Memorial Day Weekend Part 2

Day two we got up and dressed and went downstairs to enjoy a wonderful breakfast and meet the other couples staying in the Inn.  Breakfast was fruit and quiche and sausage.  It was good amazing!  I had signed us up for a day over at Bald Head Island with a tour of the island and the lighthouse included.  We weren't exactly sure what to expect, so we packed up for the whole day with a cooler full of drinks and snacks, our beach chairs and beach bag, bathing suits, etc.

I'm so glad we talked about our plans at breakfast because another couple was signed up for the same package and they were told to be at the ferry much earlier than we were.  Thank goodness for the Innkeepers because they have a golf cart and they loaded us up and shuttled us to the ferry terminal.  We hopped on the boat and 20 minutes later we were docking at Bald Head Island.  I was sad because we didn't see any dolphins on the way, but my mood quickly changed when I saw the gorgeous houses around the dock on the island!

Once over, we loaded up in an extended golf cart and started our island tour!  We saw Old Baldy from the river-side of the island...West Beach.

Then we got out and walked through the marshes a bit.

There's a 100 year old boat house out there on the marsh...can you spot it?

We viewed the iron "feet" of the skeleton lighthouse that no longer stands, but was named Cape Fear Lighthouse and helped guide boats around Frying Pan Shoals.

We got out at the Private Shoals Club and walked up on their club deck to view South Beach.

And then we saw Old Baldy and got to climb to the top!  I was a little disappointed that you can't walk out on a gallery once you're to the top.  The entire top was enclosed, making photos hard with the reflection off the windows and making it really steamy at the top with not much room!  Oh well!  Another one off the bucket list!

Fun Fact: Old Baldy is the oldest lighthouse in NC and is octagonal with walls 6 feet thick!

Once we climbed back down, we walked over to the church that stands beside Old Baldy.

Pretty stained glass windows and I just LOVED the moss hanging from the trees!

Then we were shuttled back to the dock area and had lunch at Mojo's on the Harbor.  We were starved and it was oh so tasty!

Fish Tacos....YUMMY!

After lunch, we walked over to the bike rental station to rent two bikes.  We really wanted a tandem, but they were all rented.  We changed into our swim suits and off we went biking towards South Beach.  Well...I had it easy...just me and some items in my basket.  Poor Kevin was carrying the backpack with all of our beach items, the cooler full of drinks and snacks and two beach chairs.  He did a great job of balancing it all and pedaling, but at the first beach access sign, I pulled off the main road and declared that we would not go any farther.  I guess technically we were between West Beach and South Beach, but we were definitely in river water and not on the ocean side. 

Regardless...we relaxed on the sand for a few hours before packing up and taking the ferry back to Southport!

Kevin made one call on the ferry and as soon as we arrived, the Inn golf cart was waiting to shuttle us back!  What service!  We showered and enjoyed wine and snacks in the side garden before walking off in pursuit of dinner.

Panorama of the side garden at the Inn.

After 3 meals of seafood, I was craving pizza or something else.  Well, the pizza joint we walked to was closed, so we ended up at Thai Peppers.  Their slogan... "The best kept secret in North Carolina"...WHAT?  We thought you could only eat outside, but the tables were all abandoned with empty plates that hadn't been cleaned off.  Kevin went in to use the bathroom and spotted a booth inside, so he pointed to it and came and got me and I was seated.  When he got back from the bathroom, he told me there was an entire room in the back that was slam-packed with people.  The waitress saw him point and assumed we wanted to sit there, so that's where she sat us and we were none-the-wiser.  That was our first mistake.  Because we were seated at the front, we didn't get any service!  My food was just average, but we felt like we were in the twilight zone!  Everyone coming out of the back room was happy and laughing.  There was a wooden musical instrument at the register and everyone played it on the way out.  I just thought everyone was stoned!  Then, three guys poked their head in and got the attention of a waiter and said, "Yo dude, we just caught some fish.  You wanna cook 'em for us?" and the waiter said "yes".  HUH?  I made eye contact with a guy waiting for a to-go order and we both did a double-take.  WHAT?  It really was the most bizarre dining experience I've ever had!

Kevin proposed with a "ring", made of straw paper, at the Thai restaurant.  If you can't understand them, joint in the crazy!

After all of that, it was time to call it a day!  We walked back to the Inn and went straight to bed!