Northbound

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Jay and Laura and the family this morning.  Laura joined me on the balcony (6:00 a.m.) and we enjoyed our last sunrise together.  It sure was a beauty!!  I enjoy spending this time with my daughter.  By 6:30 the busy activity of packing up and van and getting all the luggage downstairs was in full swing.

We ended our vacation with a nice breakfast at the Sea Captains House.  They were on the road by around 8:30.  Ralph and I cleaned up the condo and then headed to Huntington Beach.  We forgot to check the tide schedule and found ourselves there at "high" tide meaning that not many birds were present.  Surprisingly there was a fair amount of alligator activity in the ponds which was interesting to see.  The Osprey were also very active.  We counted at least 5 of them flying over the pond.

We then drove to Southport, North Carolina where we are spending the next two days before heading to Williamsburg, Virginia.  We inquired about a nice local restaurant by the ocean to enjoy a relaxing dinner and were advised to go to a place called Provision Company.  It most certainly was a busy place with the wait set at 1 hour when we got there.  It didn't take that long, but it certainly is a favourite amongst the locals.  Everything is done on the honour system here.  When you arrive, you can help yourself to a drink from the coolers (beer, wine, coolers) and when your name is called you have to give them an item of a personal nature (Ralph gave his hat) which they then put on your table making it easier for you to find where you will be sitting.  After giving his hat, Ralph and I went inside where we ordered dinner (again on an honour system), picked up another drink and found our table.  When our meal was finished, we went inside and told the cashier how many drinks we had, what we ordered etc and then she calculated the bill.  Very interesting.  We enjoyed some really nice fresh shrimp, crab cakes along with conch fritters, fries and onion rings.  It's more like pub food but the location is fun and it was an interesting experience.  When we left the wait time for a table was 2 hours (crazy!!).

We took a drive around and familiarized ourselves with the area before returning to the hotel.  It looks like nice place to explore tomorrow. 

Is it Friday already?

Where has the week gone?  It's Friday already and it feels like we just got here.  The day started out with a beautiful sunrise although I will admit that I missed the best part.  My bed was just too comfortable as I woke up at 6:10 and the sky was already painted a glorious red.  By the time I had my camera set up, the red had faded already.  I still was able to get a few shots with some interest in them but had to take them from the balcony as the sky was changing rapidly and I didn't want to miss it.  Tonight I'll be better prepared for the morning.

We spent a relaxing day by the ocean and pool. Hailey and I went shelling for about 2 hours.  We were pretty successful finding sharks eyes, olives, cats paws etc.  We had a really fun time together.  After dinner we went to the beach to take family photos.  What a nice way to remember a fun week all together.

A busy couple of days

On Wednesday Ralph and I were up at 4:30 to get ready for our round of golf.  We were playing at Founders Club which is near Murrell's Inlet.  The temperature was beautiful at that time (74F).  We had a 7:00 a.m. tee time and were to first to get out.  It was the perfect time to play as it was going to be a very hot day.  We did our round in 3 hours and enjoyed the course.

While we were out golfing Laura and Jay took the kids out.  Jay took Brody to the RC park (Remote Control vehicles) to watch some racing there while Laura and the girls explored the Outlet Mall.  We all met up again in the afternoon and time was spent by the pool or swimming in the ocean.  I decided to walk to the Pier to try to get some shots and it looked like it might be a good afternoon for pictures.

As I reached the Pier I noticed the the colour of the clouds had started to change.  Oh, oh I thought, it looks like it might rain.  I turned around and started back towards the condo.  I was about 3/4's of the way back when the skies opened up and it poured.  Thankfully the rain was coming down towards my back and as I quickly made it back to the condo I placed my camera under my t-shirt to keep it dry.  It was quite amazing as I was almost fully dry on my front and totally soaked on my backside.  I thanked the Lord for this as I could have definitely damaged my camera with rain that came down.

Roughly 5 minutes after I took this picture, the rain poured out of the sky,  It lasted for about 30 minutes and then everything dried up again.

I got up to photograph the sunrise this morning.  There wasn't alot of cloud in the sky to add interest but the colours were still very pretty.

Ralph took a long walk today down the beach.  He said that he saw 4 sharks during his walk and the Lifeguards had cleared everyone out of the water.  He believes they were black tip sharks.  It was enough to discourage me from entering the ocean.

Time spent enjoying the pool.

The biggest shark tooth ever.  This is one happy young man.