They Do What to the Crabs?!?!!

Leaving the Outer Banks, we traveled along NC-12 towards Virginia Beach passing Jockey’s Ridge State Park and the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Opening the picture will allow you to see a person walking atop the huge sand dune at Jockey’s Ridge. You can read more on the park and the memorial in the blog entry from our visit to the area in May 2008.

We didn’t do a lot while in Virginia Beach. Drove down to the beach the day we arrived just to check it out….large beach area, windy, and only a couple people there. The dolphin in the front yard of this beach house is just one of many that appear all over the area and each is painted or decorated differently. During our stay, we also saw the new Star Trek movie, and it was excellent. They did such a great job of casting that at times the young stars looked as if they really were younger versions of Shatner, Nimoy, etc.! Russ and I figured the last time we had been to a movie theater together was about 4 years ago, so this was a real treat.

Since the internet connection was not good at the campground and I needed to post the blog, we drove down to the Boardwalk for a better signal. It drizzled and rained most of the day so no beach time; we just drove around looking for somewhere good and reasonably priced to eat. (Passed this building with a cool mural painted all around it.) On a recommendation we headed towards a place not on the Boardwalk and ran across a seafood shop that had quite a number of soft-shell crabs for sale. For those who don’t know, soft-shell crabs are considered a delicacy and are not always available. As crabs grow larger, their shells cannot expand, so they molt the exterior and have a soft covering for a few days. They are meant to be eaten whole in this state, generally cooked lightly breaded, and Russ really likes them. Not having ever cooked them, I was asking this older lady who worked there how they are “killed” before cooking, afraid I might have to hit them on the head with a mallet or something. She replied, “basically you cut off the face, pull out the lungs, and that pretty much quiets her down.” Now that was definitely a visual I didn’t need!! She said they’d do it for us, but that pretty much put an end to me wanting to have anything to do with them! We wound up eating at a restaurant near the campground that had also been recommended, sharing a huge seafood platter (no, there were no soft-shell crabs on it!)

From Virginia Beach we were heading to my sister’s in Rehoboth Beach, DE, and decided to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (http://www.cbbt.com/history.html). It’s considered the world's largest bridge-tunnel complex consisting of more than 12 miles of low-level trestle, two 1-mile tunnels, two bridges, almost 2 miles of causeway, four manmade islands including a pier and restaurant, and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads, totaling 23 miles. It provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia.











Just on the other side, traveling north, is the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge (www.fws.gov/northeast/easternshore). We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, initially just stopping to get some info and ask a couple directional questions but wound up chatting with the ranger for a few minutes. On one of the walls was a piece of artwork created by area high school students of a paper-mâché turtle on which they had attached pieces of balloons and their ribbons symbolizing the danger these items can be to wildlife. Also, they had a huge whale bone skull and a large glassed in wildlife viewing area complete with binoculars. They also had a live camera feed of a nesting osprey, which was pretty cool. We didn’t stay for the 16 minute video because we had to get back on the road, but it was a pleasant side trip.







Not far from my sister’s is Mountainaire Farms, a food processing plant, and on the way we passed one of their trucks full of live chickens heading for the plant…almost makes you re-think eating chicken!



The campground near my sister’s does not allow check-in until 2pm, so once we got settled, it was nearly 4pm before I left for her place. Fortunately she only lives about 20 minutes away. After the initial greetings saying hi to her husband, she and I left for our annual first night ritual of dinner and a movie. We ate and had “perfect” margaritas at Applebee’s, and then saw The Soloist, another great movie.

Julie had made reservations for a free tour on Tues. at the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (http://www.dogfish.com/). Opened in 1995, they started with only 2 12-gallon kegs and are continually expanding the operation. In fact they are in the midst of another expansion and have guaranteed that next year’s tour will be different. The place is run by some crazy, kooky people, and they try to keep the day-to-day activities light and fun. They are currently brewing up to nearly 20 styles of beer that are sold in more than 25 states. After the tour, we got to mosey up to the bar and sample 4 of their “off-centered ales”. That night we ordered pizza, drank some wine, and watched the first part of the American Idol finals. This is the first year I have watched AI from start to finish, and Julie and I have been having weekly fun e-mail exchanges regarding the contest. We were excited that the finals were going to be during my visit.

