It is impossible to deny. The Episcopal Lobster Lunches are over, and last weekend was the Mullet Festival. Time moves forward whether we want it to or not.
Even the fall run of spots is at its peak. I talked to a Kentucky gentleman yesterday. His boat pulled in 291 spots on Tuesday.
On top of it all, we have some cooler weather which is not surprising considering 20% of the country is covered with snow.
Actually this past Saturday when the temperature was in the upper eighties, most of us would have voted for cooler weather.
I guess it is just normal to want whatever weather you do not have.
We did have a little bit of a secret summer season over the last week or so, and it was great fun.
Friday afternoon, my fishing buddy, Dean, and I got in a nice afternoon on the water. We anchored and fished by the marshes as you turn to go out Bogue Inlet.
It was just one of the places we managed to catch fish.
The afternoon was one of those spectacular fall days that still feels like summer.
There were plenty of people fishing, and we were all catching some fish.
While I enjoy fishing I throw back most of what we catch.
The day before I had been out with my other fishing pal, Brian, and his dad. That day we caught two nice red drum just off Hammocks Beach. We quickly returned the beautiful drum to the water.
Brian had been out the day before and brought home a couple of nice drum.
So fishing has been good for us and great for some folks.
We have not limited our time in the skiff to fishing. My wife and I had a nice trip up the White Oak to the point where the water is officially fresh water.
It is really interesting to see the White Oak go from almost two miles wide to fifty feet wide. The vegetation also completely changes. It is a little like going to a National Park in your backyard.
The next day you can have rain and then after that wind will set in and keep the waters churned.
Then you can go right back to warm weather like it was last Saturday at the Mullet Festival.
It was cooler at the Mullet Festival on Sunday by the time we got there, but Saturday when we went to enjoy those Episcopal lobsters, it was down right hot.
There are times here on the Crystal Coast when the water, sky, and sand combine to create an amazing environment.
At those times, it is a good thing that I have to work, or I might never come in off the water until winter.
I say that but I suspect it would wear me out eventually. I know the days that I am on the water for five or six hours, I rarely miss taking an evening hap.
I have managed to do a little surf fishing and some hiking along the beach.
I am pretty sure that a couple of times that we have closed down the beach.
While I might worry about being locked in a store, I do not think that I will ever get upset at the idea of being locked on the beach.
I want to spend more time this fall surf fishing, but I will have to wait until the real estate business calms down.
We have a lot of people looking at properties since prices have dropped so much, and there are even some folks who have fallen in love with the area and are buying some properties. Coldwater Creek, which had a number of heavily discounted properties for sale, is down to only having one available.
Hopefully we are finally getting to the point where the housing market might start improving.
I know one thing, we will still have our fair share of good weather this fall. After all I still have tomatoes which need to ripen, and there are some fish out there that need catching.
Why we love it here?
It is hard to say that any place is perfect. There always a balance between what you like and what you don't like. That also changes as you age. At one time I was close to homesteading in Newfoundland.
Today I would steer you to my articles, Ten ways Carteret County met our needs, Why I love living in Carteret County, and to the Crystal Coast Electronic Village Homepage as answers to why we have chosen this area.
From that reading it is easy to understand why we enjoy living in a small subdivision called Bluewater Cove near Cape Carteret. It is what we were looking for in a place to live. It's close to services and close to the beach but not on the beach. We have a dock behind the house and are close to some great trails. I can ride my bike in the neighborhood and not face a lot of traffic.
I also use my kayak on the White Oak River and have learned to love exploring the river and surrounding waters with our skiff.
This area also has some great festivals like the Newport Pig Cookoff, the Emerald Isle Saint Patrick's Day, and the Swansboro Oyster Roast. We were also impressed with the Emerald Isle Christmas Parade.
It is a friendly area with a great future. So right now it is the spot for us. I often write about the area in my other websites. If you are a very avid reader, you might find some content on multiple sites, but usually the content is fairly specific to the sites.
View from the Mountain
Ocracoke Waves
Crystal Coast Living Blog
Crystal Coast Blog 09
Crystal Coast Blog 08
Some archived articles
More Crystal Coast Info