Wednesday, October 8 - Day 21

Pamlico Sound to Nags Head

It's a little after 5am, dark, and I am sitting at a table on our balcony. The sky is cloudless and it's about 70F. The wind is high and the surf is a continuous roar. The moon is just coming into the earth's shadow, beginning the total eclipse. It is supposed to be a blood moon. (Later) I watched the moon for about half hour, slow eclipse, and decided to go back to bed. Got up about 6:30 and it was full eclipse and a blood moon. Lisa got up to see it also. I don't know if she got a photo but since she has photographed everything else, the odds are good that she did.  (She did not.)

 

After she beach combed this morning, we left early for Cedar Island whence one catches the ferry to Ocracoke Island. Only $15 for a 2 ½ hour ferry ride in a long crescent to the Island. Recall the unfriendly Welcome Lady at the Visitor Center. When we inquired about the ferry 3 days ago, she said we did not need a reservation (the literature said reservations were necessary). We believed her. We arrived at the ferry terminal at Cedar Island an hour and a half before the 10:30 departure and were the second in line. “No reservation? Well the ferry is full. Next one is at 1pm. But we might have some cancellations.” Lisa talked me out of driving back to the Visitors' Center. It's a long story but Lisa, being Lisa, made friends with the First Mate (female) of the ferry. She guaranteed we would get onboard. There was a long line of those without reservations and some absolutely huge trucks and a parking lot full of cars with reservations but we were the second to last one on board, and the last vehicle off the ferry in Ocracoke. Then we drove the 12 miles to the ferry to Hatteras, long line, big trucks and we were the last vehicle allowed on board. Unreal luck. Gotta get a lottery ticket!

 

Enough of the ferry dust. We stopped at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and climbed its 284 steps (plus the 11 leading up to the entrance. I want this on the record.) It is the tallest brick ….house (that's lighthouse) in the world. Built in 1870 it stood 1500 feet from the shore. By 1990 it was only 80 ft from the shore so they moved it back another 1500 feet to where is stands today. They actually moved this brick....house that far without demolishing it. It really is a beautiful structure. 

We had some more seafood for dinner (so what's new!) and found our hotel, 7^th floor, oceanside, balcony, waves pounding (so what's new!) Peel me a grape!

UPDATE: Photos for Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4 are posted on their page.

Photos: from sunrise to moonrise 1-2 sunrise; 3 - crammed onto ferry to Ocracoke; 4-7 - Hatteras Light; 8-9 - view from top of lighthouse; 10 - effects of the sunset - I like to call it cotton candy sky with the light pink and blue; 11-12 - moonrise; 13 - moon reflecting on the water 

 

Tuesday, October 7 - Day 20

Lazing Around AB and a Dining Experience

What a great day! We have had a real laid back day. Actually up at dawn to watch the sunrise over the ocean. Lisa took some sunrise photos from the beach. We had a big breakfast at a corner diner and then went shopping for shorts for me and armloads of souvenirs for Lisa. Back to the hotel for beach time and nap time. We are in the center of a bunch of US Navy and Marine installations. Close off shore for most of the day was a warship with lots of activity around it. It looked like one of the Marine small carriers that have the Harrier jump jets. There were a lot of helicopter landings and I am pretty sure several Osprey landings, very loud even at a couple miles.

For several months I have watched the PBS show, Chef and The Farmer. Not your usual recipe filled cooking show but a tale of a wife, chef and mother of twins, and her restauranteur husband who start a sophisticated restaurant, named Chef and The Farmer, in a very rural part of NC. It's about the struggles of family vs work, sophisticated food vs rural population. It was not too far from our stop in AB so we went there tonight and had a very fine meal. We had a dozen oysters for starters at the Boiler Room. Then at Chef and the Farmer we split a plate of peach curried pork belly skewers, Lisa's entree was tomato pie and mine was Cajun shrimp and grits and Lisa's dessert was homemade marshmallow ice cream with hot fudge and mine was upside down apple cake with caramel ice cream. Wonderful food. Here is their website: http://chefandthefarmer.com/

Tomorrow we are off to Pamlico Sound barrier islands.

Photos: 1 - sunrise; 2 - motel; 3 - view from our room; 4 - motel property; 5 & 6 -view of motel from pier;  7 - Dave at the beach; 8 - standing in calf deep water at low tide looking toward pier; 9 - another Caswell sign in Kinston, NC; 10 - Chef and the Farmer restaurant; 11 - Dave's Cajun shrimp and grits; 12 - Lisa's tomato pie

Monday, October 6 - Day 19

Atlantic Beach, NC, barrier island off Morehead City, NC

What a great day! Little did we know that we would ever return to MC. Lisa and I and my son, David, went on a true scuba diving adventure with Olympus Dive Center out of MC years ago, in the 90's I think. We went 26 miles off shore into the Atlantic and dived on a German U boat which had been sunk by the Coast Guard in WWII. It was in 120 ft of water and was a life memory. Back to the present.

After Lisa had her farewell beach comb this morning, we drove north on highway 17 around Wilmington, then Camp LeJeune, to MC. We stopped as always in the first Visitors Center for info. Ironically the most dour person we have met on our travels was the Visitor Center info lady. Nary a smile or greeting, frowning monosyllabic answers with no follow up info, not even the offer of a map. Hates yankees, I guess.

We found a good deal at a beachside hotel in Atlantic Beach called Seahawk Inn and Villas. We have spent a couple hours on the beach and in the water already today. Lisa tried hard to get an action photo of the birds diving into the surf for fish. Speaking of that, we need to hunt up a good fish dinner for tonight. Larry, note: I found more peach brandy and even peach whiskey. I am seated at a table, looking out over our second floor balcony, about 100 feet from the pounding surf. It is a very bright, sunny, 72 degree day.