For the last couple years we’ve planned to spend some time at the beach but something always kept us from doing so. Though it was a little cooler this time of year, guess the third time was the charm because we finally made it. We spent a couple hours at the beach in Lewes on the Delaware Bay side, just relaxing and enjoying some rays. Not far down the beach at the ferry terminal sat the Kalmar Nyckel (http://www.kalmarnyckel.org/) a replica of one of America’s pioneering colonial ships which serves as Delaware’s seagoing goodwill ambassador and is docked here in the summer for a crew training program. I also got a nice shot of the Cape May – Lewes Ferry as it departed with the Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse in the background. Later back at her place, she cooked her “famous pasta dish” for dinner, and after the AI final show (Adam was robbed!), we said our good-byes till next year’s visit.










The next morning it was time to head for Russ’ sister’s house in Atco, NJ. We took a back road for part of the trip and while still in DE, passed the Taylor’s Bridge School built in 1923. The school was closed in 1949 and has since operated as a community center. Traveling further down the road, we could see the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in the distance. For miles you could see the stack and though actually located in NJ, I was able to zoom in with my camera and get a great shot. And here’s a bit of trivia: Bruce Willis worked at the plant as a security guard before pursuing an acting career.

We arrived at Terri’s house Thurs. afternoon and will report on that visit next week.

Life’s A Beach!

Driving from Charleston to where we would catch the ferry at Cedar Island, NC, was a relaxing, enjoyable, and interesting drive. We passed the U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship Memorial (though I couldn’t get a good picture of the ship as we drove by), and Hwy. 17, on which we were traveling, goes right through the middle of Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base. In fact along this stretch of the highway are signs indicating that the road has been dedicated as Freedom Way. Most of the actual base is shrouded by trees and chain link fence along both sides of the road, but you can see housing barracks and the occasional sentry gate. One we passed was for the Marine Corps Air Station, New River Camp Geiger, School of Infantry. Their main entry sign reads “Pardon Our Noise It’s the Sound of Freedom.” There are a couple towns along the road with stores and restaurants presumably for those who live on and off base, and everywhere you looked you saw yellow ribbons tied on trees and large signs on the chain link fences welcoming home various soldiers by name. Quite a moving sight.

Further down the road in Morehead City, we found that train tracks are the center divide right down the middle of the highway! We were traveling north and heading southbound was the engine followed by two cars. Cross traffic has to really be careful!

Originally our plan had been to spend the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Morehead City, which is about 40 miles from the ferry, but Russ discovered that we could actually park just outside the gate entrance the night before. Since our reservation was for 7:30am and he was told that they might start moving us onboard when the gates opened at 6am, it seemed the logical thing to do. We arrived about 6:30pm and there was already another RV parked, planning to spend the night, too. Bill and Carol have been fulltimers for 4 years, and it was going to be their first visit to the Outer Banks. For those of you who may not know, the Outer Banks is a 200-mile long group of islands off the North Carolina coast that separate the Atlantic Ocean from the coastal sounds and inlets. These islands with their beaches, sand dunes, marshes, and woodlands are all part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore operated by the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/caha/).

There are bridges connecting a couple of the islands and a couple ferries connecting the others. This first ferry would take us 23 miles to Ocracoke Island, cost $45, and take 2 hrs. 15 min. to get there. Reservations are strongly suggested especially for a coach our size. Besides our two RVs, there was a tour bus with high school students and the rest were cars. As you can imagine, weight and balance are a key consideration as they load you onboard. The ferry wasn’t very full this trip and could have easily accommodated more cars, but we were happy with it the way it was as it allowed us more room to walk around. In fact we even took the dogs out for a walk! We caught up on a couple TV shows we had taped, chatted with Bill and Carol, and took the stairs to the upper deck for a view of the top of our coaches.











As we approached Ocracoke Island, we had a great view of the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Standing 76 feet tall, it is North Carolina’s oldest functioning lighthouse, and Bill was looking forward to climbing it during their trip. After disembarking from the ferry, it was a 14 mile drive to the next ferry that would take us across the Hatteras Inlet. The Outer Banks are only about a mile wide in most areas with NC State Hwy. 12 one lane each way down the middle. Driving along this road you can even see the ocean between sand dunes!

This second ferry is free and does not take reservations, but we arrived in plenty of time for the 11am ferry. When we arrived, there appeared to be two lines and we were directed to the one on the left. As it turns out, the one on the right was for commercial vehicles and island residents who have a special pass. We soon learned that the folks in the right line had priority for boarding, and if there was room, those of us in the left lane would be allowed to board. Bill and Carol were in front of us, and initially we thought there was a possibility they would get on the 11am one but definitely not us. Another big commercial vehicle arrived and that knocked out their chances of boarding since these are smaller boats. We learned that depending on how many vehicles arrived for the right lane, we could be there all day waiting to board! The ferries were scheduled to run hourly, and since it was starting to rain, I decided to make us some lunch. No sooner had I started putting the sandwiches together than the ferry operators indicated it was time for us to board! Only 15 min. had passed but evidently they were running more ferries that day. So I held on, finished the sandwiches once we were on board, and during the 40 min. ferry ride, we ate lunch, watched some more TV, and Russ surfed the net. Not sure how many ferries were actually running that day, but we passed another one on the way, and as you can see by the photo on the right, there were plenty of cars lined up waiting to board going back.

