By the sea...

Last weekend we took a trip with Mom and Dad to Morehead City to visit friends. Not only did we have a lovely time with our friends, but we got to tour around a little bit and enjoy being by the water. This was the early morning view from the hotel window looking across Bogue Sound (the Intracoastal Waterway) to Atlantic Beach.


And when I looked down I saw this water too!

Brrrrrrr. Despite the fact it's only a week until Christmas, someone was out there every morning cleaning the pool and putting up the umbrellas. I'm sure it's a lovely place to sit on a warmer day but I can't imagine swimming *shiver*. :-)

We drove across the causeway to Atlantic Beach and then west to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Very cool. We were greeted outdoors by some festive fish.


When we got indoors Mom just had to say hello to the frog.


The exhibits are very nicely done. From the website: They take you "from North Carolina ’s mountains to the sea. The new Aquarium is home to thousands of aquatic animals from across the state. In our galleries, you will find a mountain waterfall and trout pool, a cypress swamp, river otters, jellyfish and our Living Shipwreck exhibit with over 300,000 gallons of water, big sharks and an ocean of fishes. .....two hands-on touch tanks."


Rays in a "touch tank" (tail barbs removed!).


This guy is ready for Christmas with his sprigs of holly!


There's Mom again with another frog!


Snapping turtles.


Turtles and alligators.



The Tramp chilling out by the "Living Shipwreck" exhibit. Pretty spectacular. It would have been easy to stand there for hours.


More froggy love! LOL


Even the otters have a Christmas tree.

We arrived at just the right time for otter "enrichment". A young lady spoke to us first while a young man "hid" food treats for the three otters. He tossed live goldfish in the tanks for the otters to chase and hid chunks of hardboiled egg in crevasses and on ledges. He also floated a few portabella mushroom boats filled with peanut butter and cranberries. The gold fish looked pretty darned tiny and hard to catch in those big tanks, but catch them they did!


Everyone had the best time watching the otters cavort. It was hard to get a decent photo but here's one picking egg out of a hole.


And one up on a ledge. I couldn't get a good photo of them swimming. They're just too darned fast.


After all the fishy fun we drove over to historic Beaufort-by-the-sea for lunch.


Dad and The Tramp went to the North Carolina Maritime Museum while Mom and I did a few antique shops. I bought two Welch's jelly glasses with Peanuts characters on them to add to my little collection. :-) We enjoyed the boardwalk all decked out for the holidays. Yes that's Dad patiently waiting for us down at the end.


And The Tramp enjoyed a few quiet minutes being surrounded by boats. :-)

A lovely weekend.