Well Lucas is now in love with all things Fish & Pirate – so when his Mom & Dad (my Darling Sister & her hubby) saw Beaufort’s Pirate Invasion being advertised they decided they had to come and they invited Gee-Gee & Paw & Aunt Wee & James to join in the fun.
Well since my days off were Friday night & Saturday night and Daddy-O convinced one of his siblings to come watch the Granny and Grand Von said she’d keep an eye on Divo Bug – so Bunny & I decided to go.
(SN Bunny said he hasn’t been beach side 10years & he’s up to 3 in 6 months)
So we all got up way too early in the morning and loaded into the van. We were on the road by 6am
And hit Beaufort around 10a - pulled right into the parking spot for John’s Aunt Pat’s place (A very big thank you to her for letting us stay there for the weekend!!) and unloaded every thing. Turned the sweet little Nephew into an arghing pirate for the day and then headed into historic downtown Beaufort for the festival.
First stop of the morning was the Grayden Paul Waterfront Park for swordfighting & laughter courtesy of the Shadow Players interactive performance.
“The Shadow Players Stage Combat Group are trained professionals. Our art is for education and entertainment only. Do not attempt weapons combat at home or without proper instruction. Go to the neighbors” ~ Shadow Players
This show was absolutely hilarious & it is not to be missed if you ever have the chance to see them perform. Just keep in mind there is an underlying adultness to the proceedings. But raunchy or not this skit was well worth sitting on the ground.
Then our party kinda got separated – Bunny wanted to go looking for shells (via store fronts) so we bounced in & out looking for anything that would please him.
Turned out we were batting a thousand that morning. Hardly any where that he could get something to eat & no one carries Mountain Dew so he became well a bit bratty. We went to the Front Street Grill for lunch and he showed his ass to the hostess & waitress – he pouted because I didn’t want to sit in the sun light but rather under the tent, then when the waitress asked what he would like to drink he just kept saying Mountain Dew. It got to the point I actually had to tell him to stop or I was walking out because I was getting tired of having my day ruined. Then Theresa called & got pissed cause we were already sitting down. I can’t fucking win. (Damn you Mercury!!!)
So after lunch he finally pulled his head out of his ass and started acting like he was enjoying himself. We walked down towards the invasion ran into everyone at Dock’s, talked a bit with them, then decided to head to the encampment and get a good place to watch the trail & hanging. That was absolutely hilarious. You just don’t even know. One of the pirates on trial when asked why he shouldn’t be hung said because of his resale value. Then the Captain got hung because of his bad navigation (took a wrong turn at Bermuda) – and they showed the kids in the audience how that trick was done.
After a fun pirate filled day – Lucas was beside himself wanting to fish. So we all went back to Aunt Pat’s and gathered up the fishing gear.
Almost everyone came down to the docks for fishing. Theresa & Lucas jumped right in fishing – using both rod & cast net. Pa was setting up the crab trap. I ultimately took turns both cast fishing (got a fish 1st try) & rod fishing (caught a crab). Even James tried cast fishing.
After a little a lot of fishing we went out to eat at a place called Sanitary (what a name) and once again Bunny shows his tail. I might just have to rename him to see if that works. LOL. I’m not sure what all the fuss was about. The food was not that good but oh well, right.
After dinner most of us went back down to the dock for some night fishing. Mostly with the cast net, but some rod action. Lucas was so cute (he doesn’t know a stranger really he doesn’t) he runs up to a guy sitting down there and just starts talking to him about all the fish he’s caught. Tickled that guy silly – so he started showing Lucas a couple of fish and let him hear the noises they make. We hung out around the dock until about 11p and then Daddy-O ran us all back to the house. LOL.
Bunny wanted to go shelling this trip so what we decided to do was try one of the Ferry services. After careful consideration we picked The Outer Banks Ferry Service trip to Shackleford Banks. He woke me up at 6a all excited about the day ahead. So we got dressed & stripped the bed then headed down stairs – made cups of tea & coffee then wandered down to the dock for a morning watching the sunrise. The gnats made that almost impossible but oh well that’s life right. Went back up to Aunt Pat’s place to wait for ride to the ferry point, Daddy-O finally ran us down around 8a, making James happy.
We get there bright & early – book our seats on the 1st ferry out. Bunny ran and grabbed us a couple of cinnamon buns & another beverage round and then the storm came up (you can see the dark smudges in the picture). So after the rain the Captain takes us out. He backs the boat up, turns around and kapow – 2 dolphins swimming right in front of us (didn’t get a picture because I didn’t want to risk loosing the phone overboard during the ferry ride, so I put it up in the bag) – just my luck. So the ride over was wonderful, and you get dropped off on the point of the island & then it is up to you.
I picked wandering around & admiring the sights – Bunny digging in the sand, nature, the island ponies, and the water life. It was a relaxing morning, but I’m paying for it now. I’m burnt on my face, back, legs & arms.
The ride back was really fun because the Captain had that boat flying – jumping over the wakes of other boats. It was truly a freeing experience. Then it was back to the docks for more fishing – until the little fisherman decided he was exhausted and ready to go. He started saying he wanted to go to the aquarium and he managed to convince everyone to go. Little devil. Gotta love him. LOL.
So we all packed up and because he was so hot with all his fishing gear on (vest being the worst of it) we walked to the top of the hill before everyone else & he got out of his vest ASAP and climbed a tree. Said it was cooler up there. Then it was back to Aunt Pat’s one last time to check and make sure everything was cleaned up and neat – vacuum ran & floors mopped & trash out.
House cleaning done – on with the adventure. Lunch was the next stop and then the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll shores. Didn’t get any pictures because my phone died. (I hate the battery in my HTC Inspire, but I love everything else about it.) So we wandered around the aquarium looking at all the fish & the have OTTERS!!!! Three of them. I could literally spend the day right there at the otter tank watching them. Really I could. Those little buggers are fast so I was not able to get ANY pictures. But I had a wonderful time watching them. Then Lucas pulled me away and said I had to go look at the other stuff. LOL. They have a couple of sharks, a white sea turtle (Nimbus), fish, alligators, turtles & birds.
All good things must come to an end & this trip is like any other. We loaded back up and headed back to Fayetteville.
Last thing of this truly madcap weekend is dinner at Cracker Barrel. That was funny – every single one of us thought someone else put our names on the list so were are just wondering around the store looking at all the pretty pretties & then I noticed that every other group is getting called before us. So I check and sure nuff – no request. Well we got our name on the list and then finally sit down. To Theresa’s dismay there’s no Sunday Chicken Dinner to be had, but 2nd choices are just as good. Everyone’s tummies got nice & full then it was a short drive back to the house.
Now it’s time for me to get to work.
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