Come Look At My Slides

I'm really feeling very....meh, today. I'm not feeling inspired by anything. I'm not feeling terribly motivated to do or write anything. I don't know why, really, but I suspect that maybe we are just summered out along with experiencing post vacation let-down.

Compared to the crashing waves of the ocean, our little neighborhood pool is momunentally uninteresting. They are tired of kick the can, they are tired of jumping on the trampoline, they are tired of games of kickball, baseball and football that never end. Everyone is cranky with boredom and heat. I think we are all just biding our time until school starts, though my offspring would never admit to such.

So...since I am intellectually stymied at the moment, I am going to post some photos from our vacation. If you're not really into that sort of thing and choose to click away now, I promise there will be no hard feelings.

Without further ado...

Sunset over the Barrier Islands


There is some debate about who actually took this picture. But since Husband was engaged in some serious fishing for most of the trip, I submit that it was I who took the picture.

Damn. I am GOOD.

The Shark


Yes, I know it looks like a dolphin, but it's not. Dolphins are very intelligent and would never fall for such a ruse. Sharks, however, are not much more than eating machines and have only rudimentary brains. So I assure you, that what is on the end of the line in this picture is, in fact, a rather pissed off bonnethead shark.

The Dreamboat


Husband is a boat guy. LOVES boats. We live mere minutes from a very large lake, and it kills him that we have no watercraft to speak of. Obviously, on our vacation we saw many beautiful boats, from small wooden sloops with billowing sails, to sleek and sophisticated yachts like this one. Huband vows that one day, we will have a boat. And he wouldn't kick this boat out of his slip.

Avenue of Oaks


On the mainland, there are many historic places to sightsee. One reason we love the place we vacationed is that you get the best of both worlds. You have the island/beach community, but a short trip over the bridge brings you into a small historic metropolis that is wonderfully picturesque.

One of the places we visited was this plantation, which is graced by the incredibly beautiful Avenue of Oaks. It was featured in "Gone With The Wind" and the plantation itself has served as the set for two other movies; "North and South" and Alex Haley's "Queen". The first time I visited this plantation, they were actually filming North and South, but the cast was filming way back in the fields somewhere and I didn't get so much as a glimpse of Patrick Swayze.

It is really something to stand beneath these majestic live oaks. Most of the oaks seen here are between 150-200 years old, but there are live oaks on the plantation that are over 600 years old.

Below is the Avenue of Oaks seen from the porch of the plantation manor house.



Blue Crabbing

Courtney with two large examples of Callinectes Sapidus. She's not even holding them with her fingertips or anything. The female is "in sponge" which means she is ready to lay eggs. You can see the orangish eggs on her abdomen.
Minor Correction: Those are not Blue Crabs, they are Stone Crabs, 'cause DUH, they're not blue. Thanks to one of my readers for correcting me. Also...an interesting thing that I had forgotten which this reader also reminded me of...you cannot harvest these crabs. You can, however, pull off one claw to eat and throw it back. If you catch one that is already minus a claw, you cannot pull off the other one. The claws regenerate, but still, it seems rather barbaric to me.



This is our crabbing party. PPO is in the photo, nearest the camera. As you can see, it was an incredibly clear and beautiful day.



This was our conveyance on our crabbing adventure, the "Callinectes Sapidus". She may not be sleek and beautiful, but she is sturdy and she got us where we needed to go.


Freshly boiled crabs, steaming hot and ready to eat.


A feast fit for a king.

Body Surfing

Waiting....


YES! A good sized wave....


Riding it in.


The View


This is the view from the back of our villa. I was a little disappointed that we did not have an unobstructed view of the ocean, but it was okay. Surrounded by that clump of trees is the pool, and just beyond that, is the beach, which you get to by taking the path on the right.

The Accomodations








Though I was bummed about the view, I have to say that otherwise, the villa more than met my expectations. It beat the hell out of the Motel 6. It was SO nice having a kitchen and a full sized washer and dryer. I can't even tell you how convenient and economical it was. No driving around in search of rock hard biscuits or rubbery scrambled eggs, and then paying twice as much for them as we would have at home.

Also, We got sand in everything, and I would have hated dragging all that wet, sandy, mildewed laundry home to wash it. I did a small load each day, and we were good to go. The best part? I had no laundry to do when I got home.

This place wasn't cheap, but it was worth every single penny. If you're looking to take a beach vacation and think this might be your place, email me and I'll be happy to share the contact information.

The boys have declared that we MUST go back next year. If we start saving now, maybe we can make it happen. I felt at home there.