August 2017 Beach Trip

We had the pleasure of joining our daughter, son-in-law and grandpup at North Topsail Beach, NC earlier this month. Heading to the beach in August sounded like the perfect thing to do and it was! 

Cory and Beth rented a lovely and comfortable beach house that was conveniently located across the street from the beach. For Bill and me, this was our first time to visit North Topsail Beach, which is also a barrier island. It's a small beach town that has dog-friendly beaches and where everyone we met was so friendly! The beaches aren't very crowded, and the traffic is not bad at all!  If you want to relax, it's the place to be! I loved it! One interesting thing I learned is that the locals pronounce Topsail as  "Top-sul." If you say "Top-sail," they know you aren't from around there!

The drive over the intercoastal waterway bridge, to the island, looked like a painting! So picturesque with all the colorful beach houses and the beautiful Atlantic Ocean in the background!  You would not believe all the seashells and seaglass on the beach!  It was so much fun finding the perfect seashells and seaglass!  We had such a wonderful and relaxing time with Beth, Cory and Louie!

Of course, we...I mean I...had to take our first selfie on the beach!

Ahhhh....Feels so good to be walking on the beach!

Our sweet and beautiful daughter and precious grandpup!

Can't hardly believe we are finally here!

Bill taking a stroll on the beach while looking for seashells.

Beth and Cory prepared some delicious meals! 

We had lobster, potatoes and corn on the first night!  

It was absolutely AMAZING!  

Cory grilled everything to perfection!

Spending some quality time with Louie! 

He's holding his favorite stuffed toy, Lamb Chop!

It could not have been a more perfect beach day!

 If you are a good schnoodle, you get doggie ice cream at the beach!

Louie loved running on the beach with Cory!

Unfortunately, beach erosion is very real at North Topsail Beach. 
There is even a sandbag wall!

We saw this cutie-pie eating some Knock Out roses in someone's yard! 
She looked like a statue as we were riding by!

Me and my girl!

 The Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune is located nearby.  
Not only did we see helicopters flying over the beach, 
we saw several MV-22 Osprey as well!  So cool! 

Beautiful sunsets everyday!

 Surf City Pier

Sand dunes, seashells and blanket flowers

Enjoying our last evening on the beach! Our time together went by too fast!

 So peaceful and beautiful! Can't wait to go back again!

Beth and Cory, thank you so much for everything! 

We had a fantastic time!! ♡

July 2017 Recap

Birthdays, Rainy Summer Days, Bill's Tomatoes, Butterflies, Flowers and a  Cloud Painted Ceiling 


Celebrating Our Granddaughter's Birthday...
In early July, we celebrated Grace's tenth birthday in Crystal River at Charlie's Fish House.  She is now in the double digits, and it just doesn't seem possible!  We had a wonderful meal and the waitresses even sang "Happy Birthday" to Grace as they were bringing her some Key Lime pie! She was thrilled! Grace and Brian, Jr. were so excited to see tarpon swimming in the river from the restaurant's deck. It's amazing how huge the tarpon get! Grace is a very smart young lady! She is looking forward to 5th grade! Grace plays soccer and received a trophy for being "the most improved" on her team this year!  We are very proud of her! She also loves the Florida Gators! What a fun time we had!

Rainy summer days...

June and July  brought a lot of rain to Gainesville.  Our pond had completely dried up prior to June, and we were officially in a drought.  In fact, June 2017 was the rainiest month on record in Gainesville! Our pond now has water, and the frogs and crickets are making their way back! Haven't seen any gators...yet!

Bill's Tomatoes...

My husband, Bill, has been raising tomatoes this summer. It has been really nice to step outside and pick vine-ripened tomatoes!  They are so delicious and are much better than the ones at the grocery store! One of my favorites ways to eat tomatoes is to have a tomato sandwich.  So good!!

July's Butterflies and Blossoms...

Cassius Blue on Tropical Salvia - These tiny butterflies usually keep their wings closed, so it's always a treat to see the beautiful blue color on their open wings!  They are one of my favorites! Plumbago is one of the host plants for this beautiful butterfly. 

The exotic Passion Flower Vine is the host plant for the beautiful orange Gulf Fritillary as well as the Zebra Longwing. The Zebra Longwing is the state butterfly for Florida! 

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - Last week, I discovered this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail puddling for several minutes, and it didn't seem to mind my camera or me being so close by! Puddling is when a butterfly drinks water and/or extracts salt and minerals from mud puddles with taste receptors on their feet. It is usually the male butterflies that take part in puddling. 

Lady Bugs - I'm always happy to see Lady Bugs in the garden!  They eat the aphids on the milkweed and there have been a lot of aphids this summer!

Flowers in the garden - Red and White Mandevilla, Tropical Salvia and Coral Nymph Salvia, Shrimp Plant and White Perwinkle

Lunch with my sister...

My sister and I had lunch recently at Pomodoro Cafe. One of my favorite things about this restaurant (along with their delicious salads and Italian food) is the painted clouds on the ceiling in their main dining room. Isn't it beautiful! 

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great August!

Take care,

Bobbie