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!