Beach Daze

As Dad is fond of saying, "Salt water cures everything." Or was that chlorine? Or swimming? Anyway, we're finding the salve to life's stresses and foibles here, in Ocracoke.  The time is passing too quickly of course, and I was trying not to write that, because it absolutely goes without saying, but there it is, so there you go.  We're already starting to quote Mom and Dad H, "We really should come in the off season and stay two weeks."

This picture didn't make it into the group from the boat.  Our shipmates took it for us.  We're a pretty content crew.

Sarah's been talking about getting a dragonfly tattoo on her ankle, but she thought she'd try it out first before committing.  I think it needs a unicorn and a rainbow to make it complete.

Woo!  Beach!  Woo!

Woo!  Eduardo's!  Woo!  Emmett has been a real good sport.  He goes everywhere, does everything, and as long as he's fueled up and clean, he does it without complaint... like the Element.

This year's house has two nice porches and is tucked back behind another property so it's super quiet.  The rocking chairs leave a lot to be desired, but we make due, and the porch swings are great.

It's been really hot this trip and the dogs have a rough time of it anyway, so we've taken them out for sunset and sunrise.  I've walked them around the neighborhood a few times, too.  They don't seem to be missing the mid day beaching and are grateful and happy to be along.  For what it's worth, I love this picture.

Eva, Jonas, Sarah with Emmett, Keith.

Somehow, it took me a minute to realize that if they make UPF outfits for kids, they probably make them for adults, too.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a matching onesie, but I love not having to smear sunscreen all over all the time.  Plus, mine has a hood that makes me look like Storm Shadow.  The 8 year old me would be stoked.

Last night, or a couple nights ago, we went out to watch the sun set and the moon rise.  This is a picture of the latter, obviously.

Venus and Mercury (above) were in the sky, along with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.  I totally wish we'd brought the astronomical binoculars!  What were we thinking?  Oh well, it was still a pretty great adventure just to sit and look up.

Don't worry, everyone has been wearing sunscreen on their exposed parts.  With the exception of the top of Veneta's feet, we've had no sunburns!  Maybe a first.  We're all sporting SPF 60, wearing hats, some of us are in UPF clothes, and under the canopy... How times change.  

We've been getting some reading and relaxing in, also.

Yesterday we went to the Ocracoke Preservation Society and the Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association exhibit wear we learned about how the community came together to save the fish house.  That made our visit to the Ocracoke Seafood Company even cooler.  I wanted to grill some fish while we are here, and have been watching a lot of grilling shows to get ready.  It was cool to chat with the fish monger and she even gave us a couple tips about what and how to grill.  I have a pretty strict "No tertiary consumers" rule, but I broke it this time on the advice of the fish monger.  So in the end, we left with some shrimp, a pampano, and a mako shark steak!

The grilling went well enough that I think Alton Brown would have said, "Pretty good".  The steak was grilled very simple because I wanted to taste the fish rather than a marinade.  For those who haven't had it, it's pretty close to sword fish.

Sarah's still a bit timid when it comes to sea food, so I threw a couple pig dogs on the grill for her.  She sauteed some onion and summer squash that we brought with us and made a lovely coleslaw.  Veneta made shrimp that was just perfect.

If you look carefully, you can see a little piece of the shark on the left hand side, next to the slaw.

Wish you were here!

Dinner devoured.

Yesterday or today, I got up early (thanks Jonas) and decided that instead of trying to go back to sleep, which is usually fruitless, I'd take the dogs to watch the sun rise and the moon set.

Moon setting over the dunes.

Sun rising over the guard station.  Unfortunately, I can't look at this without thinking of Apocalypse Now.

Tonight we finally ate at the Flying Melon.  It was good and the atmosphere was fun.  We've really enjoyed cooking at home rather than going out, for the most part, and it made tonight feel like a treat.  Tomorrow I will have another snowball.  I've only had one so far this trip!  We're going to hit the coffee shop, then the little food truck, Graceful Bakery, and head to Hammock Hills Nature Trail before finally hitting the beach.  I will get a snowball when we come back for the heat of the day.  

Return to Ocracoke!

As y'all know, we headed back to Ocracoke this weekend after a couple or few year hiatus.  Sarah vowed that, "There will be beach!"  She made it so.  And it is good.  -Bassman 20:16

The Dude was a real trooper in the car.  We stopped every couple or few hours for feeding, gassing, and bathroom.  I'd like to blame all the stops of the Chopper, but honestly, half of them were me and my small travel bladder.  The toys that Andy and Gayle got for his car seat really came in handy this trip... he spent a lot of time just quietly staring at them.  We're certain that;s an indication of his extreme intelligence.

Eva and Jonas are along again; it feels a little like having the band back together to all be headed south on 12.

Honestly, how are we gonna make America great again when we can't even get our bumper stickers on straight?

Ocracoke Coffee Company!  Still here.  Still great.

Ok guys, enough goofing around.  When do we go to the beach?

 Prepping the beach wagon!

Setting up camp.

Emmett seemed to love the warm breeze and sound of the waves.... (I'm mostly basing that off of the limited amount of screaming and crying rather than anything he said explicitly.)

The usual crowd.

The bird watching has already been good.  I have been running each morning and come upon many birds that way.  I even ran a couple miles down the south point, where, to my knowledge, I have never been.  Saw green herons, ibis, egrets, and pelicans down that way.  There was a beautiful pine warbler (my first ever sighting!) at the nature center near Manteo.

