Nature Of The Beach

As promised, a daily account of our vacation. I am sure I have missed a few things, but I failed to journal once the weather got better. Enjoy!

Day One and Two
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Unlike most people, I do not take a summer vacation. Instead, I take 2 vacations every year, one in spring and one in fall. On May 4, 2007 me, my wife and our two dogs began a road trip to the Emerald Isle, NC. It is a long drive (20 hours) that encompasses 7 states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina). Why on earth did we, a) drive, b) take two dogs with us, and c) do this in May? Well to answer them in order:

a) Driving allows you to see a lot more of the US...especially the 2 lane highways near the coast. Also, the cost is much more to fly (we would need to rent a car once we landed) than to drive, even with gas and hotels incorporated in to the equation.

b) We take our dogs because they both are very much a part of the family. They do not respond to boarding very well and suffer from separation anxiety if at least one of us is not with them. Dogs are pack animals and their instinct is to remain with the pack...we are their pack. Besides, the beaches in NC are pet friendly as long as you clean up after them and keep them on a leash.

c) The beaches are far less crowded in May and usually the weather is cooperative.

We hit the road around 7:45 AM on Friday, May 4th. Work had taken its toll on me (my blog is proof of that) and the weather had been stormy every week. We were looking forward to leaving all this behind...at least for a week.

Our plan was to drive to Birmingham, AL (about 12 hours away with stops) and spend the night at Drury Inn. We have stayed there many times and have been pleased with them. They even allow pets! The drive is not a bad one...the biggest part is I-20 from Texas to Alabama. It was cloudy the entire trip, but it did not rain. Clouds are better than hot sun when driving.

We arrived in Birmingham around 7 PM and were met by my wifes friends, JoJo and Nancy, who are twins. We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (Nancy paid for dinner...she is so generous) and chatted until about 11:00 or so. After we took care of the dogs, we fell fast asleep.

We woke up to...rain. Sigh...this is getting old. We left the rain yet it appeared that it followed us to Birmingham.

We grabbed a bite to eat from the free breakfast bar that was offered (one of many nice perks at Drury Inn) and got packed and cleaned up. While I waited for my wife, I checked my e-mail (free high speed internet at Drury Inn) and after a quick scan of the news, I loaded up the van and we hit the road.

The trip to NC was a bit depressing. Rain plagued the last 3 hours of the drive (which seemed to drag on forever) which made driving difficult. We were on I-20 until Florence, SC where we picked up I-95 north. We stayed on I-95 for about 1.5 hours then we turned onto NC 24...a very long stretch of road that is alternates between two and four lanes. After we drove for a very long time, I pulled over to get gasoline at a BP station. Once we refueled the van, we continued on in the rain...a miserable wet drive. On a side note, gas prices were about the same all along our trip as they were in Dallas.

We finally pulled into the town of Emerald Isle around 10:00 PM local time. We were tired and ready to get off the road...but we still had to pick up the keys for the house we were renting. It was after business hours on a Saturday night, but we had made arrangements to pick up the keys at the police station across the street. Once we found the right building, we drove a few more miles into town and located the house. It was not on the beach, but it was very close. The only thing that separated us from the dunes was a narrow street (more of an alley) and a row of houses. We could walk to the beach in less than one minute.

The house was a duplex and the west (left) side of it was occupied...by pet owners if the large poodle staring out the windows was any indication. We quickly gave the place a quick inspection...much nicer than the shack we rented at Indian Rocks Beach, FL last year. Other than only having one bathroom. it was not bad at all. TV/DVD players in both bedrooms and in the living room and a kitchen with a built in table that would seat eight people. While it would be a cramped week, the place had four double beds, so theoretically the house slept eight. Right.

I unloaded the van while my wife set up the bed we would be sleeping in (to save money, we chose to bring our own linens) and took care of the dogs. Once all that was taken care of...it was time to sleep and dream.

Day Three (Sunday, day one at the beach)
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The rain had stopped but it was still very cloudy and the wind had picked up considerably. I checked The Weather Channel and the forecast was not looking good. A tropical storm was brewing just off the coast and things were looking dismal. There was little chance of an real damage but storm surge was a possibility, so we kept our eyes open. Local weather predicted rain every day with the exception of Friday. Joy.

After that bit of good news, I went out to survey the area and met the people in the other half of the house. They were from Tennessee and visit Emerald Isle every year. They were disappointed that the weather was not cooperating and hoped we brought good weather with us. I told him the weather that we left was not what he wanted to have at the coast. North Texas had been plagued by storms the previous month.

