Cape Point

We went to Cape Point yesterday, and there my legs failed me. When the Point was in sight (it's about 1.5 miles from where you have to park), I had to turn back. My calf muscle had knotted again. I was pretty angry about it! Cape Point is such an unusual spot, where you can practically touch the Gulf Stream and where land suddenly banks right at a quicksand intersection.

I returned to the car, while Vic walked on. Vic snapped the pelican surrounded by seagulls at the Point. (Did I say already: no Laughing Gulls?) I snapped the lone sea bird closer to Cape Hatteras Light.

Scenes

One of these I might want to try to paint: The one at the port in Ocracoke, with the upright logs.

The other was taken at Buxton, where two British navy men (one unknown) washed ashore in 1942. This tiny cemetery is maintained by the British Commonwealth. Ocracoke also has a British cemetery -- the U-boat campaign resulted in much loss of English life off the NC coast.

A trip north

When we went north a few days ago, we stopped to see whether the sunken boat and untidy boathouse, which we photographed on our spring trip, had survived the storm. The answer was, Yes and No. The boathouse has been severely damaged, but it stands. The sunken boat appears untroubled, perhaps because it was already securely 'anchored' in the water.

Further north, at Oregon Inlet, the same jelly die-off that's happening in Frisco appeared to be occurring. This was one of several dead jellyfish littering the shore.

Fishing without us

We seem to *see* a lot of fishing, without participating in it. We did bring poles. We'll see whether I can get Vic interested today. The pier at Avon is open.

Gorgeous Ocracoke

It was pretty windy when we got to Ocracoke. The feel of the island is so unlike that of Hatteras. Hatteras feels hardscrabble, pocked by aggressive incursions of money on the shoreline. Its news is full of controversies and tragedies. However, it's as beautiful as it is unkempt.

Ocracoke feels like the Florida Keys, laid back and indulgent, without concern for achievement or wealth. You get the sense that a fisherman and a Rockefeller could chat over beer, without money ever coming up as a topic or an issue. Pelicans, the seabirds who seem most unperturbable, hang out here. You'd expect to encounter Jimmy Buffett, wasting away.

In October Ocracoke still has pink and purple flowers in bloom, trailing along the roadways and popping up beside the eateries. Vic and I lunched at a place called Dijalo, where the hot crab dib and the tempura-battered (spicy) bluefish were heavenly.

Frisco on the beach

From our strolls back and forth. A large number of horseshoe crabs and jellyfish met their ends this week off Frisco, their remains washing ashore, sometimes in pieces. We have encountered few other creatures; birds, but scant humans.

The pier can be seen way off in the background. I purchased a book on NC piers, their histories and ultimate fates. The Frisco Pier has a questionable future.

Staying here is fantastic. The lulling noise of the ocean nicely complements bathing in the sunshine and the hot tub. Not to be associated with the deaths of water creatures, piers, or even parents.

Wreck ashore?

A friendly female nonresident property owner told me that this washed ashore in the hurricane. It came in with a number of other beams, some with brass attachments, that were carried off by persons unknown. In her opinion, these are part of a shipwreck, probably a Spanish one. This piece is, by her reckoning, part of a rudder or steering mechanism. Sounds promising.