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.