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August 31, 2005
Clouds
Another great day. It was overcast this morning but we went out to the beach anyway. We didn’t stay long enough to get wet - at least Chris and I didn’t get wet. Zack of course ran right into the water. We walked on the beach a while and decided it was a good idea to ride our bikes to the nature preserve. We went home and threw on some shorts and got on our bikes. Zack loves to ride. I figured we would go to the nature preserve and then come back and go to the beach afterward.
We rode only about a mile for our second attempt at going to the nature preserve. The neighborhoods were beautiful and the ride was cool. We got there and got off our bikes and began to walk through the trails. Green brackish water surrounded us on both sides and we were followed by a cloud of mosquitoes brought out by the previous day's rain. We didn’t get very far when we realized we were going to be eaten up. Besides, we hadn’t seen any wildlife. We headed back to our bikes and rode through the beautiful canopied streets where giant sea pines and oaks hanging with moss covered the road.
It was getting closer to 11:30 and we were getting hungry so we made an impromptu decision to ride to Harbour Town and find a place for lunch. Once again Zack got to play on his favorite playground as Chris and I arrived hot, sweaty and tired from riding. Fully refreshed from sitting in his bike seat and being carted around, Zack ran and played and couldn’t get enough. We then walked into the toy store to cool off in the air conditioning while Zack played with the train. We then headed up to the Quarterdeck Restaurant next door to the lighthouse, on the second floor overlooking the harbor and Calibogue Sound. What is probably a very nice restaurant by night seemed to not mind that we were stinky and underdressed as many tourists riding their bikes are. We had lunch while watching the parasailing and charter boats take off from the docks. We then walked on the pier and looked at all the boats. Then we headed back on the trek home by bike which really isn’t far at all.
The stinky family made it back and Zack got a bath and Chris took a shower. At nap time, I went back over to the beach and had a wonderful hour walking on the beach, sitting in the beach chair and swimming in the water getting sticky and gross and coated in sand. It was hot and sunny and the water was very still compared to the day before. I returned and took a shower while Chris ran up to the shops at Sea Pines Center to look around. By the time he returned it was thundering and lightning and pouring down rain.
We didn’t let the rain stop us. We went to the ResortQuest office and got the key to 10 Forest Drive for a look inside. It still looks very well maintained and in good shape but the decorating isn’t to our taste. Chris took pictures of the house to send to the ResortQuest rental website.
After visiting the house and returning the key, we shopped at Coligny Plaza where we enticed Zack with the prospects of a toy store and a fudge shop. The shopping center looks like a walk back in time but was fun and brought back memories for Chris who had gone there for years as a kid. Many of the same stores were still there. With fudge in hand, we headed to a New York style pizza place to take home.
It took us a good 20 minutes to wait for our pizza in the old time pizza parlor. Chris and Zack played video games and I was glued to CNN as we waited. Just as we got the pizza out to the car, it began to suddenly pour down rain.
We went home and enjoyed eating our pizza and watching it pour in our courtyard. Since we hadn’t gotten much beach time in today, we really wanted to go on a walk tonight but weren’t sure if we would get the chance because off all the rain. Finally, around 8 p.m. the rain let up and we headed out for our walk on the beach.
The storms had just come through and no one was on the beach, literally. The sun was going down and there were beautiful flashes of lightning in the sky way off to the mainland. Just as we took our shoes off and headed for the beach, I looked down searching for shells. Out of the left side of my eye I saw packed sand with rain drop marks on it, completely uniform except for Chris and Zack’s footprints. To the right I looked down and in the dusk I was barely able to make out three perfect starfish in the sand. With amazement, we each bent down and picked one up. Chris got the big one, I picked up the medium sized one and Zack bent down and picked up the small one. A gift from the sea.
We sat them down safely with our shoes and walked on the beach and watched the sun set. We knew Zack had a big day because he was too tired to run on the beach. Of course he wasn't too tired to get completely wet in the ocean and completely filthy in the sand. We hosed down at the beach club and headed home for Zack’s second bath of the day.
Posted by Holli at August 31, 2005 10:13 PM
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