When we arrived at the campground, I asked if we could get a site closer to the ocean, and happily they were able to accommodate us. The first row is for members only, but they placed us in the second row which put us about 100 yards from the sand dunes that separate the campground from the beach with only another 100 yards to the water. Shortly after arriving at the campground, we took the dogs for a walk on the beach and enjoyed the beauty and power of the ocean. Since we had visited most of the tourist attractions here last year, we spent most of our time walking on the beach, collecting shells, and just hanging out. During one of our early evening walks, we spotted several of these ghost crabs scurrying into and out of their holes in the sand. (If you’d like to read more about the area and last year’s visit, simply click on May 2008. There are two entries: The Outer Banks and "From Kitty Hawk to the Moon in 66 Years".)

It was windy as usual everyday, but one day a storm rolled in with winds about 30 mph and had the RV a-rockin’ all night! Earlier that day before the storm hit, we decided to visit the Bodie (pronounced like body) Island Lighthouse (http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/bodielh.htm) since we had not visited it before, and there was a ranger talk at 11am. Standing 156 ft. tall, it is located 3,800 ft. from the ocean, and the ranger said this was because the ground between was too soft and marshy. However, its height allows it to be seen just fine. Though it is still a functioning lighthouse, the metal stairs are over a hundred years old and in poor shape, not allowing visitors to climb. We were able to go into the attached storage building, and climb the 6 stairs to the base and look up the spiral staircase. One thing that seemed so odd as we turned off NC-12 onto the road leading back to the lighthouse was the tall pines on either side. There are basically no tall trees anywhere else on the islands! We asked the ranger, and he said they were planted back in the 30s but that was about all he knew…gee, thanks.









On the drive back, we stopped at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. Though we didn’t see any wildlife outside, they have some really cool displays inside and out.










Tues. we drove to the beach near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse searching for shells (of which there were many!) and ran across what appeared to be an old shipwreck. Closer observation showed a marking that indicated it was indeed part of an underwater archaeological unit.




With all the wind here on the islands, you can imagine it would be an ideal place for kite flying. (In fact kite surfing is HUGE here!) On a stop at the dollar store, we picked up a pack of 2 kites for a dollar and gave one of them a try. OK, so what do you expect for 50 cents? But finally Russ got it flying…you’re never too old to be a kid again!

Tomorrow we leave for four days at Virginia Beach, and though we won’t be as close to the ocean, we’ll only be two miles away!

On the Road Again

A couple days before leaving Orlando we shopped at Wal-Mart for all the essentials needed the next week. Going up and down each aisle, we always see interesting things, but in the International Foods aisle we saw something that absolutely tickled Russ (to put it mildly!) There seems to be a large British contingency in the area with several British pubs all around so naturally the stores seem to carry several British items. Well, one of the items in that aisle was something called Spotted Dick. Under the Heinz brand name, it is some sort of sponge pudding, but Russ really got a kick out of it! He kept saying rather loudly “have you seen the spotted dick?”, “do you know where I can find the spotted dick?” and so on. He’s soooo amusing!!

Before leaving Orlando we picked up a little souvenir from Disney World. The Folly now lets the world know we’re Disney fans with this silver Mickey symbol placed high on the back of our coach.

Now what better way to spend your wedding anniversary than hitting the road again? OK, there are better ways, but that’s how we spent our 26th on April 30th. After being in the same place for nearly 5 months, we left Orlando early that morning and drove 207 miles to King George RV Resort in Woodbine, GA. Since we were only spending one night, we didn’t unhook the car to go anywhere but instead had a nice dinner at home. Actually we had already had a nice dinner Wed. night at TGI Friday’s to celebrate anyway.

The next morning we hit the road for Charleston, SC, one of my favorite cities. Charleston has a rich history that dates back to 1670 and has played many pivotal roles throughout the course of American history. However this trip wasn’t about reliving all that history since we’d done that when we lived here but rather about visiting friends. We stayed at the same KOA where we stayed last year that is actually located in Ladson, just northwest of Charleston, an easy drive into the city. This campground is very well maintained with lots of nice shade trees and even has a mini “zoo” consisting of a raccoon and a large alligator...both in well-protected cages.