After a walk with my wife on the beach (the wind made it a bit strenuous but we survived) we came back and she started on lunch. While we planned on eating out some, we wanted to eat at least two meals a day at the beach house. While my wife was working on lunch (spaghetti), I fired up her laptop and tested the dial up that TWC offers for people who travel. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I gave up trying to dial up. On a whim, I turned on the wireless, hoping to borrow a connection to check e-mail (I normally do not do this...but I was desperate) and I was very surprised to see a live link. I launched the browser and came to a wireless access page for TWC. I was getting very excited and typed in my TWC user ID and PW. Nothing. I learned that TWC offers this wireless service for $10 a day to those who wish to pay for it. While that may be great for them...it sucked for us...we are TWC customers and we cannot even use the service when we travel.

Lunch was done and I was frustrated. We ate and decided to go for a drive. We killed a few hours driving into Morehead City and Beaufort, checking out things. Most of the restaurants appeared closed...mostly because this was the off season. That really did not bother me because the really good places stay open all year long for the locals to enjoy.

We stopped at Captain Bill's for dinner (A wasted $50 IMHO), Food Lion for some groceries, and then drove home. I flipped on the TV and checked the weather. The storm was slowly (VERY SLOWLY) moving south and the worst of it would miss us. We still were going to get rain and wind, but the forecast was looking better. My wife and I watched cable TV, something we do not do much of when we are at home. She was depressed about the weather wanted sun...all we had was wind and rain...the same type of weather we left in Texas. Since she was not in a great mood, she went to bed early and I watched The History Channel.

Day Four (Monday, day two at the beach)
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I woke up to another cold and dreary morning. It was not raining, but the wind and cold air was rather dismal. The highlight was a walk (a long, cold walk) that was punctuated with stinging sand being blown at us at 20-50 mph. The dogs fur was caked with it and it took a very long time to get it all out. The sky was gray and the storm was not moving fast enough for me or my wife. We came back and had sandwiches and chips for lunch (left overs for dinner) and watched even more TV ("IFL" and "24"). I had to admit that even I was getting stir crazy. There is only so much History Channel a person can watch before they need to do something else.

Day Five (Tuesday, day three at the beach)
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The cold had dissipated but the rain had returned. During my morning walk I noticed that Little Man was having trouble with the steps leading up to the beach house. There were only nine of them, but he just appeared to be having trouble making it up them. Actually this is not very surprising. Little Man is 13 years old (around 75-80 or so in human years) and up until recently, he has been a very spry beast. Lately however, he has been slowing down. He does not appear to enjoy his walks at all and tends to walk behind me. Yes, my buddy is getting old.

The rain cleared up by noon so my wife and I decided to go to the NC aquarium after lunch. We decided on sandwiches for lunch but we had other plans to go out for dinner. I was in the mood for an NC tradition, Bojangles. It has been 6 long years since I have eaten there. Similar to Popeye's, only much better.

We stopped off at Food Lion again to pick up a few more things (including ice cream for dessert) and then home. We watched our normal Tuesday TV shows (Law and Order - SVU and Law and Order - CI) before going to bed. Since we were on the east coast, the shows came on one hour later than we were used to so we both were tired by the time they were over.

Day Six (Wednesday, day four at the beach)
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The weather was much better Wednesday. The sun was shining and the walks along the beach were much more enjoyable. We had been able to average about 3 miles of beach walking per day, despite the poor weather. While it may not sound like much, when you have to fight the wind the walks are a bit more strenuous. Since it was the off season, the beaches were not crowded and we did not have to worry about the dogs bothering anyone.

After a morning walk and a check of the weather, my wife cooked lunch which consisted of chicken, pasta, and green peas. We had plans to go to Fort Macon State Park in the afternoon and get some pictures while we were there. We had a really good time and even walked along the beach there. There were more people there than where we were staying, but it was not crowded. Pictures will be posted a bit later on my Picasa web page when I can carve out some time.

Earlier in the week, we met a couple on the beach (dog owners as well) who told us that "The Crab Shack" was a pretty good place to eat so we planned on eating dinner there. They were not wrong. While dinner still cost $50 (with tip) it was very good and fresh. I plan on marking this down as a place to return to. After a great dinner we drove home to watch the season finale of "Jericho". and took a late night walk on the beach. My wife said it was spooky, but I liked it. Very peaceful.

Day Seven (Thursday, day five at the beach)
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By the time Thursday rolled around, my wife was in much better spirits. It was a lazy day for us but at least we were not stuck inside like we were the first few days.

We ate leftovers for lunch after a long but refreshing walk on the beach. We got cleaned up and spent the afternoon in Beaufort wandering in a few of the open shops and walking along the waterfront. After that got boring we noticed Clausen's was open, so we had burgers for dinner. While known for great seafood, Clausen's has a pretty good burger. It is not cheap, but it is good.

