Mid to late September at the beach....

....first things first: it's STILL really

nice here. If you have the chance, this,

to me, is one of the best times of the year

to come to the coast. The water, still

VERY warm and the air is a bit cool

though still warm enough to enjoy a

day at the beach.

Lately, there has been a lot of

rough surf (rip's have been bad for

the past week or so...) but a bad day

at the beach is still better than a

good day at work.....below are

pictures from the past week......I

hear there was a hurricane somewhere

out in the Atlantic (plus some lunar

activity..) that caused the unusually

high surf action.....click to enlarge.....

......until next time......

September morning.....

....until next time.....

September......

It's been roughly 3 years since I

moved to Wilmington. Three YEARS.

Before I moved here, I used to

vacation a lot around Morehead

City and I always loved September

at the beach. The crowds were gone,

the air was cool, the water was still

WAY warm and the rooms were

half price! It is an absolutely great

time of the year here at the beach.

Below are some pictures I've taken

around the area the past few weeks.....

First: Fort Fisher

I ran out to Fort Fisher a few days ago...more

like a week ago.....I discovered that at the end

of the road, there is a jetty that one can walk

across......with decent shoes, mind you, it is

very slippery....... Click to enlarge....

...it will take you to an island! I did'nt

know this existed until last week.

I did not make it to the island on

this day but I will......

Next.....Carolina Beach.

We went today, after work. Cool air,

warm water, no crowds.......excellent

conditions.....click to enlarge.

...and finally, home sweet home.

Below are pictures from the backyard.

The state port is visible from the backyard.

You can see a distant shot and a zoom

of a ship being serviced at the port....

...and last but not least.....

The obligitory cat picture of

the week......

Beetlejuice in the backyard.......

...until next time.....

Hurricane Earl...part 2....Now with Video!

After work, I ran to the

beach for further updates.

First stop.......

Carolina Beach.

Big ass waves...rough surf.

Below are the pictures....

click to enlarge.....

Next stop...Kure Beach Pier.....

click to enlarge.....

...and then....

Fort Fisher.....

After coming home, I stayed

awake until roughly 10 pm.....

it never even rained here.

Below are a few videos I

grabbed while at the beach.....

...enjoy.

Hurricane Earl....part 1

Alright now.......I went to the beach

today around noon. The great parking spot

kinda foreshadowed what I found: very rough

water, big waves, bad ass rip. Red Flag

Day. Not a whole lot of folks on the

beach (though there were a few...).

Other than that, it was beautiful out

there. The water is still very warm

and clear for the most part. It may

be hard to tell from the pictures, but

the waves were huge (by Carolina Beach

standards) and the water was washing up

(very noticeably) higher than normal.

I stayed about 2 hours and as I was

leaving, the life guards were instructing

everyone to get out of the water.

I hope to get back out again, tomorrow,

after work.....things should be impressive

considering what I found today and, also,

considering Earl isn't that close yet....

Enjoy the pictures......click to enlarge...

The above picture shows best the scale

of the waves versus people while the

below shows someone who doesn't

seem to mind at all.....

...until next time......

Getting old......

First things first.....

Hurricane Danielle's effect on

Carolina Beach is evident below.

High rip currents, very rough surf.

I went out today after work to take

a peek even though I knew I wouldn't

be able to swim (red flag day). Big

waves and a horrendous rip was what

I found.....below are the

pictures...click to enlarge...

....and that brings me to this.

This past year has been a year of

reunions. Thanks largely to Facebook

and Sidney Smith (whom encouraged

me to join Facebook), I have been able

not only to reconnect with a lot of

friends online, but I have been able to

meet up with a few here in Wilmington...

living at the beach has it plusses...about

everyone comes here at some point....

This past week, I got a message that an

OLD friend was coming to town (or close

to it...Wrightsville Beach...). I got his

phone number and called the next day.

It's been about 20 years since I saw

Brian Plaster....we met up, hung out,

and had a good time. He currently runs

Johnny's of Carrboro....in, oddly enough,

Carrboro.....and is doing very well....check him

out on Facebook (search 'Johnny's of Carrboro')

Below is a picture of us then (1988) and

us now (2010)....very good to see him.

...until next time.

Mid August.....

Not much to say...just

enjoy the pictures.....before

you know it, it'll be cold as

hell and we'll all be bitchin'

about how we

'wish it were summer'

again.....I'm gonna enjoy this

beach thing until I'm sick of it!

Click to enlarge......

Don't take shit for granted.....

...until next time.