Memorial Day Weekend - Shoal Nuff'

This past weekend I went to the beach for Memorial Day.  I had an absolutely. fabulous. time. and did not want to come back.  If one thing is true, it's that I belong the near the ocean.  On Friday, my friend Kristen's dad (Captain Vic) took us out on his boat and we rode around for hours.  I could literally do this every day, all day.  I got to see lots of fantastic sea creatures during our ride... Bright, beautiful, purple jellyfish, large sea turtles (I had never seen of these in person, so this was awesome), a stingray, and even dolphins. We also stopped at Cape Lookout which still has a working lighthouse!!

On Saturaday, we went out on the boat with some of Kristen and her husband's friends.  For those of you that have been to the TBMF, this boat ride was like that, but even better (and a hech of a lot classier), becuase we were actually at the beach, and not in Garner, NC.  We went to two different islands/sandbars, grilled out, and socialized.  Rain clouds threatened the sky for the first half of the day and I thought we were going to be on an island in the middle of a very large body of water during bad thunderstorms, but, thankfully, it never rained! I will NEVER hear Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem" without thinking about this day.  We played that song over and over in the boat and everytime I hear it, it makes me want to be back on a boat.  We also saw a boat named "Shoal Nuff''" hence the title of this post. It cracked me up...

(remember how I said I have a white face when I wear sunscreen... my new sunscreen solves this, but I forgot on Saturday and wore the one that makes my face white. Nice huh?)

Later that night with the Husbands

On Sunday, we went out to a shoal during low tide and I beachcombed all over the whole thing! It was fabulous to say the least... I saw lots of huge crabs, live conchs (I sooo wanted their shells, but didn't want to kill the conchs), hermit crabs, and all kinds of other lovely sea things.   After saying over and over "I know there has be sand dollars out here, where are they at," my friend's husband looked down and spotted a monster of sand dollar.  He gave it to me and I am so stoked about it!!! (pictures of my shell finds to come)  After being out there for about five hours, the tide started to come back in and all our dry sand was gone, so we packed it back up on the boat and headed in.  A shoal at low tide is a beachcombers dream! Again, I could do this every day or at least every weekend!  On Sunday night we went to dinner to wind down the weekend (at least for the girls) the guys went fishing at 7 am the next day.



Things I Learned This Weekend:

1. Fried chicken is apparently a must when boating.  The guys made a special point every day to get it before we left.

2. Oyster shells are no joke... The 2 cuts in my foot are proof of that, but they're nothing a little peroxide and neosporin can't fix. and they were TOALLY worth my becombing expierience.

3. If your hair is long, a good, strong conditioner is a must after getting off a boat.

4. I already knew this, but just to reiterate, there is really nothing like the feel of the salt air and the sand....