I'll take the heat. A vacation means no obligations and an agenda only if by choice because it helps you sleep at night.

Even extensive time off.. again, since 2002 probably. I've just always had trouble with the notion of taking time off for the sake of taking time off. If I didn't have plans, if I wasn't going anywhere, what was the point? Of course, I'm completely hypocritical about this, as I'm a huge advocate of it with my own staff, but for them, not for me. Problem is, especially as the years have passed, digging out from time off almost makes taking the time not worth it. I'm easily overwhelmed so, when faced with an overflowing Inbox and voicemail box, I become stressed out and irritable. I don't like being stressed out and irritable. So, yeah, just avoiding taking time is usually a better option for me. Stupid, I'm aware.

So my guy and I will be trudging down to Wilmington, NC to hang out at Wrightsville Beach and take in the Cape Fear coastline. Sadly, we won't be staying on the beach, but we'll be within spitting distance (well, car spitting distance) and at a decent split between downtown and the beach area itself. 4 nights bookended by weekends for planning and recovery. It's almost perfect, really. Of course, since I plan to spend the majority of these four days in a bathing suit, I wish I'd been a bit more diet conscious than I've been as of late, but what can you do.

So now, the real question.. to bring the Blackberry or ditch it. I'm sure this seems an absurd question to you, one with an obvious answer, that being DITCH THE STUPID THING. But, you know me (or maybe you don't), I hate to be "irresponsible" and let people down. My boss brought hers on her Alaskan cruise last year, only to realize it didn't work on the open sea. (Anyone else working a vision of Captain Ahab with a Sidekick right now?) And I know for a fact she brought it with her to the airport as she left for her cruise to Cozumel this year. So, I'm just unclear on the expectation. I could always ask, but then I'll be given the polite answer "Don't be silly!" when inside they're really saying "Why do you think we pay you the medium bucks?!? BRING IT AND CHECK IT!"

I really am going to try not to bring it. They have my personal cell, and I know for a fact they know how to use it even when the calendar says I'm on vacation. I just hope hope hope that I can forget about what's piling up and truly let go for a few days.