Hanging Out in North Carolina

Grabbed the camera, a few clothes,  one coke, one root beer and my trusty iPhone with AT&T navigation!  We were heading to the eastern coastline of North Carolina. When we lived in the FAR FAR WEST I barely knew the location of the tucked away southern states on the map. Now we want to explore everything down, down, down south. Dramatic country landscapes, endless acres of crops, flowers and trees,weathered tobacco shanties, drooping vacant porches, scrumptious mom and pop BBQ diners, Civil War historical sites, smoky-blue Appalachian Mountains ( we westerners view them as hills), bigger bugs and snakes, take it all and toss with liberal doses  of friendliness. Southern Charm!

Add to that amazing birds.

Ashley and her husband,Daniel live in Greenville. Daniel is attending the Maritime Studies graduate program at Eastern Carolina University. This small college town with its residents, students, college hang outs, schools, gas stations, stores and ECU, seem to be competing for the  King of the Pirate's prize. Pirate logos are EVERYWHERE. When ECU plays a game, the story goes that the town  shuts down, except for restaurants and pubs, everyone attends or watches the games.  I would even wager that every resident has seen all four  Pirates of the Caribbean movies!  

It was a great three day trip. We had a SURPRISE four-person birthday party for Daniel, complete with CAKE and SNAKES!   Yes, snakes! Daniel has been spending the past weeks at a field study excavation site.  Everyday the men and women work in the murky tide waters, doing under water excavation. Cottonmouth snakes often silently arrive as unwanted visitors. So it isn't strange that Ashley would bake a cake and doll it up with plastic snakes.

Only Ashley would dream of this one....

Ravioli with yummy homemade pasta sauce; fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil salad and crunchy garlic bread was the prelude to the cake slathered or should I say, "slithered" with snakes and chocolate frosting.

Saturdays are laid back, so we left for the beach around noonish.

It becomes apparent when you are nearing the ocean, the subtle change... businesses, the lay of the land, the design of homes, the air are all different. 

And so the excitement grows.

First stop the Visitor Center, where the fluttering flags, pristine white rocking chairs and miniature light house invited us 

to stay awhile.

  

Girls love to shop the quaint stores...and we did! But hunger pangs finally won out and we found a wonderful cafe overlooking the sound. 

We were content to just dine with the seagulls

(watching our every move.)

When I refused to toss a piece of my Fish Taco his way

he took off in a huff.

  
Do you ever wonder what it means to really have a "bird's eye view?" For me it is gazing out of an airplane window as we take off and see our familiar surroundings telescope away.

Or

high on a mountain top hovering
in a gondola, clinging to the bar for dear life.

  
Not being a bird, my "eye's view" is more down to earth. A sideways glance at the beautiful scene before us.

 My family always had a boat. I have lost count of how many boats my father acquired through out his life time. 

But always, always the boat was called,

The Lucky Dog.

 And these are not only lucky dogs but beautiful ones!

Sunset came quickly as we reached the beach at 5:00pm. Despite the approaching evening the beach was full of enthusiasm and happiness.

My favorite photos as the sun set.

And what the sandy shores are all about.....

the lure of ocean waves at dusk.