August 6, 2009 by Joel.

We’re now a few days into our 2 week beach vacation, and beginning to be very mellow. Even the dogs are mellow . Arrived at EI late evening on 7/31. Somewhat hectic as cleanup by #1 son from previous weekend left a few gaps . Windy with some t-storms over the weekend, but the plants were all happy to get a good soaking. Our neighbors came down for a few days, arriving Sunday. Enjoyed fellowship, good food and good wine. Jan cooked shrimp cakes (think great crab cakes but made with shrimp) on Sunday, a paella on Monday, and Galen cooked a great venison roast on Tuesday. Sunday evening we saw the “Turtle Patrol” clearing out the last few baby loggerheads from a nest that hatched last week. Took the boat to Bear Island (aka Hammocks Beach SP) on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, we saw the tracks where a turtle had come up the night before to lay a late season nest. Perfect weather. Tuesday, there was one other boat at Bear Inlet. Wednesday, we had it to ourselves in the morning. In the early afternoon, though, a flotilla arrived, and we decided to come on back to the house where more wine was chilling.

Galen & Sandra have headed back home today. We’ve done a bit of cleanup around the house this morning, after having a 3-latte breakfast. Plan to go down to the beach in a couple hours when the tide is low and go for a nice walk with Jan. Probably swim some today as well, after Jeff gets up.

More company this weekend, as Jason & Jenny are coming for a few days. My sister is fixing dinner (her famous crabcakes) at her house in Swansboro on Sunday. Will probably go to Bear Island on Sunday, and then a couple days next week as well. We’ve got a new 2-person float that we’ll use to pull folks down the ICW

I could get used to being on vacation…this is good stuff!

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March 20, 2008 by Joel.

I don’t get out to fish as much as I’d like, but I did get a chance to wet a line today (even if I did spend an hour on a conference call while driving home). In March, Hickory Shad (an anadromous fish that comes up the rivers to spawn) fill many rivers in eastern North Carolina. The Roanoke River has a large run, and the fish move upstream until blocked by the dam at Roanoke Rapids Lake. They are great fun to catch, concentrating in large numbers and providing acrobatic fights on light tackle.

I drove from Chapel Hill to Weldon, about 110 miles. I got to the Weldon ramp about 10:30AM. The wind was really howling, since a cold front came through during the night. The temperature was in the 50’s and the sun was bright, and the water level was perfect. Without the wind, conditions would have been ideal. As it was, casting was quite a challenge, as was staying anchored in my one-man pontoon boat, as the wind was swirling me around my anchor, making it difficult to cast in a consistent direction. However, the fish were there! I caught a few, then it slowed down. I realized that I was not getting my fly deep enough, even with nickel eyes and a sink tip line. I finally got the boat stabilized, and started catching them again. Caught about 25 or so, and about 2:30PM decided that casting a heavy fly into the wind was a lot of work. Rowed across the river to the ramp, loaded up, and headed for home.

A great day! Stopped by the wine store on the way home to pick up an Aussie mixed case; will open one up shortly!

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February 16, 2008 by Joel.

This year for Valentine’s Day, Jan and I did something a bit different. Our friends Nancy & Andy Zeman own a vineyard & winery near Saxapahaw NC called Benjamin Vineyards & Winery. They had organized a catered dinner at the winery for Valentines Day. They moved the casks of wine over to the walls, brought in some tables, and had a catered dinner for 11 couples. Nicely catered, each course featured one of their wines. They have some very good wines, including an excellent Cabernet (the Barrel Reserve 2005 - about 2 years on oak in once-used French Oak barrels). This one was a silver medal winner at the NC State Fair, and to my taste stands up very well with other Cabs in the $15-$20 price range. Nice texture and good tannins. One of the dessert courses was a Sorbet made with their blackberry-flavored muscadine wine, Blackberry Bramble. Very nice! Our next door neighbors went along with us for the evening, and it was nice to have good friends for conversations.

If you are in central NC or are traveling through, I’d recommend a stop at Benjamin Vineyards & Winery, 12.5 miles south of I-85 at exit 154.

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September 24, 2007 by Joel.

…and I’ve only been fishing once (see earlier blog entries). Rats. Also, with the current drought here in central NC, all our local streams are drying up, totally. Will take a while for the fish to come back. Right now, only the herons & ‘coons are happy. This happened in 2002, with the streams drying up; I restocked part of Morgan Creek with about 100 bluegill/green sunfish hybrids. Will need to do something like that again. Looking forward to some real fall weather, and hopefully some rain as we get into the fall.

So, what to do? Sit on the porch and have a glass of Shiraz. Just finished a bottle of the Mollydooker “The Boxer” 2006. Not as good as their 2005 Boxer, but tasty. Mollydooker makes some nice wines. I have some of their “Two Left Feet” 2006 cuvee as well, and also a couple of bottles of reserve stuff (Enchanted Path, 2006, and Carnival of Love, 2006). Both are highly rated, esp. Carnival of Love, which is a Wine Spectator 95 point bottle. Saving that one for an auspicious occasion.

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July 25, 2007 by Joel.

Jan and I got away for a short vacation last week. We spent three nights in a B&B in Washington, Virginia, right next to the Shenandoah National Park. We stayed at the Heritage House B&B, a great place. Had dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, which was quite an experience. We hiked Old Rag, hiked White Oak Canyon, and watched the deer in the fields behind the B&B, visited wineries. Took my flyrod and fished a bit in White Oak Canyon. Saw some beautiful brookies, but wow, they were spooky. Didn’t hook one.

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April 15, 2007 by Joel.

Today, Jan and I drove from Chapel Hill to Blacksburg, VA, where our oldest son is in school.  His birthday is coming up, so we headed to Virginia Tech to take him out to lunch and carry a “care package.”  It was a rainy day, but we saw the sun a few times before lunch.  It was good to see him, and we can tell he’s ready for the semester to wrap up.  As we said our goodbyes in the parking lot, the second part of the weather system started to come through, as the wind picked up, rain started again, and the temperature started dropping.  In spite of the lousy weather (driving rain, wind, and 39F as we crossed Fancy Gap on I77) we decided to stop by one of the Yadkin River wineries on the way home.  I looked up the directions to RagApple Lassie Vinyards on the cell phone browser and we headed in that direction.  When we got there, it looked like that in spite of supposedly being open daily until 6PM, it was closed.  Fortunately, I tried the door…it was open and we headed in.  We were greeted by the proprietor and his niece, and had a great tour and tasting.  I liked their Zin, Syrah, Vionger and Chardonnay best.  There are a number of wineries in the Yadkin Valley now; if you are in the neighborhood, stop off and visit…

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