Beach Bums

Oh my goodness. Brad and I spent the most glorious extended weekend on Ocracoke Island. Aaaahhhhhh. It was wonderful. Look how much fun we had!

Alright. Let me start by describing how great the island ocean was. The sand was smooth and white, the water was nice and warm, and the beaches were completely secluded and empty! Ocracoke isn't a very tourist-trappy kind of island, so it doesn't get overly packed. Also, since school has already started back up, it was even less crowded than usual. Brad and I basically had the luxury of enjoying a private beach! (Which is really great, but also a little sad, because there was never anybody to take our picture! Oh well, we managed...)

We stayed at the Beach House Bed & Breakfast. It was so nice to have a real, home-cooked breakfast each morning. We did eat breakfast with the other couples that were staying there, as well, but it was really fun to get to meet some new people. It was also convenient having the "insider information" about where to go for certain meals, shelling, etc. from the caretakers. Not to mention, it was a very good thing to have a reason to wake up early (well, 8:30 early) each morning. If we didn't have to be down for breakfast, I'm sure we would have slept the day away and missed out on a lot of great island time.

Each morning, right after breakfast, while the tide was still low, we headed to the beach and walked up and down the beautiful shoreline and passed the time looking for shells. We really found a lot of great ones, but many of them were still inhabited. Since we didn't want to uproot any sea life from their homes, nor did we want any crabs or oysters running loose in our room, we politely left them where we found them. But that didn't stop us from taking pictures of their pretty abodes!

Friday, we rented some boogie boards and spent the day riding the waves. We are definitely not professionals, and most certainly looked ridiculous, but we had a great time, regardless.

Each day we were there, the wind and weather picked up and so did the waves (silly tropical storm out there somewhere). Instead of risking getting caught in the undertow (Brad was very nervous of that, actually) we traded the boogie boards in for some beach chairs and an umbrella. We spent the entire day reading on the shore. It was so peaceful and serene.

As the day progressed, the waves climbed closer and closer to our haven. Brad created a defensive sand wall around our chairs to keep the water from reaching us. It worked quite well until one particular wave was so aggressive that it rudely overcame our little structure and then was bound there at our feet in a pile of white sea foam. Eventually, we scooted further up the beach and enjoyed the breeze turning the pages of our books for us until the night fell.

We woke up obscenely early on Sunday morning (before breakfast; even before the sun!) to catch the ferry ride back to the mainland. We were so sad to leave our secluded island and head back to the real world. But it was definitely glorious while it lasted!
Now, just because the story is over, doesn't mean the pictures are. Here are a few more I couldn't resist sharing.

This is our favorite. My incredible husband tapped into his photography skills for this shot. It has happily become the desktop background for our home computer.

You had to walk through these giant dunes to get from the road to the beach.

They were pretty, but they were filled with mosquitoes! We quickly learned to douse ourselves with bug spray before trekking through.

Just look how pretty!

Here's the early morning beach full of shells just waiting for us. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? God is so good!

Can you tell whose is whose?





There is a lighthouse on the island. We couldn't go up in it, but it was still neat to visit.

There's some sort of history with Pirate Blackbeard on Ocracoke. I think maybe he was executed there. Or stationed there, or something. We didn't really do our research. But that didn't stop us from taking advantage of this great photo op!! Pirate Mehaffey looks mean!!

A lot of people that were visiting on the island said they do it every year. Many people had been there 7, 13, 26 years in a row. Brad and I have decided that we're going to be some of those people. In preparation for our future trips, we've taken a picture with the year in the sand. Years and years down the road, we'll have a nice collection of others just like this one, only with different years drawn.

We really had an incredible time. It was so great to just spend time together, cut off from the outside world. God's glory was evident all weekend long in the beauty of His Creation. We are so very blessed...

Of course, if you're interested, there are even more pictures. Who's surprised?