|
        |
As I mentioned earlier, we were in desperate need of a laundry. Since none was forthcoming, the ladies washed out their delicates in the sink, and hung them out to dry on the line out behind the trailer.
The trailer had not been washed by me. Ever. After 12 weeks and 9,800 miles, it seemed time. It took only an hour or so, and I used only a few gallons of water. Washing made a huge difference in the appearance of the beast, so much so that I washed the van, too, as it had not been washed since Georgia.
The weather had been slowly warming over the past days, to the point where this day looked to be warm enough for a venture out the the Atlantic side of the island -- a beach trip. We biked North along US 12 to where it cut over to the Atlantic via a mile-long smooth dirt and shell road through the marshland. There wee numerous shore birds nesting there all along the marshy and brackish inlets, feasting on minnows and pollywogs. The blue heron below let me get about 4 feet away.
Once at the beach, we had it nearly to ourselves -- just the way we like it. It was warm enough for bathing suits and swimming, but just barely on both counts. The wind was still blowing pretty hard, so we hid behind a sand dune, and it was lovely.
The young ladies enjoyed a "beach day" very much. Joya and Jordan had somehow managed to forget to bring along suits, so they swam and sunned in their small clothes.
Another Joya shot, also processed. This is of Tessany, and nicely shows the isolation and beauty of these beaches.
We had a big day planned. After beaching, we ate a quick dinner and then headed over to "Ocracoke Adventures", a kayak and surfing shop. They offered a full moon kayak tour, departing about 6:30 PM. Tessany shot the picture below of the 4 Thomases preparing to hit the water.
After paddling across the harbor, we began exploring the "creeks", which were really brackish backwater channels along the sound. Below Joya is getting herself unstuck from the marsh grasses. Paddling was tough going across the harbor, since the wind was blowing the backs of our boats around quite a bit -- we all had to work hard to keep the kayaks pointing in a semi-straight line.
Jody and Jordan found a humongous hermit crab on the bottom, and timidly hauled it out for examination by our guide, Annette.
After looking for nesting sea birds, we paddled back up another creek 'to see what we could see'. As you can see from the photo below, it was very near sunset.
One of the things to be seen was this long-dead sea turtle, apparently a featured attractions during our tour.
Very near full dark, Joya took this image of me with no flash.
We congregated in one corner of a pond while Annette told us of the history of one Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard the Pirate. Legend had it that he often anchored near the spot below, since it afforded easy access to the shipping lanes while also providing protection from storms.
We next paddled back up a side channel, by now in full dark, with no moon risen yet. We finally arrived, guided by Annette, somewhere, and began following her instructions for hauling ourselves and our boats out of the water. When Jody asked "Annette, where are we?", Annette answered that we were in June Brown's backyard -- which is what it looked like. June had a small channel running along the back of her property. We all piled out (there were 15 or so of us in total), and walked up the road a piece. Soon we arrived at an open pickup truck with double bench seats over the wheel wells. This was the 'shuttle' back to the kayak shop. As we had come to really like this little island, we had begun quizzing the islanders about life here. We really like Annette, and got to know her a bit. We also spoke briefly with her boss, Mike, who now waves to us whenever we pass by on our bikes. Very wet and a bit cold, we pedaled back to Teeter's and our trailer. I was on dish and tea duty, while the ladies all showered to warm themselves and get into pajamas. We had our usual cards-and-tea-and-cookies, and then hit the sack. |
