Man the Tuesday after Labor Day is always like a double Monday. Glad I finally reached the end of it so I could get back here and catch up with the board.
We went down to Core Banks for the holliday. It is on the southern most point of North Carolina's outter banks, the barrier islands that give it its eastern shape. We had both been there seperatly when we were younger, 30 years ago, seperatly before we ever met. In those days fishermen rented a fishing shack for a dollar a year and brought their old junk cars down there on the ferry. The place was littered with car carcasses in those days. When they quit running they just left them to catch the blowing sand and make a toxic sand dune.
Much different place today, the federal government came in and cleaned up the cars (well most of them) and tore down the fishing shacks. They were replaced with modern cabin with running water, a gas stove and water heater so you can have a shower, and a little house to park your generator if you want electricity.
We took off on Thursday evening, after dark driving into the outer edge of tropical storm Ernesto, a harrowing experence. By 11 pm the rain was coming 50 miles an hour sideways at us. The storm drains were small lakes and we were hydroplaining. Cars were only ocassionally going the other direction. It became Friday, and on the radio Madonna sang "Like a prayer" Yep that was us, and soon it was followed by "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"
We stayed the night in Morehead City, and rose the next morning to drive the final hour to the ferry. A few branches down, all the numbers from the gas prices were gone, and the coast guard was not letting the ferries run until 3:30 pm. Nothing was open, there was no electricity. All the stores were full of people standing around, starting their holliday early.
Once we backed the jeep onto the island from the teeny-tiny boat, we checked with the ranger, who told us we didn't need a key, he'd already unlocked it for us. If we locked it we would have to find him to get back in. Imagine a place where you are encouraged to leave the doors unlocked. The weather cleared up and we had two wonderful sunny days among fishermen and their "sand yachts" big giant Winnebago type campers with attacked porches and racks to carry their cans of gas.
Our first trip to the beach, a mere hundred yards from the cabin door we saw on the beach an 8 cyl. engine and a frame exposed on the beach by the storm. Marveled at it, like it was our confirmation we were in the right place, just for a bit, the next day it was barely visable, the next day it was gone entirely.
Having knocked out one in a series of Coronas, I filled the bottle with sea water and then dribbled sand into it, the escaping water loosining the sand in my hand to feed the bottle. I resolved to take it home and let it dry and have a sand painting of the tan and black sand as it had settled.
Last morning I threw my back out, no I was just putting on my underware! It was murder, but at least it happened at then end of the trip. The older I get the more I start to worry about things giving out on me. I was able to drive most of the way home, recalling what things looked like in the driving rain. Touring Beauford and Havelock, such a nice spot on the map.
This morning I looked at my bottle of sand and saw a tiny creature swimming in the water at the top. Guiltily I had no idea what to do, not like I could just let it go in my yard. Amazed that such a tiny life could have slipped thru my hand undetected into a beer bottle.