Sat. I met four friends for lunch at North Towne Grill & Seafood (www.northtownetogo.com/) for some wonderful Greek food. I sang with these ladies in Southern Harmony Chorus when I lived here, and it’s always good to be able to get together with time to chat outside of all the hubbub associated with rehearsals. Though singing and rehearsing can be fun, it’s still hard work and does not allow a lot of time to socialize during rehearsals. I knew Missy and Doris were going to meet me but had the added surprise of Edie and Sandi joining us as well. We stay in touch via e-mail but a couple hours just never seems like enough time for a face-to-face visit. Later that afternoon Hank stopped by the rig for a drink and short visit. Hank worked with Russ in Charleston, and the guys had a good time catching up.

The next day we had no visits planned and spent most of the day relaxing, doing chores, and waiting for the Cardinals baseball game on TV. But the game got rained out so we decided to take a drive downtown. We found a place on the street to park (not an easy task!) and always enjoy walking around admiring the history, the architecture, the tourists, and peering in the shop windows. Next we drove around the Battery at the very south end of town, where the Cooper and Ashley Rivers meet, and always marvel at the beautiful, old historic homes. Rumor is that some are haunted! From here we decided to drive over to The Citadel Military College. Founded in 1842, The Citadel has an undergraduate student body of about 2,000 students and another 1,000 students attend The Citadel Graduate College. We had never visited this campus, and though much smaller, it reminded us a lot of West Point. Along one end of the quad are tanks, missiles, and rockets, and on one corner is a huge bronze statue of their bulldog mascot. But silly me forgot my camera! So to see pictures of this beautiful campus and learn more about The Citadel, you’ll have to go to their website (http://www.citadel.edu/main/).

We decided it was time to head home, but at the last minute took the “other fork in the road” and drove across the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge towards our old neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant even though it was in the opposite direction from our campground. I love the architecture of this bridge and it holds a special place in my memories so I always enjoy going across. The bridge, which crosses the Cooper River, opened in July 2005 while we still lived here, and these pictures are from that time. Until recently it was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Americas, and the day before it officially opened, the city allowed citizens to walk across the bridge. Russ and I walked about halfway across and back, and it’s one of our fondest memories just being a part of that history. In fact, here’s a photo of us at the midway point on that day…one we’ll always cherish.

For the short time we lived in Charleston I worked with some great people at CSS International (http://www.cssus.com/ ) on Daniel Island and always make plans to stop by for a visit. I worked for the corporate office, which has a small staff, but the company has quite a number of consultants and sales people nationwide. Unfortunately my former boss was out of town Mon. when I stopped by, but I had a great visit with Betsy, Kirsten, and Wendi, and visited briefly with the CFO, Mike, for whom I also did work. A couple of the sales guys were in town busy preparing a proposal so everyone was staying in for lunch. We ordered from one of my favorite places called Laura Albert’s (http://www.lauraalberts.com/raalberts.com/ ) and ate in the conference room. Though I hated to leave, they needed to get back to work and I needed to get the car back to Russ because he was meeting a friend for a late lunch on the other side of town.

Tues. night it was time to attend Southern Harmony Chorus’ rehearsal. It was so great to see my old friends again. Their Regional contest is this weekend, and the last rehearsal before contest is referred to as Friends & Family Night. It’s basically a dress rehearsal (costumes and full make-up!) in front of an audience of friends and family with the chorus running through a few of their repertoire songs plus their contest package (two songs) followed by refreshments. I had arrived early to see everyone, and once the guests left afterwards, I stuck around while the chorus changed into comfy clothes and began to finetune and nitpick stuff a little more. To keep them in contest performance mode, I was asked to announce the chorus in the manner as will be done this weekend. Having been in a few of these contests, I well know the patter of that announcement and was thrilled to help out. They ran through their songs several times, so I got to play announcer and audience several times! Tom’s a fabulous director, and they are such a great group of ladies that I wish them all the best of luck this weekend. You can check out more about this wonderful chorus at http://www.southernharmonychorus.com/.

Unfortunately it's Wed. and that means it's time to bid adieu to Charleston. But that just means it's time to head towards Camp Hatteras Campground on the Outer Banks in NC and the beach! (I’ll report on our trip there via ferry in the next blog.) I’m sure the water will be too chilly for swimming, but I’m quite sure Abby won’t mind! She had a blast last year chasing the ball and riding the waves! And Russ and I always enjoy just walking along the shore, picking up shells, and being awed by the power and majesty of the ocean.