Ben gives a tour- on youtube!

Cozy Fireplace

Now that its starting to get chilly at night, we cranked up the fireplace and the whole family got cozy in the living room.  And the best part is that they are ceramic logs so there's no mess!  Just flip the switch on the wall and viola, warmth :)

Hurricane and Nor'easter

Hurricane Ida came up the coast as a nor'easter formed offshore and created quite a mess on the Outer Banks.  Schools were closed during the 75mph winds and Fortunately for us, we headed to Pennsylvania half-way through so we missed the worst of it and the messy cleanup.  Our house was fine but there was a lot of beach erosion and the roads were closed in a lot of places for up to a week after the storm.  See the newspaper website of some dramatic photos here.  A local photographer, Michael Halminski, has posted these (and more) photos on his blog: http://photoblog.michaelhalminski.com/

The only road through Hatteras Island was closed for over a week!

 

The sandbags used to be under a huge dune between the ocean and the road in Rodanthe.

 

Here is a closeup of the Nights in Rodanthe house- owners have 10 days to remove it.

Cottage no more in Kill Devil Hills

Streets of Kill Devil Hills

Streets in Kitty Hawk

That's Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel taking a picture of this house in Nags Head.

Chris-giving in Pennsylvania

The time seems to be really flying by, just like always, but especially since we already celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas, hence Chris-giving.  Working in the same office means that taking vacation at the same time can be tough, so we've already been to PA and back since the first few weeks of November are on the slow side for visitors.

This was Sheba's first visit to PA and boy did she love it!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and 60's, which is quite surprising for November.  Both dogs loved to run through the fallen leaves, so pretty.  We went birding at Presque Isle, of course, and did some shopping, too.  Taking the dogs to the farm was an experience- I'm pretty sure Sheba has never been close to a cow before, haha, because one almost licked her on the head just like they did Maverick last year.  He knew what to expect this year and didn't get within reach this time!  They both had a lovely time running around, chasing kitty-cats, and sniffing everything in sight.  Maverick particularly liked the free-roaming chicken, maybe because he loves birds so much.

We had a lovely dinner and saw lots of family.  Ben learned how to clean, stuff, and roast a turkey!  I really made out at our gift-giving: new cookbooks, fancy food processor, silicone muffin cups, fuzzy socks, good books and movies, and a Sam's Club membership!  Thanks, everyone, for making our visit so great :)

two tired dogs

a nice day at the beach makes the pups sleep so good at night

Portsmouth Island

I visited Historic Portsmouth Island this weekend- WOW!  It was really incredible.  The island is only accessible by private ferry, just six miles from Ocracoke Island.  It is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

So the little village was first settled in 1753 and people made their living in the shipping industry- as ships came from Europe and Africa, they stopped at Portsmouth Island and dropped off merchandise to lighten their loads before sailing across Pamlico Sound to the mainland.  By 1860, the population peaked at 685 residents on this little sandbar.  A variety of events caused the residents to abandon the island- the Civil War, hurricanes, and the biggest one was that the shipping commerce was diverted northward as deeper inlets opened through Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands.  In 1956, only 17 people remained on the island.  The last two residents moved away in 1971 and the National Park Service took ownership and currently maintains the island and the 20 remaining structures.

I toured the island with the care-taker, which was really fascinating.  He has been taking care of Portsmouth Island village for 20 years and had lots of stories about hurricanes, reunions with descendants, and ghosts!  We walked and toured all of the buildings, including the school house, church, and post office.  We climbed the cupola of the life saving station and could see the ocean and the entire village.  The residents here kept free-roaming livestock, grew peaches and figs, fished, shrimped, and clammed for food.  They built cisterns for water and used oil lamps and pot-belly stoves without electricity.  The mailboat delivered daily and the Sears Robuck catalog was where they ordered everything from paint to ammo to kit-houses.

high water lines from hurricanes

method of refrigeration

church and two residential homes

post office

view back towards Ocracoke Island from top of life saving station

Scooby Doo!

Maverick was the highlight of the halloween party!  We made him a little tag for his collar with an "SD" on it and used hair spray to make some big black spots.  He was so darned cute!  Ben made a great Shaggy and I dressed as Daphne, sans the red hair. 

Poor Sheba, we tried to make her a "Shebra" as in Sheba-zebra, but she looked more like a skeleton, haha.  Both doggies were loving all of the attention, though, and are about to go to ocean to swim off the paint!  Scooby Snacks were enjoyed by all the pups at the party, it was very cute.