Something To Write About

I am not a painter.  I’ve done a lot of painting over many years but I am not a painter.  Painting is a worthwhile activity.  It can even be a career choice for some people.  Just not for me.  And even more of a challenge than painting for me is writing about painting.  That’s why the last few days I have mostly written about things other than painting.

Today is a day off.  No painting.  That means some stuff to write about.  So here goes...

We took off towards Wilmington this morning with a few things in mind.  The first was to pick up some groceries.  Next was to do some kayaking.  After some deliberation we headed for Trails End Park, which is on the Intercostal Waterway behind Masonboro Island.  This island is undeveloped and composed mostly of several miles of ocean-facing dune and beach and a large saltwater marsh behind it.  The only access is by boat.

We launched the kayaks at the boat ramp and paddled out towards the salt marsh, a task made difficult by the stiff wind that was against us.  The boat ramp had steady activity with people launching and retrieving their boats; this place must be crazy on  weekends.

After about a mile and a quarter paddling through the salt marshes, we beached the kayaks and hiked over the small dune to the beach.  We could hear the roar of the surf over the dune even before we reached the dune and now we were rewarded with a view of the ocean. 

Other than two other people who had beached their paddle boards near our kayaks, we were the only ones on the beach.  For miles.  In both directions.  In the distance we could see the clustered resort buildings of Carolina Beach to the south and Wrightsville Beach to the north.  But here it was pristine in its emptiness.  There is very little mention of this place in any brochure or guidebook.  It almost seems like a closely guarded secret.

So we took a pleasant stroll on the beach, keeping one eye to the west where some pretty significant storm clouds were brewing.  The weather forecast called for strong storms with rainfall totals over an inch starting at 5pm so our time was limited here.  After walking on the beach for a while, we reluctantly turned back towards the kayaks.

I had expected the wind that was against us to help us out on the return trip, however, it nearly completely died down while we were returning.  Still easier to paddle back, but no help from the wind.  Another check of the forecast: significantly downgraded from last time, now only a chance of rain.  And the sky was brightening.  We did get sprinkled on for a little while, but that was about it.  We could have stayed longer.

We paddled through a large school of jellyfish on the way back.  We identified them later as Southern Moon Jellyfish.  That and the brown pelicans and white ibis and the non-stormy weather made this a super pleasant afternoon.

We drove south into Carolina Beach.  Parking is five dollars per hour at any spot near the beach and there’s no room for oversize vehicles.  So we parked the RV at Carolina Beach State Park, unloaded the bicycles, and pedaled the one-mile downtown.  We had dinner at Michelangelo’s Pizza.  Most likely no relation to the famous Italian painter/architect as there was nothing in the restaurant that would suggest a connection.  They just made pizza.  We ate out on their porch overlooking the main street, watching all the golf carts drive by.

We then took a walk on the boardwalk next to the beach.  Not a real long boardwalk, but long enough to walk off the food coma that comes from eating too much pizza.

When we got back to the state park and I was loading the bikes back on the RV, Deb discovered a bunch of flytrap plants growing behind the visitor center building.  This area is one of the very few where the Venus Flytrap grows in the wild.  So cool to see.

We figured that, rather than driving all the way back to Lake Waccamaw and then coming back here tomorrow, we would just boondock here and save the time.  So we holed up in the back parking lot of a Cracker Barrel.