1984 SEPTEMBER BEACH TRIP

Another extra early alarm morning as I hoped to be  the first to the laundry this morning to get the biggest machines.
I made it past the high school before traffic jam time and expected to have to wait for the 8:00 opening of the laundry but there were several cars already there and the sign said open at 7:30.
I still got the biggest machines that I needed and all went well. I washed and dried everything except the rubber backed rugs which I will bring home and hang on the clothesline.
I got home about 9:30 and the animals were very glad to see me as the sun was heating up nicely and they all wanted out in it to eat  breakfast. The sunshine was a welcome sight after the overnight rain that left 4/10ths inch in the gauge.
I had my breakfast and then hung all the rugs out on the line.  I had my two clotheslines really loaded down and hoping they wouldn't snap under the weight of the wet rugs.
I got all the dried things put away and then took a nice walk in the warm, getting hot now, sunshine.
I decided to have an early lunch then start housecleaning duties.
Switching back to doing all the housecleaning in one day seems to be working better for me now. Tonight I have a very sore achy back but I think it is from lifting all the heavy laundry this morning.
A heating pad overnight should take care of the pain.
I mopped myself out the back door this evening just as the clouds grew very dark and the thunder started.  I got all the rugs off the clotheslines and most of them were dry. I hung the few that weren't up downstairs and put away the dry ones while the floors upstairs dried.
I sat out in the sunroom expecting to watch it rain but the storm passed to the south and east of us and we only got a sprinkle.  It is a muggy afternoon and the high temperature today climbed back to 80 degrees.
We turned the air conditioner off last weekend and are trying to keep it off .  One more night and we may be closing the windows at night as the temps are predicted to nose dive into the lower 50's at night and low 70's in the daytime.
After chores and supper I am blogging early and headed to soak in a hot bath before firing up the ole heating pad !!
In September of 1984 our family went to Myrtle Beach as we did back then every year. We loved the beach this time of year, there were no crowds and we got to watch the fishermen cast their nets off the beach and drag in tons of mullet onto the beach.

 Hubbie frees some crab and starfish from the net as the boys look on. This always seemed to be such a waste when other sea creatures got caught in these nets and died while the mullet were being harvested.

 #1 son checks out the crates full of mullet.

The boys had such wonderful times back then with each other.

 #2 son was 18 months old at that time and look at that blond hair.

#1 son, the big brother was a month away from turning 3 years old.

A devastating hurricane, named Diana, had just prior to our beach trip rolled into the coast of North Carolina.  We left Myrtle Beach,SC and drove north on Hwy 17 into the damaged beaches of NC. This is the old pontoon bridge that I have talked about before in my blogs when we vacationed on Sunset Beach. I have to admit when I saw this picture I was amazed at how different it looked back then.

 This is hubbie exploring the beach on Sunset.

Next stop was Ocean Isle Beach, this is where we just vacationed this past summer. The Pier was washed away in the hurricane.

Next stop was Southport,NC just outside of Oak Island, where we vacationed last summer.
This is one of many swamped boats we saw up the coast.

A favorite beach for us lately also has been Holden Beach and this is the pier there that also was washed away.

Our last stop on this tour was Carolina Beach just outside of Wilmington and the sign on the trash filled street says it all !!

 At least the pier there was only broken in parts.

We headed home via Hwy. 64 which runs across the entire state and did some site seeing along the way.  I do remember one unpleasant stop we made.  #1 son had to go to the bathroom really bad and back then with little traffic and plenty of back roads we just pulled off onto one of these roads and got out of the car for a potty break.  Quickly we were all covered with huge,black, very mean mosquitoes which acted like they hadn't had a meal in a long time. We rushed the kids back into the car and spent the next several minutes ridding them and ourselves of all the hungry mosquitoes.
Ahhh the memories !!!
Grateful to God for the wonderful life I have had.
Good Night and God Bless.