A few hours later now. We had a swim in the motel pool, quite cold, compared to the ocean. Found a nice place to eat on the island, Channel Marker. We ate on the outdoor deck and could see a couple dolphins cavorting in the inlet. I had a very rich shrimp and grits and Lisa had shrimp mac and cheese. A good time was had by all.

Photos: 1 - 2 Dave practicing karate; 3 - Dave practicing Tai Chi; 4 - birds; 5 - pelican splash getting dinner; 6 - view from hotel room - Seahawk Inn; 7 - saw this in downtown Atlantic Beach; 8 - almost a full moon; 9 - Dave's shrimp and grits; 10 - Lisa's shrimp mac and cheese

Sunday and Monday, October 5 and 6 - Days 18 and 19

Day 18 Mon Oct 6 Myrtle Beach, NC

What a great day! Can you hear the waves breaking on the beach? I can!!! It's actually day 19 that I am writing this. 8 am, sitting at a desk in front of a picture window in our 5^th floor, oceanside room, watching Lisa walking along the beach. She really does not want to leave. We had a great day yesterday. Decided to take a bus tour of Charleston, SC, and were glad we did rather than leaving outright. I would not care to come back to Savannah but I would to Charleston. Maybe it was just the tour guide but the city seems to have so much greater part in US history and the architecture is more pleasing (if you like that sort of thing, marvelous old houses, pre revolutionary war some of them). S city tourist area is like every other city's tourist area, souvenir shop, tavern, restaurant, repeat ad nauseum (in NOLA and Memphis throw a strip club in between). I did not see that in C. Wonderful walkways along the waterfront and history around every corner. After the tour, we decided to head to Myrtle Beach just because so many of our friends have gone there and you hear a lot about it. It's just like Panama City Beach along the ocean front road. The ocean is screened by enormous high rise hotels. It is definitely the low season here. Many of the hotels beckon travelers with cheap rates. We even saw one with “ocean view $39, side view $29.” I guess bedbugs were free. We are part of a hotel chain club so stopped at an Econolodge and got our ocean view room for $62. Our best rate so far. Spent some time on the beach and frolicking in the waves. The water was warmer than the air since a cold front moved in the day before. It was about 70F air temp, 80 in the water. Lisa said she was going to sleep on the balcony last night so she could hear the waves but she did not. We had maybe the best meal we have had on this trip. Hotel clerk said to try Captains Seafood Restaurant. We were hungry when we arrived and had to wait an hour to be seated but it was worth the wait. The waiter left a covered basket of the best hush puppies I have ever tasted. I usually don't eat them but these were small, the size of a quarter, very crisp outside and warm corny inside with a touch of sweetness maybe from the caramelized corn. We ended up eating them for dessert. We then split an appetizer of shrimp and grits which sounds humble but this was not. Very creamy rich with onion and bacon. The grits had soaked a long time to get them that creamy. A dish I will definitely duplicate at home. When Lisa had her salad, I had one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. It was fried green tomatoes topped with smoked salmon and crumbled English cheddar cheese, served on mixed greens with a creamy vinagrete on the side. I doubt I could duplicate this one. Lisa's entree was a seafood stew of big scallops, shrimp, clams, mussels, fish and potatoes in a wonderful broth with a great saffron taste and color. My entree was an avocado, shrimp, crab, tomato, asparagus salad. Our meal cost more than our room.

Looking out the window at the beach, I see Lisa has a huge sack of seashells and she is still looking. We may have to throw away clothes to get them in the car. Hey, she is coming back voluntarily.

Happy Birthday Terry!

Photos: 1 - CSS Hunley - an 8 man submarine; 2 - a beautiful house in Charleston; 3 - front view of Hunley - very narrow; 4 - view from hotel room; 5 - Dave frolicking in the waves; Monday - 6 - sunrise; 7-9 beach scenes

Saturday, October 4 - Day 17

Charleston, SC

It was only 100 miles from Savannah to Charleston so we were here by 10am. The boat tour left at 10:45 for Ft. Sumter, a place I have long wanted to see. South Carolina was the first State to secede from the Union soon after Lincoln was elected in November 1860. The Carolina government demanded the surrender of the four Union forts in Charleston but Major Anderson, Commander of the small garrison at the only manned fort suspected that would happen and during the night he got all his troops on boats and went to Ft. Sumter. They had limited supplies and little chance of resupply so the Carolinians decided to starve them out. On April 11, 1861, they got news of a resupply convoy coming from the North so on the morning of April 12, they opened fire on Sumter. The first shot fired from the fort was touched off by Lt. Abner Doubleday, the purported inventor of the baseball game. The Sumter garrison of 85 men could only fire about 9 cannon at a time while the South bombarded them with 3500 shells for 34 hours without letup. A large fire was started in the fort and Anderson realized they could not fight the fire and man the guns at the same time. They were also out of food. Anderson surrendered but was allowed to keep the huge American flag which is now on display at the fort. No Union soldier was lost in the fight. This really is the very short version of what happened so you have to come here to get the whole story.

 

We had a swim at the motel, went to Mass at an interesting church and then had grouper sandwiches at a restaurant on the waterfront in Mount Pleasant, where we are staying. We have not been in downtown Charleston so going to see it tomorrow morning.

Photos again didn't load so will send them later. 

Photos: 1 - Patriot's Point to catch ferry to Ft. Sumter; 2-10 - Ft. Sumter; 11 - coming back to mainland; 12-17 - Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) Roman Catholic Church