Thursday, September 16, 2010
Linda & Al's Front Yard, Ocracoke, NC - May 18-28
We had our second shortest day (17 miles) getting here, but it took almost 4 hrs, due to the 2 1/4 hr ferry ride. Amber managed to get both carsick & seasick on the journey. Poor thing! She was fine once we got set up, crying for food as usual. The other cats did not think much of the sea voyage either, but weathered it better. They appreciated the 11-day stay, even though they did not like the warm temps & often high humidity very much. Since we were connected to our friends' house current, we did not getting enough power to run the a/c -- or even the toaster for that matter.What a wonderful time we had on Ocracoke with Linda & Al. We did so much it is hard to name it all. We went clamming, which involves going out in the boat to where the water is about knee deep (about a mile offshore) & wading around, raking with clam rakes until you find one & pulling it up & tossing it into the bucket. We got about 240 clams, which made some tasty meals. On the way back, we stopped at a tiny sandbar island and walked around and waded in the ocean. It was like our own private desert island. We went for a sunset cruise on the Schooner Windfall, which is owned by friends of Linda & Al. We saw a lovely sunset & then later saw the tiny crescent moon rising with Jupiter & Mercury also visible.
We went kayaking twice & both LOVED it. The first time we stayed in fairly shallow water. It was quite easy to get the hang of & in no time we were paddling around like otters or seals. Our last day we went out into the sound. A front was coming in & the waves and wind were more challenging. Doug got dumped once, but we still had a great time. Luckily we started earlier in the morning so we were back before the rain & thunderstorms hit. This was our first rain in a long time & it really washed the truck & trailer well. Another day we went for a very long sail (a little too long for our taste, actually) in a small wooden sailboat with no motor, so when the wind wouldn't cooperate we had to row!
We ate wonderful food here -- mostly cooked by Linda. We were given some lovely fish caught by a friend of theirs & ate that for several days. Another day we had shrimp from the local fish house. We had wonderful desserts, too, & will have to diet for the rest of the summer to get back to where we were last fall! Local strawberries are now in season, so we have had SB pie, SB shortcake, & SBs with ice cream.
Al & Linda are also very good bridge players & we played bridge most evenings, which was quite enjoyable. Doug also attended the Ocracoke men's breakfast & the weekly poker game.
While we were here, an article came out naming Ocracoke as one of the ten best beaches in the WORLD. We really know how to pick our places!
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 9:03 PM 
