At the beach again, it's good to be back at the beach again....

(About the title, I mumbled the words to myself using the tune to "On the road again"...)

Hello Atlantic Ocean!

At the Atlantic Ocean

I stepped into the Atlantic Ocean and smiled, it was warm! After a lifetime on the west coast a warm ocean is good! 
This was down by Atlantic Beach, NC. It was hard to find a "free" beach but we did!

Where we found a "free beach", it was a Monday

I didn't feel like swimming but it was great to walk on the beach and look for "real" sea shells.
Beaches everywhere have clam shells, even Lake Mead in Nevada. I think of some sort of cone as a "real" sea shell rather than the type I see everywhere.

I saw pieces of"real" shells so they are around!

A "real" sea shell piece. (I'm getting closer!)

I'm going swimming today, we are now up by Nags Head and the ocean is not as warm as it was 100 miles south but I'm going in!

The "Graveyard of the Atlantic"

I have some personal history with North Carolina. The Coast Guard sent me to Elizabeth City, NC in Sept 1977 ("A" school) to learn to be an aircraft mechanic (Aviation Machinist Mate), I left early February the next year. It was too hot/humid in the summer & too cold standing a fire guard stomper watch in December. That first experience with southern weather stayed with me for all these years.

With that said, when I walked around in Beaufort, NC I felt an attraction to the place. Maybe it was the smell of the salt air, the small shops & boats or the cheap parking tickets ($20). I don't know, but it felt good. The last place that "grabbed" me was Bisbee AZ.  On the downside, Beaufort does not fit my requirement for "affordable".

Enough typing, to the beach!

It is warm enough!