P.S.

We made it home safe and sound, but are not particularly happy about the 15 inches of snow on the ground. In typical Rochester-fashion, it has snowed at least a trace on 21 of the last 22 days. Yuck!

On a more pleasant note, we got an e-mail from Joe and Kitty (see Jan 7 post) and little Griffin Lee Christodoulou was born January 26. He weighed 6 lbs, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Boo Hoo

We are packing up and hitting the road this morning. Not easy. It's been the best vacation ever.

The high today will be in the 60's and there is a gentle ocean breeze.....okay, it's not so gentle, maybe 20 to 30 mph, but it is a warm breeze. There is a gentle breeze in Rochester, NY as well but it is only 25 degrees and that gentle breeze is called wind chill.

Thanks for following our vacation blog and all the comments and e-mails. We'll see everyone soon back in the Snowbelt!

Love, Jim and Mary

Back to Southport

It was another wonderful day in Paradise and so we decided to do a return trip to Southport. It is such a quaint, little town that we wanted to share it with Geoff and Mary.

And we got back to the beach just in time for another beautiful sunset.

Dinner Party

John invited us all over for dinner last night and give us a quick cooking lesson on how to make his seafood salad. It was delectable and a good time was had by all!

Shore Birds

The result of spending way too much time on the beach.

Fritters

We introduced Geoff and Mary to fritters this morning for breakfast. Fritters are pieces of fruit dipped in pan cake batter and deep fried. The are served with powder sugar and whipped cream. We figure that since they have fresh fruit, the must be good for us.

One of the Many Things We Will Miss About North Carolina

My Good Luck Charm!

Geoff and Mary Williams arrived from Rochester today. Geoff and Jim ran off to the golf course and Mary and I walked the beach. I guess Mary was a good luck charm because I found the very best sea shells of the trip today!

Rainy Day

One of the joys of being down here for a full month is to experience the many moods of the ocean. When we first got here, there were a couple of stormy days, complete with a tornado watch, and the the sea was explosive. We've also had many calm days where the ocean was like a huge pond, except for a little ripple wave at the shore line. During the calm weather, you can lay in bed at night and count the waves, one....................two....................three. Yesterday was stormy but there was no wind. There was no counting the waves because the crashing surf was constant. And we saw our first surfers. They were in wet suits (high temp was only 50) but were surfing all afternoon.

It rained on and off yesterday so we spent a quiet day going through the hundreds of photos taken since we left NY and we put together this slide show. Hope you enjoy it.

Another Unbelievable Sunset

We got home from Southport just in time to witness another unbelievable sunset! Even Tasha couldn't take her eyes off it.

Southport

We went south today, way south, to a tiny town called Southport that is located between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. It was worth the drive! It is located on the mouth of the Cape Fear River and is protected by barrier islands. From the town you can see a lighthouse on the island but we didn't have time to go explore there.

The town has lots of 100+ year old Victorian homes and much older live Oak trees. The Live Oak in the photo is estimated to be 800 years old.

We had a great lunch, did a little shopping and drove back to Emerald Isle.

New Bern

In the morning, we went to New Bern, a pretty little town about an hour away. New Bern was originally the capital of North Carolina and sits where the Trent and Neuse Rivers meet. More importantly (to Jim) its the birthplace of Pepsi (although when we had lunch, they only served Coke. YEA!) Supposedly, the first Pepsi was served at a corner drug store with soda fountain.



We left New Bern in time for Jim to go play golf and Tasha and I walked the beach. She is getting use to beach life. Today she walked at least 5 miles, and while she was tired, she kept pace and really seemed to enjoy it.

Blogging From the Bathroom

Got a very, very nasty stomach bug and spent more than my fair share of time in the bathroom. In fact, the last entry was really from Jim but he didn't want to bother me for a refresher course in how to log in.

