23 February 2016

More beachy photos

Here are some more photos from my Sunday afternoon excursion. The beach at Morehead City is a 25-mile-long strand of sand along a barrier island that protects the mainland from the Atlantic Ocean. It faces south and is bathed by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.


Of course warm would be an exaggeration at this time of year. All the same, I was surprised at how mild and pleasant the southwest breeze felt Sunday afternoon. The inland waters of the sounds and rivers, which are not as deep, seem to be much colder than the ocean itself, and breezes blowing across them are chilly.


Late Sunday afternoon we — my sister, a cousin, her son, me, and MA — drove to a place called South River (pop. 300) to visit and have dinner with friends who've lived there for the past six or seven years after relocating from Florida. They have a great house built on pilings at the edge of a creek that flows into South River, which is more tidal than fast-flowing.


One of the South River friends is a guy I grew up with here back in the 1950s and '60s. We have a lot of memories of Morehead City the way it used to be (our families were neighbors and friends), and we had a lot of catching up to do since we hadn't seen each other in, probably, 35 years. His wife comes from Buffalo, NY. It's a 45-minute drive through woods and marshes from Morehead City to South River, where there are no grocery stores or other services.


My mother wore herself out over the weekend, so she rested yesterday. I had to do some laundry. It's supposed to turn rainy for the rest of the week, but most of yesterday was like Sunday weatherwise. I bought a jar of Polish sauerkraut at the supermarket in the morning and tried it with some local pork sausage. It was, well, too "sauer"  I'm afraid. I should have rinsed it in running water after I took it out of the jar and before I seasoned it and heated it up. That's what I do with sauerkraut in France, though it's not sold in a jar but raw and in bulk. It's milder and better. I'll rinse the next batch when I take it out of the jar.

P.S. For dinner I had a shrimpburger from El's Drive In, a local institution.

11 comments:

  1. Thinking of you and your Mum, Ken... God's strength!

    I love the last pic... so British!!
    Especially the folks on the left.... behind their screen...
    reminds me of Summer on the beach at Polperro in Cornwall...
    dead boring... I far preferred the rock pools,,,,
    with their bullheads, tiny crabs, sea anemones and seaweeds!
    On a beach like this I walk along the tideline...
    seeing what I can find... driftwood, shells, flotsam and jetsam....

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    1. I don't know from British, but the people behind that screen were probably seeking protection from blowing sand. The N.C. coast is all sand. There are no or very few rocky tidal pools.

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    2. South Coast Cornwall beaches are much the same...as with a lot of the channel beaches... Devon, Dorset
      With a wind from the souwest in Summer, there was nothing between us and North America....
      And hardly a rock pool...they are all on theNorth Coast of Cornwall....
      we used to stay in a place called Port Isaac...those were the days....
      when sandwiches on the beach meant exactly that...sand!!

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  2. Of course, it's Sunday, but I'm surprised at how many people are on that very extensive beach. Not too many other entertainement?

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    1. Weather forecasts had predicted temperatures in the low 70s ºF (low 20s ºC), so people headed to the beach. In reality, the sun stayed hidden, and a strong wind blew in off the ocean, but while it wasn't as warm as predicted it wasn't at all cold. I too was surprised to see so many people out on the beach.

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  3. Oh, too bad about the too sauer sauerkraut :) It's always disappointing to be looking forward to a meal, and then have it turn out not to be enjoyable. Glad you had the shrimp burger!

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  4. My Dad used to go fishing off of Morehead City .. he and a bunch of friends would hire a boat to take them out.
    North Carolina has some lovely beaches.

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  5. A shrimpburger sounds wonderful.

    Wonder what your water temp is? When I looked last week, the ocean water was 59 degrees in Santa Monica. We've had some 90 degree days, but it's cooled down a bit.

    Glad you're getting to see old friends.

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    1. This web page says the current surface temperature of the ocean at Morehead City/Beaufort NC is 64ºF (nearly 18ºC).

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  6. It's been a long time since I've eaten at El's. I know you enjoyed that shrimpburger!
    I'm glad MA is resting today.

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