Bald Head 2009

Steven and I started off our multi-week vacation trek at Bald Head Island, NC with Pat and Harold. Although this trip was a full ten days, it flew by as always!

Every day was very relaxing and typically involved a bit of a nap...as is well demonstrated below. :-)












Every night, Pat cooked an amazing meal for all of us! That is saying a lot since there were nine people at the peak of the vacation. (Me, Steven, Dad, Pat, Harold, Jenny, Matt, Angela, Brandon)









We made time to ride bikes and explore.









And we went crabbing a few times! We used the crab pot this time and caught many blue crabs and even a stone crab!









The stone crab doesn't look too intimidating on his back, but he was a buff, feisty little guy!










We saw all sorts of wildlife including two alligators, lots of little turtles, a fox, three deer, a squirrel (big deal for me on the island)....but no sea turtles. Let the record state that it was not for a lack of trying! The turtle karma just wasn't with us that week, I suppose.









Of course we visited the beach a few times...












During the week of the fourth, there were many events to attend and keep us entertained. One was a sand castle building contest, and we had the privilege...NAY!...the HONOR of knowing the (ahem) head judge of the contest! (Don't worry...security did remove the little girl on the left for kicking sand on the head judge.)










We decided to get a little more "hands on" with our crabbing efforts and set up camp on one of the docks. Beautiful day!









Trying to catch a big one!

























It wouldn't have been a proper celebration of our Independence Day without a parade. Here's the whole gang, minus the future mayor.









Old Baldy at the parade.












One day during low tide, we walked out to the point (which only becomes visible and accessible during low tide). Thinking that walking on a visible sand path was too easy, Steven and Brandon decided to take a "short cut" and applied the shortest distance principle: cut straight across the ocean.










We all made it, and was so beautiful out! We are essentially on a little "island", with the ocean in between us and Bald Head behind us.










When we got back to the mainland, a fisherman had just caught a stingray!
R.I.P. Mr. Stingray










We have to try to look as fashionable as possible when we go to the beach and pool, and Matt's outfit was no exception. He looks fabulous!










Our final night with everyone there was spent on the beach watching the fireworks over the ocean. Always a beautiful sight, and we thank Brandon for getting us there in plenty of time to get a primo seat!