Boondocking at the beach! (Unintentionally as I messed up the reservations – BAD Bird!) After the first day a cold front moved in so the temps were delightfully cool, perfect for sleeping.

In the morning we learned you can pan fry breakfast burritos instead of nuking them, as the microwave doesn’t function on the house batteries. We start each day with a walk through the dunes to get to the beach! Puppy does love his walkies!

The second night we went to Sugar Creek for absolutely divine seafood! We sat on the deck overlooking the sound. Wonderful ambiance!

We started with shecrab soup, then had catfish, scallops, & shrimp platters. Mine was broiled with a butter wine sauce finished with fresh cracked lemon pepper! Chris’s was fried. So so delicious!

The third day we wandered thru Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, binoculars in hand! It’s a glorious marshland with massive ponds and a gazillion water fowl! Cattails had us invoking mom “You know there are snakes in there!” as a huge flock of stunningly beautiful white pelicans flew overhead. Pure white birds with inky black wing tips and golden beaks, simply exquisite! (I personally think they should be named Tuxedo Pelicans!)

We also saw a cluster of turtles sunning themselves, laughing gulls with their black heads, and of course the ubiquitous Canada geese…

On Sunday we took the tandem out for a lovely ten mile spin on quiet neighborhood roads in Nags Head. Felt great to be in the saddle on such on lovely day!

All in all the perfect autumnal vacation!