Woohoo. Wahoo.

Beaufort  

Morning fog and heavy cloud cover quickly moved out and we were blessed with the type of day we've been waiting and hoping for: sunny, warm, and low wind. Woohoo! These were perfect conditions for a ferry ride over to Shackleford Banks. We departed Crossroads at 11:00 and made our way to the dock on Front Street. While we waited for our boarding call, we were entertained by herons nesting in a tree and gulls and egrets soaking up the sun atop the pilings. Our group of about 30 folks were shuttled out of Taylor Creek where a cruiser had taken to her paddle board on the flat water. It was good to see multiple center console boats leading us through Beaufort Inlet. Spring Fever was in the air. 

I led Barry to the highest hill in the middle of the island which overlooked the watering hole. I had good luck at this spot on my earlier trip, so it was an easy choice to be our starting position. After a few minutes, a lone horse appeared on a distant ridge. A good sign. Following another short wait, three horses emerged as anticipated from the scrub trees encircling the water hole. Mud covered their legs up to their "knees." I couldn't ask for much more than to be in the presence of the horses while catching a few rays. 

After a while, we relocated to another watering hole and were very pleased to find three more horses. They were ambivalent about our presence. We were respectful of their's and intently watched as they grazed. It was so quiet that we could hear their teeth pulling the grass out of the ground.

We had four hours on the island so we saved the last period for walking along the beach. We crossed the high dunes to the Atlantic ocean. I shed the prickly pear hitch-hiker that had attached itself to my boot. The tide was low and the dunes showed much wear from the incessant wind and waves of the past months. The erosion had left a five foot cliff at the base of the dune.

Weathered trees peeked though the sand and brilliant red holly berries provided both eye candy for us and food for the birds. Back in Beaufort, we took another walk through town then returned to Crossroads. The sun began to set behind the trees around 6:00.  

The clouds continued to glow a nice orange as I prepared dinner and watched the UVA-Va Tech women's basketball game. I cheered and I paced and it was perfect. How great it was to see the Hoos pick up a huge win before close to 12,000 at JPJ. Congratulations, ladies. Woohoo. Wahoo.