The Calm (and fun) Before the Storm

As the end of this week nears, so does something else - and it's not something as welcomed and happy as a Friday and subsequent weekend. A hurricane is churning out in the Atlantic Ocean and is getting closer and closer to me and my family (and a few million other people) with each word I type.

Well, there's goes our beach plans for Saturday! Instead, at the normal time we'd be heading to the Crystal Coast, I will be about six hours into a 12 hour shift at work since we start wall-to-wall coverage Friday evening; my husband and daughter, Georgia, will be two hours away in Raleigh (far enough inland to be protected from the hurricane's worst); and the beach that normal makes us laugh and smile will be rain-soaked and wind-racked as Hurricane Irene pounds the NC Coast. Yeah!

So, I figure now is a good time to finally get up my post on our beach visit this past weekend.




My hubby and I dug a Georgia-sized hole in the sand, and our little pink polka-dot didn't even let us finish digging before she plopped her little self right down into that wet sandy depression.




Ha, ha - but getting out wasn't as easy...


But sandy holes and sandy hands weren't enough to stop Georgia from taking a break in the umbrella's shade with one of her new favorite fruits - plums!



The saltiness of beach lips on the sweetness of the purple fruit - ah, perfection. Growing up minutes from the beach, I spent many-a-day covered in sand. I remember well the summer-ripened plums my mother would toss on top of the ice in our cooler, making them cool and refreshing when I finally bit through the fruit's tangy skin. It makes me wonder what Georgia will remember of our beach trips 30-something years from now. My memories are just as sweet as those plums.

Before we stopped at the beach, we also visited some bricks and mortar a little older than my plum memories. Fort Macon was built in the 1800-somethings and used in the Civil War and even World War II.








While my husband and I enjoyed the beauty and history of this amazingly-intact fort, Georgia preferred running circles 'tween the walls.





A mix of new memories and old made for another fabulous day on the NC Coast.