Another Great Vacation!

Fri.-Sat.-Sun. Oct. 11-13

We said our goodbyes to Pigeon and Linda on Friday morning and checked out of Turtle Cove, our beach home.  (We had already said our goodbyes to Skid and Pat the night before.)

We headed back to Tim and Kathy's home in Big Canoe, Georgia where we just "chilled out".

On Saturday we went to Tim's son, Jeff's home for dinner with his family.  It was nice to see them again.  Their girls, Emma and Grace, are growing up so fast.

We were up very early on Sunday morning to begin the long drive home (about 13 hours).  Tom and I take turns driving, stopping to stretch about every two hours.  We stopped near Vicksburg, Miss. for lunch at a local diner and ordered a baked potato and it was probably the largest baked potato I had ever seen!  I could only eat half of it and asked for a to-go box for the other half.

As much as we look forward to vacations, and enjoy getting away to places we haven't seen (and some we have seen) we always, always love to come home!  Be it ever so humble, there is absolutely no place like home! 

Another Day at the Beach!

Thursday, Oct. 10th

Tim treated all of us this morning by making pancakes and sausage for breakfast.  Awesome way to start our second full day at Ocean Isle Beach!

After breakfast, Skid and his dog Sandy met us for a walk around the western end of the island.  Kathy stayed at our beach house to nurse her "tooth extraction" with salt water rinses.  The rest of us headed toward the fishing pier, where Pigeon and Linda decided to hang out, and then Tom, Tim, Skid & Sandy, and I continued along the beach as far as we could go before we had to cut inland at the last public beach access path.

It was fun watching all the birds scurrying along the water's edge in search of their food.

The western tip of the island is a private resort community.  We walked on the road into this area until we came to the end of the island, where we turned around and headed back, winding our way by some beautiful homes as we walked along.

 That is a lot of oyster shells!!

The first home built on Ocean Isle Beach by the man (Williamson) who owned the island was much less pretentious than the ones that are being built today!

It sits on a rise overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to the front and the Intracoastal Waterway to the back.

In the afternoon Pigeon, Linda, Tom and I decided to drive up to Wilmington to check out their Riverwalk.  Since it was a cool, breezy, gray day there was hardly anyone out enjoying the views along the Cape Fear River.

We enjoyed a nice view of the bridge and also the Battleship North Carolina before going inside one of the eateries along the Riverwalk to enjoy a light lunch and to get warm.

We followed Hwy. 421 south from Wilmington (Cape Fear peninsula, I think) toward Ft. Fisher where we planned to take a ferry across the Cape Fear Inlet over to Southport before heading back to Ocean Isle Beach.  It is a small (toll) ferry.

 The inlet where the Cape Fear River spills into the Atlantic Ocean is lined by marshlands, a sanctuary for all kinds of birds.

 

 

As we traveled along Hwy. 211 we passed a small store that sported this unusual sign:

Not what I want with my cup of coffee!!

 

In the evening we all went into the quaint town of Calabash where Skid and Pat treated us to a wonderful meal of Calabash style seafood.  What a special and generous thing for them to do!  We really enjoyed reconnecting and reminiscing with all my A.T. Hiker friends!  I hope Skid and Pat will come to Texas to visit us where we can repay all their hospitality.

I can't believe I did not snap a photo of Skid and Pat together while we were visiting Ocean Isle Beach this year! 

I took this photo of them in Hot Springs, N.C. in 2011.

 

And I took this one (with their daughter) in 2012 when Tom and I visited them.  Great friends!

 

If you'll remember, when I first met Pigeon on the 2nd day of my A.T. Thru-Hike, she had a shaved head.  She shaved her head the day before she headed to the Trail and donated her hair to "Locks of Love".  Well she has let her hair grow long again and is now going to donate her hair once again.

 

 

Silly Monkeys!

BooBoo and TooToo are having a joyful reunion at Ocean Isle Beach after their two year separation since hiking on the A.T.!

Pigeon and I dare not leave them alone too long for fear of their getting themselves in trouble!  Silly monkeys!

Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

On Tuesday morning we packed up and the four of us (Tim, Kathy, Tom and I) headed out to drive to Ocean Isle Beach.  Kathy had woke up during the night with a toothache and thought she might have a loose crown, so since we were going to be passing right by her dentist in Dawsonville, Ga., we stopped in for the dentist to take a look at her tooth and when he examined her he discovered that her tooth was broken and needed to be extracted immediately because there was a pocket of infection under it already.  Anyway, following this we were on our way again after stopping at Kroger Pharmacy to fill her antibiotic prescription. We arrived at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. around 5:30 p.m., a seven hour drive from Dawsonville, Ga.

We had rented "Turtle Cove", a 3 bedroom/3 bath beach house for the next three nights.  My friend "Pigeon" (from my A.T. Hike) and her friend Linda were planning to meet us there.  My friend "Skid" (from my A.T. Hike) and his wife Pat live here on Ocean Isle Beach and were expecting Tom and me and Tim and Kathy, but not Pigeon and Linda.  What a wonderful surprise it was for Skid and Pat to see Pigeon and Linda so unexpectedly!

We loved "Turtle Cove" beach house!  It was so spacious and clean and comfortable!

  The first morning we were there, Tom and I got up early and made breakfast tacos for all of us.  A great way to begin the day!

We loved the sun porch that faced out toward the canal!

And the nice pier/boat dock!

After the good breakfast of breakfast tacos, we met up with Skid and his dog Sandy for a walk around the eastern end of the island.  It was a rather cool and damp morning and would rain lightly on us before we got back to our beach house.  We ended up walking almost seven miles!

Here is Pigeon running to catch up to us after rescuing several deflated party balloons out of the palm tree.

We passed this very elaborate and whimsical "Barbie Beach"!

Skid's dog Sandy likes walking as much as we do!

We get our first glimpse (this trip) of the Atlantic Ocean!

It has been two years since my hike when I last saw Pigeon in Millinocket, Maine!  I am so excited to see her again and be able to spend some time together.  She was so much help and encouragement to me on my Thru-Hike!

Here is Pigeon and her friend Linda.  I am still amazed that Linda came to Maine to hike up Mt. Katahdin with me and Pigeon, AND Linda made it all the way to the top!  What an incredibly hard task that was!

Then I asked Tom to take a picture of Skid, Pigeon, and me--the three A. T. Hikers.

Just as he snapped the photo, the surf rolled in and we jumped for dryer ground!

So we tried that shot over again!

Ocean Isle Beach is one of North Carolina's barrier islands which lies east to west, just north of Sunset Beach and Myrtle Beach, S. C.  The ever-pounding surf of the Atlantic Ocean continues to erode the eastern end of Ocean Isle Beach, taking along anything in its path out to sea, including homes!  Over the years several have been moved while others have simply washed away!

  These are on the eastern tip of the island and it is only a matter of time until they will be washed away also if they are not moved to higher ground.

All those gigantic sand bags are no match for the ocean's force!

Even though it was a windy, cool, damp, gray day we were still enjoying our walk along the beach.  We saw lots of birds and Tom found a couple of pretty shells for our shell collection at home.

Skid led us down this road

and showed us where years ago there was once a ferry to get residents back and forth to the mainland before the nice big bridge was built across the Intracoastal Waterway which now connects Ocean Isle Beach to the mainland.

Then Skid led us along a wooded path that bordered the Intracoastal Waterway.

Then we crossed several wooden bridges as we walked along the marshy wetlands.

We saw some colorful grasses!

It was so nice to have that nice big house to just hang out on the sunporch, read a book, take a nap, or whatever any of us felt like doing after our long walk! 

In the afternoon the sun peeked out so Tom, Tim, Kathy, and I walked down the street to the Fishing Pier.  There were a lot of folks out on the pier fishing or just enjoying a lazy afternoon.

Back at the house, we enjoyed some lively card games and a game of Mexican Train Dominoes.  Skid and Pat dropped by and Skid joined in the game of Mexican Train.  Pat brought us a freshly baked apple pie!  Wow, what a nice treat!

What a fun day today reconnecting with my A.T. hiker friends and spending time at the beach with Tim and Kathy!