I got the whole week off and decided before we headed out, I was gonna fix that dang rusty spot in the floor board. I'll bet you all know the area I'm talking about.
a cut-off wheel in the grinder, a drill bit, some choice words, A little sheetmetal and a touch of the welder, and voila, no more holes.
Then the bed liner paint to seal it up inside and out.
Now we are ready to go play. You know, its a long boring trip to the beach for a 10 year old. Nothing to do but watch the bushes go by. I remember it taking me and my dad about 8 hours to go to Nags Head and it felt like FOREVER but always worth it.
Hey, thats part of the fun.
Our first stop (besides McDonalds for a McGriddle) was Wilmington NC to see USS North Carolina. Sorry about the crooked picture. I'm a diesel mechanic, not a photographer.
I thought a little history lesson would be a good thing. It gives me a swelling of pride to see something like this. Hell, my Papaw was in the Navy during WW2 and spent time on these noble machines. He really never told me much about it, but I know it had to be trematic for him. All I could get him to tell me was he never wanted to see the ocean again because of what he had seen. We should all remember our Veterans from now AND in the past. They gave alot for us.
Ok enough preachin to the quire. Back to the fun stuff. Once we were on deck, Seth wanted to show his guns under the BIG GUNS. WOOOHOO. Thats my boy!
We took the full self guided tour of the ship. That's a lot of walking, climbing, and reading. They told you to allow about 2 hours to make the whole tour and it took every second of that and more. Lots of interesting stuff onboard seeing how these guys lived (and died).
Seth wanted to snap a salute to all the vets out there
I'm here to tell you the boy has a thing for firearms. Drives me crazy sometimes. He wanted to take this one home with him.
I told him about the projectiles in a 16 inch gun but he didnt believe me till he seen for himself. This is alot of steel to be hurled almost 25 miles.
You know, I always thought it took a whole lot to hold back a FSJ, but this is rediculous.
Well, now its off to the beach for some peace and relaxation. Little did we know there was a Shriners Convention out there that weekend.
This was the view from the balcony though. God I love the beach!
We found us a nice quiet spot to set up and fish. I was told the same thing I always here. "They were really biting yesterday". They always bite better yesterday, but you know the old saying, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work"
"This is where we draw a line in the sand. This is my spot to fish" Too bad the waves washed it away. LOL
The first and last catch of the day. Kind of frustrating, but we refer to the quote above about fishing.
WOW. Here we are at the beginning. "Follow the yellow brick road".................
to supper. I love those Mom and Pop Diners. Great food and great service by great people.
Our first day out on the Kure Beach Pier and Seth drags this little monster in. I had to give him warning that pretty much everything in the ocean has teeth of some type.
We turned it over to a lady from the NC Aquariums to use to show the kids that were coming out to the pier for a visit. We paid a visit to the aquarium ourselves so Seth could see and learn.
Poor old gator would probably break his teeth.
Caught a few Mullet, some small Croakers, and a couple Sea Trout before a group of Blues moved in and wiped them out. Cut one I had on the hook in half.
The last day was the big day for us. Those Blues moved back in along with a bunch of Spanish Mackeral. Our plan was to leave about 3:00 and get home about 7ish. Hey, when they are biting, forget that. I think it was about 5:30 when we started cleaning fish. We did suprisingly good too. You will notice the thief over my boy's shoulder. All the birds out there aren't scared of anything.
Afterwards, it was time to say good bye to the beach for a little while and head back home listening to "when are we coming back?" and "why dont we move out here?". A very good question to which I have no answer because I'v often thought the same thing.
Well, thats my story on this trip. Hopefully the next time will be headed to the mountains for a trout fishing weekend. (after ECI ofcourse.)