I'm a lot better now and we've been out and about doing some cool stuff. I'll update the blog later, but for now just leave you with a dolphin photo. (okay, okay....you really have to squint to see them, but they looked very cool in person)

Chilly

We awoke to a sunny and warm, in the 60's, Tuesday morning. Got our morning walk on the beach in early because the weather forecast was for winter to return to N.C. The storm that has gripped most of the nation with freezing rains was heading our way. About noon the sky darken and the winds picked up temperature began to fall. I needed to check and see if we were still playing golf at 2:30. Well to make a long store short, we don't play if its windy and below 50. No golf today.

Boating

Today is supposed to be the last day in the 70's for a while so we headed out for a boat ride. It was incredible! We were unable to reach Bear Island, our intended designation, because of low tide so we just scooted around the sound a bit and even entered the ocean but didn't venture too far out.

Discovering Wilmington

Poor, poor Jim! He had to stay home at the beach and go play a little golf while we went exploring. We enjoyed our day exploring the River Walk at Wilmington, about an hour an a half south of us.

We visited many of the nice little shops along the waterfront and then walked through the town to check out the historical mansions. Jim missed out on a really great day!

Abandoned

Mary, her Uncle Ted and Kathy have abandoned me today. I don't blamed them its sunny and in the mid 70s. They went sightseeing; I guess I'll go play golf. Wish y'all (for you northerners its you all) were here.

Needing Essential Provisions

It is MLK weekend at the beach and we need some essential provisions.....Jim's new shades and Ted needed shorts! Got to be ready for all this 70 degree sunny weather!

Ted and Cathy Arrive

Ted and Cathy arrived from Maryland just in time to kick off their shoes and take a barefoot walk on the beach. They left Maryland this morning with temps below freezing to arrive at Emerald Isle with sweltering temps in the 70's. They are here for the weekend and the weather is only suppose to get better.

Another One

Another great morning. Sunny its about 60, (the projected high is 70) clear blue sky, and its only 9:30 AM. The Marines Camp Lejeune and Cherry Hill Airbase bases are providing us with an airshow and a concert of canon fire. Down here they call this the" Sounds of Freedom". The only problem is that sometimes the "Sounds of Freedom" interferes with the golf, you got to blame the bad shots on something. Such a small price to pay. Speaking of golf, shot 41, 5 pars, 3 bogeys, and a double. Holed a 50 yard chip shot for bogey, and made a 25 footer for double. Another great day, wish you were here.

Entering Emerald Isle

When we arrived on Emerald Isle almost two weeks ago, the sun was setting and the view from the bridge was incredible. I finally got a chance to photograph the sunset from the bridge. This photo really doesn't do it justice.

Besides shooting the sunset, I looked for shells while Jim played some golf. Maybe he'll blog a little later tonight about his golf game. I found some very cool miniture shells and photographed them below with a dime to show just how small they are.

Vibe vs Vette

Today we took the Vibe in for service, the check engine light had came on, and we thought it might be a good idea to have it look at. We dropped the car off at a GM dealership, and while we were there we looked around the show room, and guess what.... "Mary" fell in love with this brand new 2005 Corvette!!! I think with a little more encouragement from me, she might be willing to trade in the Vibe. Speaking of the Vibe its still in the shop, this might be a sign from above, (read trade in). Hopefully (not) the Vibe will be ready tomorrow. We enjoyed breakfast with our friend John who was good enough not only to buy breakfast, but then loaned us his truck. Later Mary and I went to the "Golfin Dolfin" to use the driving range, do some shopping, and look at some real-estate. Later Tasha and I took our daily walk on the beach, while Mary hunted sea shells. Life just does not get any better than this, wish you all were here!

Just Another Day at the Beach

According to the weather reports, winter is coming tomorrow. The high will only be in the 50's! So Mary spent the day trying to solve the sea shell mystery.

Our first day here, New Year's Eve, we walked the beach and collected awesome shells. Ever since then, the best we've found is chips and pieces of shells. According to the locals, the best time to look for shells is after a big storm and we had big storms all night last night. So Mary was out wading in the ocean both in low tide and high tide but didn't find any new sea shells for the collection. She did, however, photograph the seagulls who were the only other creatures crazy enough to be on the beach with 8 and 10 foot waves.