Yup.  This'll work.

Welcome to the family, Emmett.

Swim.

We're really happy with our camera choice.  This shot was taken from 20 feet away!  I didn't even have to get out of my beach chair :-)

More to come.  We went on a schooner trip last night!  Headed to the Historic Center today and the beach, and maybe a nature walk if time permits... then back to the beach.

As requested

Here are some recent photos of the El Duderino. 

That skeptical look. 

Happy and excited!

On a stroller walk with cousin Zhora! We had so much fun. Thanks for coming over and for having the idea, Z. 

One cool dude. Ready for the beach!  Posting from the back seat of a the car, and blogger won't let me put words below the last three pics, so here we go. 

The Dogs are copilots on this trip. Hilarious, as always, to see how excited the get about every rest stop and gas station. They are super grateful to have been brought on this tour of all the most interesting smells of 81 South. 

The family. On the road. Don't worry, this is the only selfie I'll take on the drive. 

Em.C Harrington is really into his jingley bird and other car seat toys! We make up stories about what they're doing. Thanks Grammy and Uncle Andy and Aunt Gayle for the inspiration. 

One last vacation post

So this will be the final vacation post, as the title indicates, and it's likely to be a long one. This is all the miscellany of activities and sites that didn't get into the other posts. So prepare yourself for some jumps through time and between topics.

First off, we have ostentatious displays of wealth.  The harbor was crammed full of incredible yachts and schooners and whatever else rich people call their boats.  This one had some incredible lines and woodwork.  Next, we have ostentatious terrestrial displays of wealth.  Again, what can I say... the houses were beautiful.  It's pretty cool what a few million bucks can buy.

At the end of Watch Hill, there is an operational lighthouse.  Both the point and the structure itself are amazing.  Very picturesque.  Although I would be willing to keep this house if it was the only one available, I would prefer something much more remote.  Still, it was a neat feeling to watch the light blink and to hear the horn blow at night.

These wild roses were everywhere.  I suspect that they are deliberately planted and pruned by a legion of underpaid migrant workers just to perfume the atmosphere of Watch Hill.

On Monday Sarah, Veneta, Zhora, Jenn, and I went to a restaurant called Mews Tavern in Wakefield, Rhode Island.  They had a nice offering of various seafoods and pizzas and burgers; better than average pub fair, but we were especially excited that they had 70 beers on tap.  Now, be assured that I am bragging when I say that I had tasted all of the beers on the menu except a handful of local brews.  It's pretty cool to have all those flavors in my taste memory.  For better or worse, "Tasting" is not a learning style.  Neither is drinking beer, for that matter.  I may have missed my calling.

Zhora was a great part of the crew.  She was well behaved, enthusiastic, and curious pretty much simultaneously, pretty much all the time.  We played a lot of games, made a lot of believe, read some books, solved some puzzles, and ran around an awful lot.

I don't remember exactly what the deal was with this carousel, and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I do remember that the hair is from real manes and tails and that it's one of the few remaining carousels where the horses hang from chains.  The horses themselves struck me as rather grotesque, and the eyes in particular gave them the appearance that they might turn on the young riders or the surrounding crowd if given half the chance.  Still, the kids seemed to enjoy it, especially the end when they got to try to grab the rings on their way past.

Zhora won a ribbon and a ring one afternoon, ostensibly for grabbing a bunch of rings on her way by, but I suspect all the kids get rings after their parents dump the equivalent of $20 in change on the ride.  Still, I was happy for her, and it was nice for Bob to see some tangible results from buying so many tickets and standing by and watching his kid go round and round.

I think this one might not need a caption...

It was very nice that the house had a fire pit.  This crew HAD to take advantage.

It was the 195th anniversary of the birth of Herman Melville, and since we didn't go to Mystic to hear the marathon reading of Moby Dick, we read the first few chapters around the campfire.  It was pretty awesome.  I realized how rarely we, as adults, read aloud or to each other.  I really enjoyed hearing everyone's voices.

Veneta was really excited about going on a train ride and purchased tickets for us all to get on-board a Pullman car for a little scenic tour.  Though short, the ride was very enjoyable.

We enjoyed watching the scenery go by and looked for egrets, osprey, and other birds as we rode past rivers and marshes and inlets.  It was quite relaxing.  At the far end of the line we disembarked to get on a river boat and ambled up the river a ways before returning to the train and, ultimately, back to the rail yard.

Engine 3025

One of the big events of the trip was Sarah's quest for her first lobster.  We had tried and failed to accomplish this task on our trip to Maine last year.  We were too far out of tourist season, apparently.  But this summer; success!  We ate at a restaurant in the old coastguard barracks.  There was a SUPER swanky part inside, downstairs, so we proceeded upstairs.  As an aside, while waiting for a seat, I had the best local beer of the trip.  A really well balanced, flavour packed Belgian.

A little help from Mom!

This is the two headed monster!  Scary.

This is my dream boat.  Seriously.  If I had to have something bigger than a canoe, this is what it would be.  Note the Coors Light tap handle attached to the throttle lever.

This is from one of the final days where it rained and we walked around Stonington, went to the "fair", visited the farmers market and the wharf, and did a little shopping.  I wish this was more in focus, but it was a moment and a vision and I snapped it on the fly. 

Thanks for this picture, Zhora!