View from the Mountain

Cool morning everywhere

When I got up this morning at around 6:40 am, I checked my Weatherunderground favorites and noticed that Roanoke was at 35 degrees Fahrenheit which happened to be one degree more than Calgary, Alberta in Canada which was seeing light snow at 34 degrees.

On the Carolina Coast we guys switched to shorts as our uniform in our real estate office about three weeks ago.  We're fortunate that the temperatures warm quickly during the morning.

In Cape Carteret we are already up to 56 degrees at 9:30 am.  That is a climb of eleven degrees in a little under three hours when we were at 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Our weather has been spectacular except for some wind this past weekend.  We did not even get enough rain to wet the rain gauges in this last batch of storms.  I even had to water our yard.

My biggest problem with the cool temperatures at night is that it is slowing the fishing.  I may have to go fishing for bluefish if this cool weather keeps up.

It has been great weather for working outside.  In the last few days we have finished our pine straw mulch project which took 51 bales to complete.

Our roses are obviously happy with the weather.  The cool temperatures also mean that our centipede grass doesn't grow very much.  That means we don't have to mow it which is fine with me.

Local gardens are doing well,  we recently had some great home grown lettuce from our friends, Dean and Gail, who have some raised beds in their backyard.  My tomatoes are racing forward to the finish line.

I suspect that it is going to take Roanoke a while to warm up.  It could be one of those springs where you go straight to summer, but the forecast does not look like that.  Those straight to summer springs are more common in Northern Virginia.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours out on the river in the kayak.  It was very enjoyable.

One of the reasons that I enjoying kayaking is that you can get so close to things without a problem.  You would have to be crazy to take your skiff this close to an oyster bed, but there are no worries in doing it with a kayak.  While I had a lot of fun floating around and drift fishing, I did not get a single bite.  I am guessing that is from the cool temperatures and possibly heavy rain in the headwaters area of the White Oak.

It looks like these cool temperatures will only be a memory by this Friday when Roanoke is supposed to be at 80 degrees.  I should say enjoy it, because I don't see any more warm temperatures until mid-May.

It looks like except for this Friday that Roanoke will remain in the upper sixties and low seventies.  There is nothing wrong with that weather.

However, I do like ours better since we also get to 80 by Saturday, but more importantly, by May 6 we are seem to be in a pattern of upper seventies and low eighties.

That should be just the ticket we need to get the water warmed up and the fish biting.

I am certainly looking forward to slightly warmer weather. After all if you are going to live at the beach, you better have some great weather.

The first green tomato

What a difference a few hundred miles makes.  This is a picture of my tomato plants taken on April 27.

They were planted April 3 or twenty four days ago.  The weather has been almost perfect for tomatoes here in Cape Carteret. 

You can compare these coastal tomatoes to my May 6, 2006 mountain tomatoes in Roanoke, VA.  Our warm climate on the coast gives us a big advantage.

We have started having some nice warm nights in the sixties to go along with the warm days in the seventies.  It has been amazing to watch the plants respond to that warmth.

I have also tried to protect the plants from all the winds that we have been having.  I think that has helped them get a great start.

Right now I am using my Kayak as a windbreak.

In 2007 which was our first year on the coast, we didn't even get our tomatoes planted until May 5.  This picture shows those Cinqo De Tomatoes after nineteen days. 

This year I am obviously well ahead where I was last year.  In 2007 our first green tomato showed on June 2 which is 37 days later than these on this year's plants. This year's first green tomatoes  have likely been hiding for a few days based on their size.

I really would like to see my first 2008 ripe tomato the first week of June.  That would be a huge improvement over July 6th 2007 when we got last year's first tomato here on the coast.

Usually in the mountains our first ripe tomatoes seem to average around July 10th though we have gotten them as early as July 4th in Roanoke.

Early tomatoes are just another good reason I call this spot in Bluewater Cove, a Coastal Paradise.

Knowing when to head out

Sometimes the spirit just moves you and doing something becomes a simple matter of following the path of least resistance.

When the water is warm and the day beautiful, it does not take much to get me on the water.

Putting my kayak in at Bluewater Cove is a matter of sliding it down the grass in my backyard into the water.

Lots of other decisions are more complex.  As a Realtor® I see lots of people struggling with what to do next in life. 

