Knee Deep In Salt Water

Saturday, May 1, was a magnificent spring beach day. When I got up in the morning, I knew the air felt different. It was my lucky day. My boat ended up being my office. I took a client up the White Oak river from Bluewater Cove to River Oaks Plantation. He had been wanting to take the trip since February, and I kept telling him to wait for some decent weather. Today was more than decent weather, it was wonderful weather for being on the beach. It was a little windy for a serious boat ride, but it was fine for the short trip that we took up the river. After my boat trip, some lunch, and few more yard chores, we headed off to the beach.

The temperature when we left the house in Bluewater Cove was about eight-five degrees Fahrenheit. When I glanced at it over on the shore, it was seventy eight degrees. The big surprise was that the island was filled with a strong showing of visitors this first weekend in May.

Traffic was not bad through Emerald Isle at 3:30 PM, but Jordan's Seafood already had a good crowd. We had planned to go to the the Eastern Regional Access but when we got there, it was packed. We decided to go on up the beach to the Third Street Beach Access to see if we could fine a less crowded spot.

Luck was with us, there were only two cars in the small parking lot. We walked up the ramp to the beach acces, and my wife said that it would be nice to see a different beach than Third Street. When we got up to the small observation deck, it was pretty obvious that the beach was far different than any other of the many times that we have visited. The water was so low that you could see the shallow trough of water just off the shore.

Being the brave soul that I am, I waded through the waters which got just above my knees. When I climbed up on the small sandbar, I knew that it was the right spot to take some pictures I was so excited about getting a few new photos that I hardly felt the sixty-five degree water, After the first thirty seconds it was refreshing and not even cold.

On a hot summer day, word of a great shallow swimming area for children like we saw at Third Street on Saturday would quickly travel the length of the Island. I saw dozens of young children frolicking in something very similar at the Point off Inlet drive last summer, Today I took several shots including one of a A Ruddy Turnstone.

As the water started coming up on my little island, I decided to wander back to the shore. I stopped on the shore to take some more photos, and a bikini clad lady walking along the beach stopped to compliment me on my tee-shirt which suggests that life is better if you quit your job and get a tan.

The beach walker turned out to be from Denver, North Carolina. It was her first trip to Emerald Isle. She had already fallen in love with our beaches. She seemed pleased that we were not another Myrtle Beach and that our night life consists of walking the beaches.

After our wonderful visit to the beach, we drove back to the Food Lion at Emerald Plantation. There we picked up some strip steaks that were on sale, Our next trip was to visit a friend who had offered us a second batch of fresh lettuce from his garden.

With all our errands done, we headed home where my wife fixed a salad while I grilled our steaks. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day. I suspect that I will never forget wading across that trough of cool ocean waters to the small island of sand. It was almost too beautiful. I posted a few of the pictures just to keep the memories of the day fresh.

I also did a YouTube movie of a surfer with a kite. We really enjoyed watching the surfer. He did a great job staying upright. After thirty minutes of being pulled up and down the beach, he came ashore. I suspect his Saturday night's sleep was very sound.