After a hearty burger for dinner we drove back to the beach house (my wife joked that maybe we should have pushed the van back to burn calories) and took another long walk. We walked a couple of miles with the dogs and then walked back. We did not have anything that we wanted to watch on TV so we just turned in early, enjoying the sound of the the surf in distance. Sleep was peaceful.

Day Eight (Friday, day six at the beach)
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Typical morning walk, breakfast and lunch (sandwiches).

Friday was the day we had slated to drive over to Harker's Island and take a water taxi/ferry to Cape Lookout to see the lighthouse. I had only been on a ferry a couple of times in the past so I was a bit tentative about getting on a small boat with 16 other people for a 15-20 minute ride to an island, but I went anyway. While it was not as bad as I thought it would be, the ride was "hard" and was not very comfortable, but it was fun, nonetheless. We arranged with the ferry/water taxi to pick us up at 4:15 PM. That gave us two hours to wander the island and see the lighthouse. The lighthouse was not open to the public at this time so we were unable to go inside, but I did get a few pics of the outside.

We wandered the windward side of the island and one of the first things I saw when we topped the dune was a blanket of Styrofoam on the dunes. Later on we heard about a boat that lost some packing material and it had washed up on the shore. While it did detract from the overall beauty of the isolated beach, you still noticed how clean the beach was.

After our two hours were up, we caught our water taxi/ferry back to Harker's Island and then made the 40 minute drive back to the beach house. Before we made it all the way back, my wife decided to pull over to a brightly colored roadside "beach food" joint called "The Shark Shack". While it looked fun, I was not so sure that it would be worth our time, but my fears were unwarranted. The menu had what i was looking for, Grouper sandwiches and the prices were very reasonable. Our food was served up hot and very quickly and the portions were huge. I would have had enough food with my order to have a snack later if I had not been hungry enough to eat it all in one sitting. I made a note to come back to this place again the next time were were in town.

We left "The Shark Shack" and made it back to the beach house before it got too late. Since the dogs needed a walk (well we all did), we headed down to the beach for the last evening beach walk we would be able to take this year. We walked slow, savoring the sounds and the smell of the surf...we were going to miss it. By this time my wife was asking me if there was a way we could stay a few more days. While I would have loved to, I could not afford to be off work any more and our budget for travel was near its limit.

After watching Law and Order, my wife and I conked out and slept like babies.

The Ride Home
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We woke up on Saturday and took our last beach walk. We found two whelk shells (very good condition) on that walk and picked them up. In all our years of going to the beach (20 or so) we have never found whelk shells in this good of condition. Most of them are broken but these were in great shape. Add those to the NEAR PERFECT starfish we found and we had a nice trove of goodies to take back home.

After returning and cleaning up, we packed our bags and loaded everything into the van. We had a long drive ahead of us and I wanted to get started as soon as possible. Before we could leave the island, we needed to drop off the keys to the rental agency and check out. The process was quick and we were on the road in record time.

Since we were retracing the route we took to get to the beach (and it was not raining), I could see the houses an d the scenery that I missed driving at night in the rain. Small town coastal NC is quite charming...a great place to vacation.

We made it into Birmingham a lot later (7:30 PM) than I hoped but still within reason. We had not eaten yet and my wife's two friends again greeted us at the hotel. I really was not trying to be anti-social but I did not want to be out, so I just let my wife have a "girls night out" without me. I stayed back and caught up on a weeks worth of personal e-mail.

About 9:00 PM or so, my wife came back to the hotel room with a fantastic hamburger from a local steak house. It was a tad overcooked for my taste, but it was very good otherwise. I gobbled it down and browsed web pages until my wife returned. When she was done chatting with her friends and they had left, my wife and I walked the dogs and then FINALLY got to bed. I was exhausted.

We woke up at 6:30 AM on Sunday. I took Little Man for a long walk (he was not really into it but he humored me nonetheless) and after I returned, I grabbed a bite to eat at the breakfast bar while my wife walked The Golden. After we both cleaned up I loaded the up van and we hit the road. This leg of the journey was easier, but we did not leave the hotel until 9:30 AM so the best we could hope for was a 7:30 PM arrival home. While the trip was generally easier, a storm in Atlanta slowed us down. Once we got into Texas, we hit more slow/stopped traffic due to construction but it moved along. We arrived back in the Dallas area at 8:30 PM, 30 minutes later than I expected. We could have made it quicker had the weather, traffic and a few extra stops for food not slowed us down a bit. I really didn't mind all that much. I realize that the close to home I get the antsier I become. One of my many faults.

We pulled in and I began unloading the van while my wife fed the dogs. The lawn was high, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I still will not be able to mow it until at least Thursday, but it is going to take a while. I doubt I will get both lawns done in one night.