It’s been pretty hot but this is the beach. I like this nearly monochromatic image of the ocean and the pier to the east of our house.
Tagged With: Ocean Isle Beach
Ocean Isle Pier
Beach Umbrella
This is a beach umbrella reflected in a thin film of water on the sand. I like it as an abstract image.
The Dawn Comes Up Like Thunder
Sleeping in is one of the nice things about being on vacation. That being said, getting up at 6:30 has its advantages, as well. It isn’t exactly the road to Mandalay (and there were no flying fishes, as far as I know) but even in North Carolina, the dawn sometimes comes up like thunder.
Sunset, Ocean Isle Beach
As many of you know, we were at the beach last week. I’m going to try to get caught up posting pictures so expect two per day for the next week. We had a relatively easy drive down on Saturday, covering the 420 or so miles in a little over 7.5 hours. It was drizzling when we left home, then south of Richmond we had mostly sunny skies. We had rain going around Wilmington, NC and it was cloudy and threatening after that. The sunset was pretty amazing, with the color from the sky turning the ocean an amazing color.
Stephen, Kai, and the Beach
Most kids love the beach. Of course, kids under a certain age are generally not really up on the joys of playing in the surf or digging in the sand. Kai is only seven months old and he isn’t really well versed in the joys of childhood yet. Or, perhaps I should say the joys of his childhood are, at this point, fairly simple. He went out onto the beach (okay, he was taken out onto the beach) this afternoon and was dressed for the sun. The goggles were a bit much and they came off fairly quickly but I think they suit him. He sat on the sand with his feet in a hole with a little water in it and wasn’t entirely displeased. He didn’t particularly like being splashed, although there was no real danger of him getting into any trouble. It won’t be long until he’s mobile and then the fun begins for his parents. “Wait, he was here a second ago, where did he go?”
Sunrise, Ocean Isle Beach
When you plan your beach trip months in advance, you never know what sort of weather you’re going to get. Some years it’s very hot and muggy, others, relatively cool and pleasant. This year was a cool and pleasant year, a rare but welcome occurrence. I think it barely broke 85°F the whole week. This morning was the only day with a sunrise worth getting up for. The other days either had completely clear or (on Friday) an entirely overcast sky. Today’s sunrise made up for the other days’ lack, though. There were a lot of folks out on the beach at 6:30 watching it, looking for shells in the sand as the tide ebbed (high tide was about two hours previous to this picture).
Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina
Just an average day at the beach. As I mentioned in a previous post, the weather this week was quite mild. Yesterday it was actually cool enough that you wanted to stay mostly underwater when you were out. I like to float on my back when the water is calm, as it was all week, but when I did my toes got cold. Today was a bit warmer but still not hot. Today also brought a few larger swells in addition to the small waves that broke too far in for us to ride. So, today was the best wave-riding day of the week. This picture was taken just before 1:00 PM and it shows the beach at about its most crowded (well, at high tide it was more crowded because everyone had to move up, but about the same number of people). This picture was taken from about the same place as the sunrise picture from yesterday and looking in roughly the same direction.
Mostly Empty Beach
The beach was mostly empty this morning. This picture was taken at about 9:00 AM when the beach is usually beginning to get fairly crowded but the drizzle this morning kept most people indoors. It cleared up quite a bit later on and more people were out but nothing like the last few days. It was also much more humid than its been, although it was still quite cool. It was our last full day at the beach and it was fairly restful without not a lot happening. We did manage to finish a pretty tricky puzzle before the end of the day and we were all pretty pleased with that. Three puzzles over the course of six days, one of which was finished in a single day. The house we were in didn’t really have a good table for puzzles other than the dining table, which was somewhat inconvenient. But we managed.
Ocean Isle Beach
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the family reunion we went to was on our way to a week at the beach. Work has been pretty crazy lately. On the one hand, I really need to be there to get some things done. On the other hand, I really needed this break and I’m looking forward to not really thinking about work all week. This is the view from the deck half way to the beach from the cottage where we’re staying. It’s an older house, smaller than most, but adequate to our needs. This picture was taken around high tide and it’s a rainy morning so not a lot of activity on the beach. As the tide went out and the sun started to shine, the beach filled with people (as you would expect).
Ocean Isle Water Tower at Sunset
We were preparing to go to the Whites’ house, just a little way down the beach, when the sun was setting. There were a couple guys working on the top of the water tower near where we were staying and as the clouds were moving past, there were occasional flashes of lightning and distant thunder. None of is was closer than three or four miles but if it were me up there it would have made me a bit nervous. Anyway, I took some pictures of the water tower with the sunset color in the clouds behind it. It was pretty impressive. Of course, if I had gotten a picture of lightning striking the tower it would have been both amazing and tragic. Fortunately for those guys, it didn’t happen.
