Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, January 7, 2013

December 2012 Beach Trip

From December 11-14,  2012,  we made a quick trip to our favorite beach,  OCEAN ISLE BEACH, in North Carolina.   As most of you know, we go there every May for several days and really enjoy it.  Then a couple of years ago,  we made a 2nd trip there in December.  WELL---we enjoyed it so much in December that we decided to go again.

Why do we enjoy the beach this time of year????  WELL---first of all,  we can walk on the beach and have the entire area almost to ourselves.  Secondly,  this time of year, we can enjoy sunrises AND sunsets from our balcony...  And--you know how much we love sunrises and sunsets over the water!!!!!!   Thirdly, and very important,  we love fresh Calabash seafood --and can't get it in Tennessee... SO--we go to EAT at our favorite restaurants...

I will show you some of our photos from this short trip in a couple of posts.  Hope you enjoy them.  Be sure to click on them for enlargements. Above is a picture George took of me the first time we walked on the beach after getting there on the 11th!!!  I will say that it was quite cold while we were there..  BUT--we still loved it...Can you see all of those people making the beach so crowded???? ha ha




We love walking on the beach this time of year.  Yes,  it was quite cold ---but OH--so much fun!!!!! You can see the fishing pier WAY in the distance.




How cold was it???  WELL---cold enough so that all of these little birds were huddled up together trying to stay warm....  Poor little guys!




This will also show you how COLD, windy and drizzly it was.... BUT--again I say,  it was not nearly as cold as the day we spent at Grandfather Mountain in November.... I've NEVER been THAT cold before....ha




Here  are some of the things we enjoyed at the beach this time:
Top left--lots of birds;  Top right---nobody there but US  (that is George in the picture);
Bottom left---Betsy drooled over that tiny little beach house in the distance--ha;
Bottom right--Great reflection of the pier in the water/sand;
Center--a Sand Dollar I found;  Neat, huh?????




Our motel (Islander Inn) is not far from the fishing pier... SO--when we walk on the beach,  we usually walk to the pier and beyond  one direction --and then walk the other direction at another time.  I took this picture of George as we wandered around the pier.





We didn't get to see the moon over the water this year ---but we did enjoy watching the sun peak through the clouds... I love pictures of sunbeams... Do you?




Finally,  here are some of our photos of the sunset....  After a mostly cloudy week,  the sun came out on Dec. 13 ---and really showed off for us.  Isn't it marvelous?

I have one more post from this trip --including a sunrise and some blue sky pictures!!!! If you want to see that post,  click HERE.

Hope you will have a fabulous Monday!

Hugs,