Troisième Jour: (day three) Excessive Gull pictures and Currituck

Atlantic Ocean at Kill Devil Hills

I made it through daylight savings time change...thank you Arizona for not doing that...so confusing.   I would like to say I slept in an hour, but oh no, not this Sara body.  I was still awake at 6:00 am, even though it was 3 am at home.  Padmini and I went to church in Nags Head, and met some lovely people, but were totally confused by some decorations.  I would tell you about it here, but am afraid of giving you nightmares.

Padmini chasing the birds (she is converting to bird watchingism)

Kill Devil Hills is where we are staying.  Apparently, it refers to the barrels of "kill devil, aka rum" hidden in the sand dunes by sailors whose ships were grounded.  Padmini and I looked for them, but we did not find them (though after reading this blog post, you will probably not believe me)

Laughing gull (no really...)

After church we decided to walk the beach.  It was just like an oceans waves crashing dvd!  So relaxing.  There were many types of sea gulls that I had never seen before and I felt I must take pictures of each one, posing in all the ways that they pose, and feel I must share those with you, because that is why you checked out this blog right now huh.  I know you were saying to yourself, "I hope Sara posts excessive pictures of gulls."  Well, you get your wish my friends.

Mergansers and Gulls enjoying the ride...are they body surfing?  I think so!

Pretty little gull poser

duh duh duhn.....caught in a wave

this is how birds flip you off for not warning  that a wave was coming while you were taking a picture...sorry dude.

Bonaparte's Gull

After the beach, we drove along the coast, drooling over beach houses and their locations, and wondering how on earth they make it through hurricanes sitting up on their little stilts...I still don't know...we then drove up to Currituck, which is a Native American word that loosely translated means, "dang,  the white people are going to put up lots of houses and a walmart on a little island."  Okay, maybe it means wild geese.  There used to be flocks of geese, swans and pelicans that filled the sky and turned it dark.  Not so much anymore, but there are many people working to return some of the areas back to the natural habitats and foliage.

taking off over the surf

crashing surf...

This is is my best side...

The island got very narrow as we traveled north, we could see both the Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Ocean at the same time!  Amazing.  We made it to our destination the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, as opposed to Currituck Desert Lighthouse...(warning Sara sidenote)  wouldn't it be awesome if Currituck meant beach? So it would be beach beach lighthouse, just like Rillito river is little river river?)

 

sea oats...they are pretty, I really love them

The lighthouse was beautiful.  Made of striking red brick and surrounded by willows, oaks and a lovely green lawn that I wasn't supposed to be on, but somehow jumped over the fence...oops (Padmini made me...okay not really, she just closed her eyes and let me go, what a great friend)  Next to the house was the light keeper's beautiful clapboard, white house.  I loved this quaint, elegant house and picturesque scene.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse, with sea oats

and where I may have jumped over the fence (I like how that makes me sound rebellious and awesome...but truth, cuz it's the Sabbath...it was only three feet tall.)

 

Finally, we headed to the estuary on Currituck Sound.  I decided that Arizona can learn some things about hiking trails from the East.  #1 instead of making us clamber over boulders and trip on jutting rocks, build a nice safe boardwalk, and in the middle, instead of cacti and thorny trees, put in benches to sit on.  Thank you.  The estuary is where the work of environmental restoration is happening.  It was a wonderful place, a little bit of woods, a little bit of swamp, and a little bit of marsh.  It was away from the sounds of traffic, and we were quite alone to enjoy it.  As we walked back, the sound of a Great Horned owl echoed through the woods bidding us return.  (oh, I am so poetic)

love the boardwalk...only a few more steps to the benches, thinking of you dad!

grackle, showing off his colors

 

snowy egret hunting

for my nephews, a humpback whale skull

It was a lovely day, peaceful, restful, scenic and joyous.  We enjoyed ourselves very much.  Tomorrow we have a super adventure planned.  Stay tuned!!