A Perfect Sunny Day at the Beach.

After two days of rain, today was just the best. 79 degrees, a light breeze, low humidity and very few clouds in the sky. Took the boat to Beaufort for lunch. The first boat I see at the restaurant dock is Miller Time. Herbert and family had been to Shackleford and returned to Beaufort for lunch.

We went on to Queen Ann's where they allow dogs.  We had grand dog Sally with us. 

After lunch, we went to  Party Island to let the kids and dog play on the sandbar. Party Island is a sand bar across from the  condo that is submerged during high tide. A great place to play and explore at low tide. 

A great day after two days of rain. Oh well, back home tomorrow to mow the grass then back to MHC for the Fourth of July weekend. 

25th of June, a Day to Remember

Today is classmate Herbert's birthday. Today Herbert is 69 years old.  Thought you might enjoy a few photos I happen to have. 

Enjoying the Beach Music Festival at Atlantic Beach 2014

Eating seafood at his house, 2013. 

Captain Miller on his boat, 2013. 

Blowing out the candle last year. 

Herbert and his beautiful wife Barbara. 

Herbert with Johnny and Terry, 2013

51+ years ago he looked like this. HARD TO BELIEVE. 

Entertaining the Grandboys for the Weekend

We are keeping the Grand boys for a few days while their mom is in New Orleans. We have to find things for them to do in order to keep them from playing video games all the time.

This morning was riding the golf cart, visiting neighbor Mr. Mack, visiting his bee hives, putting bird netting over the black berries, and building a bench. And that was just the morning. 

Eamon wanted to build a bench. Check out the hard hats. He is all about safety. 

He really did a good job. 

Brendan preferred the recliner with built in massage. 

Then off for ice cream at Sunny Sky's. 

Putting Legos together. 

Entertaining these boys is wearing me out.

Peach Salsa

NC peaches are in season and the weather here in North Carolina is getting hot. What better way to cool off than with a peach salsa, some chips and a cool refreshment. I saw a simple recipe for pineapple/avocado salsa on the internet so I decided to try my own version using peaches.

Two peaches, one avocado, cilantro and jalapeno. Only used one half of a jalapeno  Also used half a lime, a little salt and a little cumin. 

Turned out pretty good. It's now in the refrigerator cooling. Can't wait to try it this afternoon. 

Cruising the Harlow Canal

The Harlow Canal was originally built by native Americans connecting Clubfoot Creek on the Neuse River with Harlow Creek on the Newport River at Morehead City. Originally built by native Americans, it has been said to be one of the oldest canals in the Western Hemisphere. 

In the early 1800's the canal was widened and improved for use by larger vessels.  When the Intracostal Waterway was built, the Harlow Canal became obsolete and no longer used for commercial traffic. 

The canal can still be navigated by small boats. The water is shallow in places, so high tide is the best time for the trip. 

Today was a good day to make the trip. This photograph was taken at the mouth of Harlow Creek where it is wide and winding. 

You can make pretty good speed until you get in the part that had to be dug by hand. 

The canal becomes straight and narrow in this part.  You can still see some of the boards along the sides that were presumably used for horses to pull boats along the canal.  

It is a pleasant trip if you like nature. You may see osprey or other sea birds.  We saw shrimp jumping out of the water as we slowly cruised the canal.  Today we also got a quick glance at an otter. 

We usually take this trip once or twice a year. It is a fun and relaxing thing to do with a group of friends. Sometimes we take a picnic lunch. 

We were not able to make the complete trip since our boat would pass under only two of several bridges that cross the canal. 

Road Trip--Days Eight, Nine and Ten

Oh no! Not another fort. Yes, we visited another fort. This one is located directly across Mobile Bay from Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island that we visited on day two. Fort Morgan is located just west of Gulf Shores. 

Circa 1834. It is like Fort Gaines, Fort Macon in North Carolina and many other forts build by the federal government during this period. 

Although it was built by the US Government, it was taken by the Confederates and was involved in the Battle of Mobile Bay. After the War it was decommissioned and then recommissioned for WW's I and II but saw no action. 

Mobile Bay has many oil rigs. This one was very near the shore at Fort Morgan so I took a photo. It is  much larger than it looks in this photograph.  An impressive site for a retired engineer such as myself.  I would like know how much it costs to build and operate one of these massive rigs.  I can now see a little better why the cost of crude oil is so high. 