Sometimes I feel like a "what if" spreadsheet for people's lives.  People look at different areas and try to imagine themselves living in a particular home.  I try to help them do that in a realistic manner.

They wonder about the costs of heating/cooling, property taxes, and insurance.

Usually one of the first things on their mind is what our winter weather is like.

Sometimes they want to know where the closest trails for hiking are or how far is it to the nearest fitness facility? One of the questions we almost always get is how far is it to the beach?  Another important piece of information is how far away is medical care and what are the areas' three hospitals like?

It there are children involved, people want to know about area schools.  They often want to understand our demographics.

I get so many questions on area services that I finally made a custom map of the area where you can zoom and pan the map to see where everything is.

Folks thinking about moving also want to know what they will do with the inevitable visitors when they show up right after you move to an area close to beach.

I even did a suggested five day tourist itinerary for one client's sister.

We are lucky since there are plenty of things to do in Swansboro, Emerald Isle, and Beaufort.  We have a wonderful spot like Tryon Palace just 45 minutes away. 

You can even visit the Outer Banks like they used to be at Cape Lookout.

I feel fortunate that lots of people are looking for a new life in the small towns along the NC coast.

While our reasons for moving to Carteret county are specific to us, lots of people seem to relate to our thought process.

I like to think that the people who came before us have helped develop a wonderful spot for second homes, retirement, and even new lives along the shores of Bogue Sound and the White Oak River.  I am thankful to them for making the first steps.

When you get down to crunch, people make their own decisions for their own reasons.  What makes sense for one person might not make sense for another. Yet change is the spice of life and lots of people understand that.

Lots of times you might find just enough information from someone like me to give you that push to head out into that new life in a new spot even if it is not the one I have shown you.

If you do, I hope you find a place as nice as our coastal paradise.  Right now there are plenty of choices.

This is especially true with some great new properties coming on line at a time when prices are at levels that haven't been seen since 2004.

The first fish of the season

One of the great pleasures of living on the coast is getting in your boat or kayak and catching some fresh fish.

Today with some great morning weather, I was checking out my kayak since it is now plenty warm enough to be out on the water.  I had taken my fishing rod as an afterthought.

I was floating in a lazy late morning breeze.  I had been watching a duck who did not seem very concerned about me.  I decided that if I were a fish, I would be in a certain spot waiting for food to float by my mouth.

Sure enough the first cast to my chosen spot resulted in a flounder.  Unfortunately he took my Gulp bait so deeply I couldn't get it out since I had forgotten to bring any long nose pliers. I had not even brought another rig so it was a quick end to my fishing.

With a pleasant morning memory forever in my head, I headed back to the house.  Thunderheads were starting to roll up and the rain that began dropping on me confirmed that the nice part of the day was over.

The flounder ended up in the frying pan for lunch.  I was lucky that it was just long enough to be legal.

It did not take long to get today's catch onto a plate.

Tryon Palace, well worth the drive

There are places that you can visit where you feel like you are a tourist, and there are other places where you feel like you have taken a trip back in time.

Tryon Palace is one of those places where you do not feel like tourist.  You feel more like someone peaking through a window into the past.

We visited Tryon Palace on Saturday April 19.  The tulips were gone, but the rest of the flowers were magnificent.  Other than a couple of groups of kids to dodge, there were no crowds.

If you want a taste of history but don't need the whole tourist thing, Tryon Palace is a great place to go.  I have never seen such well done vegetable plots and beautiful flower gardens.

I put up a website with Tryon Palace, Flower, and Garden pictures.  There are three different sets of slides. To access the other pages from the main page, you have to mouse over the links which are to the right of the first link.

Tryon Palace is located in New Bern, NC which has become a major retirement area for those who want to enjoy water without being very close to the beaches.

My only comment is that you should visit on a cool day since it can be warm on the grounds.

These are hours from their website.

Regular Hours
Monday through Saturday:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
The last guided tour of the Palace begins at 4 p.m. daily.

Summer Hours (Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend):
Monday through Saturday:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday: 1 to 5 p.m.
The last guided tour begins at 4 p.m. daily.
The gardens are open until 7 p.m. (Tickets are sold until 4:30 p.m.)