Today was the Fourth of July, and it fell on a Saturday.  As those who live here on the Crystal Coast know, Saturday and Sunday are check in days for the rental properties on the island.

Many people saw Emerald Isle for the first time today.  I handed out fliers at Bluewater's key pickup line.  They were expecting three hundred people to check in today.  I got there at about 1:15 PM and left at 3:45 PM.

I think I welcomed well over 200 cars to the beach,  As things slowed down I stuffed another fifty fliers so at least 250 got a link to this website today.  As it turned out the crowds were not in the check in lines, they were on the roads and the bridge.  The lines only filled up once while I was there.  Most of the time they were empty and waiting for people.

You can download a PDF copy of my check in flier by clicking on this link. The flier contains a map of the surrounding area with some places which folks might miss because they are off the island.  I also included a list of things to do before you leave and some recommended restaurants.

Then I had links to my Beaufort travel guide and my Emerald Isle travel guide.  I should have put a link to my restaurant reviews page, but I ran out of space.

Judging from the traffic over the last few days, we have a bumper crowd of visitors.  People come from a long distance to enjoy our beaches.  I saw two older ladies arrive in a car with license plates from Texas.  There were plenty of people from Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  There were a lot of cars from Virginia and North Carolina.

I was very impressed with the system that Bluewater has developed.  People drive up to the booth on either side. One of the girls check to see if their rental house has been cleaned and gives them the keys.  It is a speedy operation.  Some visitors even commented on how nice it was not to have to wait in a long line.

I am sure they had plenty of waiting getting through Emerald Isle.  The traffic seemed to be crawling.

It is hard to explain that we only have a handful of days like this all year.  Most of the year the Cameron Langston Bridge to Emerald Isle is very uncrowded.  I have been known to stop and take pictures during the winter when cars are often far apart.

Hope all of our visitors will have a great week.  Maybe some will even decide to give the Crystal Coast some consideration as a place to retire.

This is a great area.  I often refer people interesting in living here to my article, Ten Ways Carteret County Met Our Needs or the full index of posts for my blog, the Crystal Coast, Salt Water on my Feet.

If they want pictures and more information, I send them to my Crystal Coast Links site.

There is a wealth of information online about the area.  We continue to add information to this site, and I maintain a number of other sites with information, including my Crystal Coast News site.

I even have an interactive map of the area.  I try to cover just about every event at least every other year.  This year we stayed at home to enjoy our Bluewater Cove fireworks.

Based on my estimate of the traffic to the new fireworks site on Emerald Isle, I think I will continue to enjoy the fireworks shots I took a couple of years ago in Emerald Isle.

The golf cart parade, cookout, party, and fireworks that we had our clubhouse was plenty for me.

Of course that might have had something to do with the afternoon I spent walking the pavement.