Ocean Isle Beach
We spent the better part of the day driving to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina today. We were delayed a little by a flat tire and the time it took to get that replaced but better to have it happen near home that when we were traveling 70 MPH on the highway. Traffic between the Occoquan River Bridge and Fredericksburg was as bad as ever. Actually, worse. Generally the GPS says “Fastest route despite delays” but today it not only told us to get off of 95 onto US 1, it twice took us off of Route 1 onto smaller streets. I’m not entirely sure that saved us any time and the delay added about two hours to the drive, but we did finally make it to the beach and were able to relax a bit. As you can see, we arrived to fine weather and a calm Atlantic Ocean.
Sunset, Ocean Isle Beach
We had a pretty sunset this evening. there was not a huge amount of color but on the horizon it was very nice and I thought it looked especially good through the dune grass growing between our cottage and the beach. We had a nice day with a very calm ocean for swimming. I’m a fan of body surfing and although it was quite calm, there were occasional waves that were good for riding. Cathy prefers using a boogie board, which is fine, but I like the feel of the water.
Silas On The Beach
It’s interesting how differently children react to things. Take the beach, for instance, and the waves from the ocean. Silas seems to really love the water and is happy sitting at the edge of the surf, letting the water come to him. His cousin is more apprehensive. I have no doubt that Kaien will grow into a love for the water to match his father’s but for now, he’s not so sure. Of course, a year from now, Silas might have traded his enjoyment for a more cautious approach. Every kid is different and even one kid changes from year to year. But for now, this little man is enjoying the beach.
Sunset, Ocean Isle Beach
Generally you look west in the evening to see the sunset and the best colors are often in that direction. This evening the best view was to the east, as seen here. Although we’re on the eastern coast of North America, the coastline runs almost due east-west right here. So, rather than the sun rising over the ocean and setting over land, it rises to the left on the beach and sets to the right. Although I took a lot of pictures, mostly what I was doing was enjoying the reflections of the light as each wave receded, leaving a very flat, highly reflective surface on the lower beach.
Sunrise, Ocean Isle Beach
Today was the first day this week I went out to take pictures of the sunrise. I thought about it two other days but didn’t go out. There are often nice sunrises here but I simply didn’t feel like it. Today I did and was rewarded with some nice pictures. When I first went out it was very blue. The clouds and the ocean were various shades ranging from pale to dark. Eventually, the sun actually rose and a fair amount of orange was added to the sky and the reflection of the sky in the water. This photo doesn’t really show much of the blue.
The Family At The Beach
As usual, we took a family photo at the beach on the last day when everyone was still there (George and Carmela left shortly after the photo was taken). Tsai-Hong and Cathy had gone for a walk and were a long time getting back, which created some tension. Of course they were understandably not anxious to sit for a picture the moment they got back. They had walked to the far end of the island and back, covering over eight miles. The weather cooperated, though, as the light overcast meant we didn’t have to squint into the sun or put our faces in shadow by facing away.
Sunset, Ocean Isle Beach
As our week at the beach came to an end, Brian from next door came over to let me know there was a nice sunset and that I should come out with my camera. There was this single cloud, far out to sea, lit by the setting sun, surrounded by the blue of the ocean, the sky, and the other clouds. I’m pretty happy with this picture as a relaxing reminder of a mostly relaxing week. Being with family for a week, it’s inevitable that there will be little things but for the most part, it was very nice and that’s how I’m going to remember it. The cottage we were in this year was good, in terms of layout, giving us the space we needed to spread out. Having the pool was a bonus and more enjoyable that I would have expected. It was shared with the three connected units, but that hardly mattered. One of those units was our cousins and it was nice being so close to them. If nothing else, it meant they could stick their head in our door and let us know about sunsets (and, as it turned out tomorrow morning, leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) hatching at the end of our path to the beach).
Changeable Weather at Ocean Isle
We arrived at Ocean Isle Beach yesterday, after a relatively smooth and uneventful drive. We even managed to get to Richmond in two hours, which on a “beach Saturday” is something to be pleased and amazed at. Because I’m no longer forcing myself to take a photo a day, I didn’t bother with any yesterday, although we did go out on the beach. It was actually nice to be able to enjoy the beach without having to worry about that.
Beach weather can be changeable and the two photos I have here illustrate that. This first one, looking east, was taken at 4:06 PM.
The second photo, looking west, was taken twenty minutes later at 4:26 PM. Of course the clouds to the west were already starting to show up when I took the earlier photo but they were moving to the south at a pretty good pace. In the distance in this photo, just beyond the high rise at the end of the island, it’s already raining. As the clouds moved out and covered more of the island, most people moved back inside. Some, like me, stayed out to watch the clouds until the rain started coming down. At that point, there were lightning strikes within a mile, so it seemed like a good idea to be off the beach.
It rained very hard for a while. When it had passed, Cathy, Dorothy and I walked east to the pier and back, enjoying a quite spectacular sunset.