Thanks to my sister Kim and her husband Don, I got to spend last week in Salvo, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We ate well: beef tenderloin, Caribbean Jerk chicken, bratwurst and hotdogs, Talapia with mango, habenero, and tequila sauce, Chicken Divan (an old family favorite), shrimp, and pizza. We drank Margaritas, Pina Coladas, Mojitos, and beers, including a very good Bell’s Brewery IPA called Two Hearted Ale.
It was a pleasure to share the house with, at various times, Kim’s ex-husband’s sons, Brian and A.J, and Brian’s wife Sarah as well as AJ’s girlfriend Tina. Kim’s ex-husband’s first wife, Judy, who is a beach fanatic and the mother of Brian and AJ, joined us on Sunday and stayed the night. That was good since she could be with her two sons for Mother’s Day.
I must say I enjoy the company of all these people. The relationships are very comfortable even though not blood kin by any stretch. I’ve known everyone for so long that the are like cousins, nieces, and nephews I never had. I look forward to the time when my blood nephew Henry and niece Ava can hang out with us all.
The house was cool and within easy walking distance of the beach. I must admit, that since it was early in the season, we didn’t spent too much time on the beach. The house had a pool and a hot tub which we made good use of. The water in the pool was a bit chilly but quite refreshing. The ocean in contrast was much colder and rougher. The waves and the undertow were intense. Any time spent in the water would have involved a struggle and a swimsuit packed with sand.
We did bring the Cornhole boards down and get some good action going. Tina was very competitive. She and Julie did their best to dominate the men but AJ and I were able to fairly consistently come out ahead.
I paddled twice in the Pea Island NWR. That was okay, basically on the Pamlico Sound side, but there were times when the water was just too shallow and I had to get out of my boot and wade to deeper water. I had hoped to paddle twice at the Alligator NWR but worries about the weather kept me from going there for a second day. And of course the weather was fine but by the time I saw that, it was too late.
Overall, the weather was nice, and cool, enough that I slept out on the balconies for four nights! That was good training for camping out this holiday weekend at a friend’s house on the Shenandoah River!
Creatures sighted include:
- Great Blue Herons
- Snowy Egrets
- Great (American) Egrets
- White Ibis
- Red-winged Blackbirds
- Scarlet Tanagers
- Goldfinches
- Ducks
- Brown Pelicans
- Laughing Gulls
- Common Terns
- Tri-colored Herons
- Plover, Willets, etc?
- Alligators
I am terrible at identifying shore birds so I can’t be too specific on many of the birds I saw.
Here is an alligator I spotted on Sawyer Lake in the Alligator River NWR.
There were hundreds of these butterfly’s feeding on these plants as I drove on the wildlife routes in the Alligator River NWR.
Here I am at the end of Sawyer Lake starting my return trip…before I saw the alligator.
These are the remnants of a shipwreck on the beach right near our rental home.
These are White Ibis’s…many of which I saw in two paddles in the Pea Island NWR.
