Blue Skies, A Blinding Sunrise

Granny And Her Girls

The Playfulness Of Youth

6:35

It's 6:53 and Beth, Drew and I all were up around 6:30, no doubt from the brightness in our rooms. It's low tide, vast tide pools on the beach, and hardly a soul other than me, out taking a few pictures of the morning sunrise.  So many people miss this time of the day.  In fact,  I did until I retired five years ago.  Mornings on water, however, are especially picturesque when the sun rises and sparkles on the water.

Mary And Tom

Jill Sort Of Loving It

It's amazing to say Day Four at the beach because it seems like we just got here. Yesterday we were late getting out on the beach for some reason, a mistake I think but hey, I am just one of fifteen who would rather dawdle in the morning.  Beth and I did go for a walk around 9:30, thinking we might go as far as Surf City, not realizing it's about eight miles away.  We settled for an hour walk, high tide so we were often up against the dunes.  Beth loves looking for shells and now shark teeth, so she is always looking at the sand while my eyes are on the sky, the water, the houses along the beach.

Surf City Fish Market

Around 10:30, since some were still sleeping, four of us drove into Surf City, your typical tacky beach town to the fish market.  At our grandson, Tyler's request, we were having a Brazilian stew, with a coconut base.  The fish market was modest, with huge ice chests filled with fish.  We picked up mahi mahi, monk fish, scallops, shrimp, mussels, and oysters for an appetizer.  We then stopped at the IGA across the street for the rest of the makings and fortunately, we found all we needed, even the coconut milk.

Mitch

Marlena

Marlena

When we got home around noon, everyone had made it to the beach, so we joined them and we all stayed down the rest of the day until around 4:30, the heat of the day so to speak.  Some came up for lunches, others just stayed down to enjoy the sun and water.  The girls really got into riding the waves on their belly boards, so they spent much of their time catching waves.  Others took walks, cooled off in the water, waiting for the low tide tide pools to accumulate.  We of course had a cooler of beer on the beach, thanks to Drew, to keep us well hydrated. We ended the day lounging in the tide pool with the kids, not wanting to get out of the water. Ramiro had to leave for Dallas around 4:00, for work, so we are down to fourteen, and later this morning, Tyler flies back to Dartmouth, so we will be down to just thirteen of us for dinner.  Sad to see them go.

A Couple Of The Chefs, Tyler And Tommy

The Tipsy Spectators, Jill and Mary

Beth, Tyler, and I had done some prepping for the dinner around 3:00, then went down to the beach but the major work was yet to be down.  I cleaned the mussels, Evie and the girls shelled the shrimp, Beth and Tyler made the soup base, and Mitch, Evie and I deveined the shrimp.  Around 6:30, everyone was gathered in the kitchen, so Tom shucked the oysters, for appetizers, and we then began the stew, by cutting up the fish in pieces.  Tom and Evie then seared them, also the scallops before Tyler dropped them in the stew along with the mussels, adding the shrimp the last three minutes.
We served the stew in bowls, with a side of rice, lots of garlic bread and a salad and we had a feast for Tyler's last night at Topsail. Dinner was worth the team effort and even some of the kids seemed to enjoy this exotic treat.

Bissells At Dusk

The kids did up the dishes, and Beth and I went for a nice walk on the darkening beach.  By the time we got home, we could hardly see the shells and it was high tide, so we were walking a narrow path along with only a few others on this lovely evening.  The gang then watched Shark Week until 10:00 when everyone but the girls seemed ready for bed.  I don't know what they eat to keep them going but I want it.  I think it's called youth.

Today, six of us are driving to Wilmington, to drop Tyler off at the airport, then driving to the port where Tommy and Drew have chartered a fishing boat for the afternoon.  We expect them to bring back lots of fish for dinner.