Ida's water are being persistent here on the coast.  There are still plenty of flooded spots still around and drainage ditches remain full to the brim.

This afternoon we headed over to the Emerald Isle Post Office.  On the way back, I decided to explore Coast Guard Road where reports had indicated some flooding.

We were barely past the Pebble beach entrance when we ended up driving in axle deep water.

Just a little farther down the road, I snapped this picture of the wake of a school bus.

We turned around at the back Land's End gate.  I know there was more flooding closer to the Point, but my wife was not interested in driving around in flood waters on Friday the thirteenth.

The seventh annual Gordie McAdams Speckled Trout Surf Fishing Tournament, sponsored by Emerald Isle Parks & Recreation and The Reel Outdoors will run from Oct. 24 to Dec. 5. Registration is free. Pre-registration is required and the deadline is Wed., Oct. 21 at 5pm. All trout must be caught by fishing on foot (surf, pier, inlet, sound) from Fort Macon to EI. NO BOATS.  The official weigh-in station is The Reel Outdoors. For more info.  contact Brittany Wood at 252-354-6350 or bwood@emeraldeisle-nc.org.

The Emerald Isle Holiday Parade will be held Sat., Nov. 28, beginning at 4pm. The parade begins at CVS Pharmacy on Emerald Drive. Also after the parade there will be an official Christmas tree lighting at Merchants's Park. Enjoy free refreshments as well as a carol sing-a-long as Santa Claus visits with the children. Call 252-354-2916 for details or email dschools@ec.rr.com.

Emerald Isle will sponsor a Halloween party Oct. 30 from 6-8pm at the Emerald Isle Parks and Recreation Center. There will be games, a cake walk and more. Wear a costume. Admission is one bag of wrapped candy. For info., call 252-354-6350.

Emerald Isle is one my favorite spots.  My wife and I like to advantage of their very nice walking trails during cooler weather which seems to have found us this week.

We will often go park at one end of town and walk to the other end of town.  It is a very pleasant walk, and it is even fun to do when the tourists are in town.

One of things missing on our walking tour was a place to relax and reflect a little.

I took some Emerald Isle pictures over to the new administrative offices on Tuesday and noticed what nice rocking chairs they have on their front porch.

I got a note back from Mayor Art Schools thanking me for the pictures.  I had mentioned the rocking chairs in my note making sure he had gotten the pictures.

His note back to me encouraged me to take advantage of the chairs when hiking around Emerald Isle.

Today might be a good day to do one of those hikes.  The temperatures are certainly pleasant, and those chairs look very inviting.

This morning it has been a seesaw battle between the clouds at the sun.  When I first got up, it looked like the clouds were going to win.

Now the sun has managed to work its way through the cloud banks.

The weather radar shows that most storms have moved off shore.  But we know that they can easily spring up and head on shore.  In fact that is what the forecasters have planned for us today.

"Additional showers will move onshore over Carteret County. Up to one
half inch of rainfall can be expected in the heavier showers."

From my walk this morning, I can tell you that the ground is very wet, ever waterlogged.  With 12-14 inches of rain this month, that comes as little surprise.
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Yesterday was hot here on the Crystal Coast.  It was definitely a beach day if you did not have to work.

In fact you could almost guarantee that yesterday would be a hot day, because it was the day set aside for Bluewater GMAC to take its annual company picture.

It is one of the few times of the year that everyone from Bluewater from the builders, rental, maintenance, and sales groups gets together. 

You can predict the weather usually since standing around on the beach in anything other than a bathing suit on a hot day is not much fun.

It is always a challenge to get everyone there on time and posed for the picture.  Once you do get people organized into the group for pictures, you immediately cut off any ocean breezes.  Then you can also guarantee that there will be stragglers who need to get in the picture.

We have yet to have an athletic straggler who could jog across the soft sand where you enter the beach.
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