Wandering around the Beach - with kites

So I found this kite - a Clark's Crystal - buried in the sand and it only needed a little repair.  It's a pretty nice kite and it's big but it takes a strong wind to fly it.  This was a cooperative day, so we headed south a few miles to the Mantazas River Inlet to fly it.  This is a big, wide beach with not many people and it seemed like a good spot; both the Clarke's Crystal and Pat's new box kite took to the air almost immediately.  That big kite has quite a lot of lift!  I let out about 200' of string (100# strength) and it took two arms to hold it back; drop the string winder and it would be gone in a flash.  That's probably what happened to its previous owner.  We ran a few strands and spinners up the line and they tangled but it was fun.  Pat's new box kite has less lift and it flew with her new tail, but it weighed things down quite a bit.

Clarke's Crystal being reeled in.

 After leaving the beach we made our way to Sonny D's barbeque.  We had been eyeing this little place out along the highway about four miles back from the beach.  It always had people outside sitting on the bed of an old truck enjoying their sandwiches.  We tried a "Wet Wednesday," a combo of all the different meats they smoked and barbequed.  It was in a tangy red sauce - yum!  Outside the joint was "Bacon" their pink mascot.  "Please don't feed Bacon," the sign said.  Hmm...is it ok to eat bacon then?

Bacon

We made our way back to the beach at the condo.  It's not much of a shelling beach, but there are a few things worth collecting.  This one is almost paper thin and different from anything we see at the more northern beaches.  We finished the evening in the condo with a few snacks and some TV.  Boring, yes.  But relaxing - oh yes, way so!

Thin shell - someone probably knows what animal once called this home.

This pelican was taking a break before returning to his southward cruise along the wave tops.