Marisa Joy: Beach Time Part II

Friday at lunch we met Stan, Patty & Brandon at the marina in Emerald Isle to go out on the boat. We stayed in the inlet, fished and rode up the river a little. We were able to get on one of the sandbars & swim, look for shells a little. Brandon loves being in the "pool." Evidently so does Tugger, their golden retriever, because we had to stop him from jumping in several times!
Saturday we left Tugger at the house and went out into the ocean to do more fishing. We all caught a decent amount of little fish for bait, but Stan & I were the only ones who caught fish big enough to eat. Big thanks to Thomas for baiting my hook! ;) I caught a sea bass & a bluefish. Poor Brandon - when I caught the bluefish it was jumping around so much it almost jumped off the line. When I swung it around to put it in the boat I smacked Brandon in the face with it. By the time all was said & done, we definitely had a bleeder! (The fish, not Brandon). Stan caught another bluefish, and Thomas & I ate the fish for dinner last night!
The most exciting was the shark that decided to start swimming under the boat. We stopped over a huge bait ball with lots of bluefish in it...then the 5' shark showed up and freaked 'em all out!
Around 5:00 we headed back in to clean up for dinner at Red Barn, this little "convenience store/restaurant" in Hubert, NC. Fresh seafood, cooked to order, very yummy!
Heading home Sunday we stopped in Burlington and had dinner with our great friends James & Lisa. We ate at Blue Ribbon Diner - my first time - and it was so great!
We're thinking of going to Wilmington for the weekend at the end of the month. With all the "family vacations" we've been on, we haven't been on one by ourselves!