The rest of the trip involved a visit to picturesque Fairhope (sorry, no photos) a small town on the shores of Mobile Bay, a very short visit with son in law Matt's parents in Montgomery and a very, very boring drive up the  interstates home. 

A total of over 1800 miles on this little road trip and my butt is worn out. We had a great time, and I am glad we did it. We saw a lot of this country that we would not have seen had we flown. No more road trips for us in the near future. 

Road Trip--Day Seven

Day seven is a travel day from New Orleans to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  It is about a three hour trip.  Gulf Shores is the Myrtle Beach of Alabama but without so many golf courses.  After arriving and unpacking we drove down to the main attraction, a place called the Hang Out.

It's a little bit like the Atlantic Beach Circle used to be, but with beautifully white sand on the Gulf coast.  There's a large restaurants, live music, entertainment for the kids and, of course, a beautiful beach.

View of the beach from the Restaurant.

The Nashville family.  Daughter, son in law and grandson.

Live entertainment outside the restaurant.

Road Trip--Day Six

Today is Sunday.  Not a whole lot is planned. Just another trip to the City Park for beignets at Morning Call and then across the street to the New Orleans Mueseum of Art. 

Lots of good art inside.  There is a very nice sculpture park behind the museum. Following are a few shots from the garden. 

Back to the B&B to babysit after lunch and later a visit to NOLA Snow Balls for a New Orleans tradition. 

Road Trip--Day Five

Everyone deserves a day I of rest once in a while.  Today is the day. Just a lazy morning and then down  to the Garden District to catch a late brunch.

The area was originally developed between 1832 and 1900 and is considered one of the best-preserved collections of historic southern mansions in the United States. The 19th-century origins of the Garden District illustrate wealthy newcomers building opulent structures based upon the prosperity of New Orleans in that era. (National Trust, 2006)

Driving down St. Charles St. in the Garden District.

Some of the many homes. 

The Big Muddy Mississippi taken from Audubon Park. 

Did I mention that the food here is outstanding?  Blackened Shrimp with cheese sauce over angle hair pasta.

Sun setting over Lake Pontchartraine.

Road trip--Day Four

Day four was just a casual day with beignets at the local park, lunch at our bed and breakfast, a trip to the French Quarter in the afternoon and babysitting our grandson while the parents had a date night.

Morning Call is a twenty-four hour coffee shop located in the City Park only a few blocks from the B&B. 

Morning Call in the Park. 

Baby Levi was the first one to the beignets. 

 Photo bombed by my grandson in the background. 

The most famous beignet shop is Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. Of course, we had to try those also. 

A picture of the St. Louis Cathedral taken from Jackson Square. 

Typical French Quarter architecture. 

Bourbon Street at four in the afternoon. 

We got tired and hot so we ducted in to Dickie Brennan's Tableau Resturant for some cool air and cool refreshments. 

Road Trip--Day Three

Day three was spent visiting Bellingrath Gardens and Home outside of Mobile and the Ohr-O'Keefe museum in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Bellingrath was recommended by my other son in law who had visited it several years ago.  I'm glad we took his recommendation.

Bellingrath garden is 65 acres and the house is 10,500 sq. ft.  The gardens were very nice and the house, although small by Biltmore standards, was a treat.  The inside were furnished just the way the Bellingraths had left it.  The garden was much nicer than those at Biltmore in my opinion.

Photographs are not allowed inside the house, but this shot of the entrance will give you some idea of the style.  If you ever go to Bellingrath in the summer, get there early in the day as we did to avoid the heat.

Next we were off down I-10 to Biloxi to see the Ohr pottery.  I had seen a program on PBS about George Ohr a few years ago and was amazed at his work.  When I saw that our trip was going to take us through Biloxi, I knew we had to stop to see the museum of the "Mad Potter of Biloxi" as he was known. 

George Ohr was born in 1857 and died in 1918. Like many artist, he never made a fortune and was never famous until many years after his death. His work was rediscovered in the 70's when 7,000 to 10,000 pieces were bought from Ohr family and resold. 

His pieces are typicallly very thin walled with unusual shapes, twisted and distorted. 

These are the new pods that are currently under construction on the site that will eventually house Ohr's works.  Like Ohr's pottery, the shapes are unusual, twisted and distorted.

After the pottery museum, we were off to the Big EZ to meet with our Nashville family where they have rented an Air B&B.

First Air B&B we have stayed in, but it was very nice and perfect for our group.

We had to go to the Parkway Bakery and Tavern for the best "Po Boy" in town before we called it a day.