Holden Beach - October 2008

A wonderful week was just spent at Holden Beach in North Carolina. A week of sun, sand, surf, good company, good food, and (of course) a lot of drinking. The beaches there are never crowded, because you "own" the beach front for the house that you occupy. But, the week that we were there - there was hardly anyone around. There were no neighbors for quite a few houses up or down the beach. It was pretty quiet - my brother Rob and his wife Heather did come for the first weekend with the kids - and it was great to see them. The rest of the group was Mom, Kate and Tim, Mo, Ann and Roy, Matt and Leigh Ann and Gary and I. We had some great breakfasts, lunches of fresh caught shrimp, grilled steaks, bbq pork sandwiches - just too many yummy things to name. The house was beautiful, every bedroom had it's own bath, huge kitchen/dining area and the Atlantic Ocean (with water that was still pretty warm!) right out the back door. The water was warm, although not as warm as it is in August. It still took a little getting used to, but the surf was really high in the afternoons, so there was some great boogie boarding - you didn't even have to kick when the wave came up. Collected lots of shells and some really interesting drift wood. We went through quite a bit of beer, vodka, wine, scotch and gin. Bloody Marys in the morning, beers at the beach, tonics in the afternoon, wine with dinner, and scotch at 8:00!! (It's 8:00 - time for scotch!!) Glenlivet, of course. A fantastic way to end the day at the beach.