Emerald Isle - Day 7

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship...

For years David's been talking about going out on a fishing boat...every year since I started going to the beach with him and probably even before that. He went out as a teen and loved it, and then waited another 30 years to do it again. Finally, this year the kids were all old enough, and there were no more reasons not to go. We asked everyone in the house to come along, but only our 6 signed on.

We got up very early, making sure not to wake the rest of the family. Not sure we succeeded! We drove to Morehead City and collected our tickets to board the Carolina Princess! Three would fish and three would not. David figured he'd be too busy to fish his own rod, so Morgan, Katherine and Will were the official fisherpeople.
We climbed to the top deck because someone who looked like he knew something told us the kids would like it up there. We sat and waited and got more and more excited. We had visions of a boatload of fish to take home for dinner! Some of us anyway - Caroline doesn't do fishing but thought she'd like the boat ride. She brought a book!

We left the dock and drove forever until there was no sign of any land at all. No sign of anything and heaven forbid the boat would sink and then where would we be? In the middle of the ocean, or close to it, with a bunch of people and not nearly enough life boats. Is it possible to be claustrophobic in the middle of the ocean?
Anyway, we stopped and dropped anchor and David & the fisher people went down to claim their spots along the rail. The boatmen did everything - they dropped gross bait in the trough front of everyone, if a line was tugged they were right there to help get the fish off the line, they clean the fish (bonus!), and they even washed upchuck off the deck. Thankfully I didn't witness that...though I almost added to it!!!

Caroline and I were feeling queasy from the start - the combination of the diesel fuel and the rocking up on top made for a difficult decision to stand up and try to get down the ladder to the fishing deck. I knew I couldn't stay up there and not experience some of this thing that David had so wanted to do for so long. So down I went, stopping at the trashcan to make sure I didn't need to leave an offering.

I found a bench and stayed there, watching my family enjoy casting and re-casting. They really were having a great time! Even Katherine loves to fish. David was kept pretty busy keeping up with the kids' rods, making sure they did get dragged into the ocean! Periodically, the captain would pull up the anchor and we'd turn around or move to another spot to try to find more fish. Moving really is overrated.


Everyone caught something, but only Morgan caught something big enough to keep. One of the deck boys came and took it away on a line with our family number #42! the hope of course is to catch lots of fish so that your family number line is full! Not today. Maybe next time, when Caroline and I are shopping instead!!
After a while even Will started getting a bit green. We stayed outside as long as we could because being inside meant facing the smell of the galley. The boat cook was frying up fish of all things! Finally we couldn't stand the heat and I took Will inside where we joined a bunch of other seasick people. We found an empty bench to rest on, and here we stayed until the boat headed back to port.
Once we headed back, the feeling of queasiness passed and we all enjoyed the ride. We heard all about how big the ones were that had to be thrown back!
So we left the boat with lots of memories and one fish, which we ended up giving to one of the crew.
When we found our legs and were able to walk on land again, we headed to DQ for the biggest sundaes ever!!

Emerald Isle - Day 6

Some of us had to take it easy today, as in stay off the beach. We have big plans for tomorrow and just cannot let too much sun ruin what is sure to be a fun day!

We always have binoculars nearby and it's a good thing. There's always a ship of some sort out on the horizon. Uncle Bill, is handy to have around because he can always tell us what kind of ships are out there, especially if it's a military ship.


Grandmama tried to enjoy the warm breezes on the deck while reading her book. Her calm and quiet didn't last long. Where there's Will, there's chatter.

David & Morgan went off to explore the sound in their kayaks. After a while Will and I walked down to where they put in to see what we could see. There they were, off in the distance. They came closer and Morgan shouted that she found something for Will. What is it?! She'd found a shell on a small island in the sound. Then Will found another, larger one in the sand by his feet. We took them both back to the house. On the way we met our little beach friend Corbin, who immediately told us that the little shell had something living inside. Bummer - we returned him to his home. At least we still had the big one.

The second puzzle of 2010. Shells.


We used to always celebrate Grandmama's birthday at the beach, but since we moved our vacation into July we get to celebrate Granddaddy's birthday instead. Today we celebrated his birthday a few days early. He got silly bandz!

Emerald Isle -Day 5

The kids made extensive plans at dinner last night to get up early and run before making pancakes and getting to the beach by 8 am. I had my doubts even then, but I got up and tried to wake everyone for a run. No luck at all. In fact, I was so luckless that I crawled back into bed myself! Not only did we not get on the beach by 8, most of us were not even awake by 8!!




We did have pancakes, and there are people on the beach as I type this. Some are on the beach, and some have gone to scout out a put-in place on the sound for the kayaks. Grandmama is heading to the grocery store -again. Gone are her plans for a shrimp dinner, as most of the people in the house are not seafood eaters. It'll be lasagna instead.

Katherine tried out her new watercolors and painted a postcard.

Emerald Isle - Day 4

The girls and I headed out early this morning for our run. I was hot early, making us think that tomorrow's run should start even earlier. Once home, it was time to make the bacon! Lots of bacon later we got ready for the day!

Today we finally made it to the beach at 11:30. Who knew breakfast could take so long? It was going to be a short beach day. We decided to go to Morehead City for dinner, but want to get there early enough to see the fishing charters come in with their catches.

After throwing some laundry in, I headed down the the beach. I found Caroline and Will in the water playing with their new friend, Corbin. Katherine decided she needed to be buried in the sand. David buried her and left her to rest for a bit. Since her face was covered with a hat, no one knew she was there!













Morgan packed for the beach and decided to leave her one-piece suits at home. Unfortunately, her two piece suits were too old to wear any longer. Fortunately, her Grandmama took her shopping for a new bikini!













After a short time on the beach, we came up to the house for a quick lunch and then headed to Morehead City! We got there in time to see the boats come in, but most of the boats had not gone out! The boys stayed on the dock to watch the birds and boats, and the girls checked out some shops!













We met up at The Sanitary Restaurant for a delicious supper of fried seafood. Well, some of us did anyway! The fried shrimp and scallops were awesome! Hushpuppies were plentiful. Sweet tea flowed!














After supper we wandered further to see some more boats.













We attempted to take some Christmas card pics.









Then we headed back to Salter Path for Dairy Queen! It was a red-letter day! Will finished his cone for the very first time!



















Then home to bed - oh wait. How'd they get into MY bed?!??!