Our vacation rental overlooked Carolina Beach Lake, once listed in Guinness World Records as the freshwater lake closest to salt water. It’s an 11-acre lake surrounded by a walking path, located only two blocks from the ocean. There is a great playground for the kids at one end of it. And plenty of ducks and geese to see, plus a couple of shorebirds for me. In spite of the gray skies, a few showers, and a huge downpour on Sunday morning, many walks were taken around this beautiful lake.
great blue heron
While stuck inside we talked and played board games. I got a chance to do some quiet reading with Kat, and read part of one of her graphic novels. Recently I had taught her how to play mancala and so we played again and then taught it to Finn, and then to Nate & Shea, and then to Larisa. It’s very addictive!
Canada geese after a windy downpour
Dima went out to a fish market and picked up some fresh flounder for our anniversary dinner. He’s a great cook and I so appreciated the delicious fish, and not having to go out to a restaurant where it would have been terribly awkward for me, needing to bring my own special food. Larisa & Dima put together a delicious meal for everyone! I’m grateful for all the hard work they did making it a special day for us and am also grateful to Nate & Shea for making the long trip up to spend some precious quality time with us. 💙
A wonderful anniversary filled with those you love, doesn’t get better than that. 👍🏼 Happy Anniversary!
Thank you, Eliza! ♡ We couldn’t possibly imagine any better way to celebrate. 🙂
Beautiful photos. You’ve done yourself proud celebrating your anniversary. I adore the “tweenager” gosling who looks a tad confused.
Thank you, Ally. I had to laugh, he does look rather confused, like he’s trying to figure out how he got there.
That fuzzy gosling is so cute! And I like the herons and egrets, too. I sympathize with the angst of going out to eat, Barbara. Since my IBS diagnosis, I, too, find it much easier to eat at home, where I can control what ingredients are included. Of course, celebrating a special occasion seems to call for special meals … at least you didn’t have to cook, and flounder is one of my favorites!
It’s fun watching goslings as they explore the world and try to figure out what to eat, copying their parents. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who has trouble enjoying eating out, Debbie. I miss the days, long gone, when eating wasn’t such a big ordeal. It’s a good thing I love fish and chicken and turkey because I eat so much of it now!
I miss eating out, too, but I guess we’re saving money in the long run!
This was a perfect weekend Barbara, from the sweet card to the flounder dinner with family. I know you were in your glory once again while at the shore seeing your feathered friends, from shorebirds to geese and goslings.
It was ideal, short and sweet, with time to connect and create some wonderful memories. Amazingly, however, I did not see one gull while I was there. But seeing the snowy egret was a real treat.
It was a weekend to treasure. I hope you got lots of family pictures as well. I am finding very few gulls in my shoreline jaunts. I saw one sitting in the middle of the parking lot last week. I took a photo, but it’s not clear to me if it was sleeping in the sun or ill.
This is the second year I’ve noticed a lack of gulls – perhaps they are nesting. I Googled and they nest in colonies in the Spring and Summer. I hope that’s the only issue. It would have been nice for you to see at least one for old time’s sake.
Looks like you made the best of things despite the weather not cooperating. That seems like a pattern to the weather on the weekends lately. I’m looking forward to June 17 – the last day of school – when I don’t have to worry about what day of the week it is for a blissful 9 weeks. Love the bird photos.
Although I do not have dietary restrictions myself, I feel these days that going out to eat often isn’t worth it. For the price you must pay in a restaurant, I want the food I’m served to be better than what I could make at home, and it often is not.
What’s a little rain on a special weekend, right? 🙂 We went prepared and had a great time in spite of the weather and our illnesses.
Enjoy your nine weeks of bliss — that’s one of the blessings of retirement I keep forgetting to appreciate, the flexibility to accommodate plans to the weather forecast.
I agree with you about most restaurant food, although I do miss terribly a little breakfast and lunch place in Mystic, Connecticut, called Somewhere in Time, that had great old fashioned home cooking and didn’t mind catering to my dietary needs.
Mystic is a great little town – if I get down to the southern shore of CT this year I’ll look for it if they are still in business!