Buxton Woods

For residents and locals the fall and winter seasons allow us to slow down and spend much deserved and needed time with family and friends. The spring keeps us busy in preparation for the summer season. The summer of course is hands down a mad dash to squeeze every possible second from every day. Fall is my favorite time of the year and fall on Hatteras Island is absolutely breathtaking.

With school back in session my husband and I are able to do the things we really enjoy that our teenager likely wouldn't. We try to take one day a week to do something for us. We may go to Manteo to visit the Elizabethan Gardens or the North Carolina Aquarium but we often find things to do around the island that don't involve a long car ride. One of our favorite things to do besides going to the beach on a quest to find treasures in the sand is walking the nature trails around the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton. Especially on days where the weather isn't perfect it's a great thing to do to make the most of our time together. This past Wednesday the winds were gusty but thankfully the rain showers were gone by noon. The day actually turned out to be quite nice so we decided to venture out and find a local activity that was cost effective as well.

The Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve was the solution. It is an immense maritime forest that covers 2,500 acres in Buxton. Actually it is the largest maritime forest on North Carolina's Barrier Islands. There are endless trails to explore. There are large sand dunes stabilized by pines and evergreens making it a lush wonderland for those who enjoy nature. There is a uniqueness to the preserve that is unmatched. A maritime swamp forest, maritime shrub swamp, open water interdune ponds, and marshy wetlands referred to as sedges are all scattered in the vast forest that is nestled discretely in our Buxton community.

According to the Nature Conservancy there are over a dozen rare plant and animal species found in the Buxton Woods. For the bird lovers you will be pleased to know that over 135 species of birds have been recorded in the woods. During fall migration the preserve provides an important resting spot for songbirds and raptors. Deer are abundant as are many other furry friends that frolic in the playground nature has provided.

It reminds me of the woods in Manteo where I used to play when I was a kid. I can't wait to find time to go back and walk more of the trails. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to escape to a place where nature surrounds your every thought. Be sure to take your camera to capture those memories you want to last forever...I forgot mine last time. :)

Island Girl

Hatteras Island's very own Caitlyn Gray has recorded her first album! Caitlyn is a beautiful and talented high school senior at Cape Hatteras Secondary School who has sung her way into stardom. Her accomplishments are many. She is a fixture in the weekly shows performed at the Frisco Jubilee. At CHS home games she serenades the crowd with her powerful voice. Many are brought to near tears when hearing her rendition of the National Anthem. She consistently participates in local events such as holiday community gatherings as well as fundraisers. This October 11th she will be singing at the 5th Annual Cancer Foundation Fun Run to be held in Salvo at The Village Conery sponsored by the Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation.

The title of her 10 song album is Island Girl. The CD has a variety of songs including gospel. A few of the songs are: "Walkin' After Midnight", "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "How Great Thou Art". She is accompanied by Mahlon Blue and Herb "Speedy" Price (our very own local star who participated in the filming of Nights in Rodanthe). Speedy recorded her album at his studio in Frisco, Beachroad Productions Studios.

Everyone admires Catilyn's accomplishments and her determination. Besides being a very talented singer she is an Honor Student at Cape Hatteras, a highly decorated athlete and an active participant within our Hatteras Island communities.

Her CDs are available at many Hatteras Island businesses including Vacation Traditions for $15.

We are so proud of her! She will always be our Island Girl!!

Day at the Docks

The annual Day at the Docks festivities were held in Hatteras Village this past Saturday, 9/20. It is a day to celebrate the watermen of Hatteras Island where food is abundant, music flows freely and activities of all sorts are scattered from Oden's Dock to Hatteras Harbor Marina. You can reel in a "blue marlin", participate in voting the best island chowder in the Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation's Chowder Cook Off and sample all kinds of seafood fare from the most common to the most unique. Be sure to mark you calendars for next year! More information can be found at www.dayatthedocks.org.

This event is one I hold dear to my heart. My family is one of many native Dare County families that have a long history and proud heritage of hardworking men and women who make their living on the waters. My grandfather "Pop" as we called him, Marvin F. Mann, was one of the original Captain's at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. His boat the Playboy was on the west side of the dock and as a kid who completely idolized her brother I used to take as many fishing trips with him as I could. My brother, Bill, was an awesome mate. He ate, slept and drank fishing and still to this day is one of the best fishermen you'll find any where. Often times at night when mom would go in his room to kiss him goodnight he'd often reply "Goodnight, Fish." Seriously.

Bill began fishing when he was 9 years old on Pop's boat. He was sought after by other Captains but of course his loyalty remained with our grandfather. When Pop finally decided to retire he had to move on and with that came much more opportunity and experience. He began fishing off shore and was known as one of the best mates at the fishing center. At 18 he acquired his Captain's licence. He enjoyed being in the action so much it wasn't until later that he opted to take a seat at the helm as Captain. While he loved charter fishing he always had a sweet spot for commercial fishing. He purchased the F/V Knockout to commercial fish in the fall, winter and spring.

He was long overdue for a larger boat from trip after trip of fish overflowing from every crevice. He read about a boat for sale in the National Fisherman magazine that was up in Maine. He went up to see it and fell in love. Knowing a few modifications had to be done to fit his needs from what it had been used for, a lobster boat, he brought her home. He worked diligently to get it right and renamed it Jamie B after his wife.

We grew up in Manteo as I have eluded to before and he now lives in Wanchese. He has three beautiful children, Christian, Ben and Elizabeth or as we call her Bebe. They have two dogs, Sam and Winston and a Seuss the cat.

Bill is a real as the come. His thick scared hands portray the tale of his hard work and love of the water. I am so proud of him and all he stands for. He's my Bubby! :)

9/11 Remembered

September 11, 2001...a day that will never be forgotten...a day I will always remember with high emotion.

I was scheduled to fly to Phoenix, AZ for a conference for a non-profit organization, The Wesley Hospitality House in Elizabeth City, NC, of which I was on the board. On 9/10 a friend of mine and I left the monthly WHH board meeting to catch our flight from Raleigh scheduled to depart that afternoon. There was an accident on I-40 and subsequently a major traffic back up which caused us to miss our flight. We contacted Southwest Airlines and were able to reschedule our flight for the next morning. We found a hotel room and enjoyed the evening anxiously awaiting our trip the next day.

We arose the morning of 9/11 to begin our journey. We of course had no idea what was about to unfold as the day progressed. We landed at Chicago Midway and when getting off the plane I thanked the flight attendants for their friendly hospitality as I tend to do. They were unusually somber which puzzled me. When we walked into the gate we were greeted by frantic travelers and airport staff. I was at a loss to explain the chaos. Then I saw it. I remember staring up at the TV in the terminal in total disbelief. I cannot begin to describe the numbness, the panic, the overwhelming emotion.

Once we pulled ourselves back together my friend, Bernie, and I tried to call our families to let them know we were OK. The phone lines were jammed and of course it seemed like a lifetime before we could get through. It was such a sigh of relief for my mom to know I was OK and was trying my best to find a way to come home. I had to wait until my son arrived as his after school care to call and let him know I was coming home. All I wanted to do was see my baby boy who was too young at the time to really have any idea what was happening. Bernie was able to speak with her family as well. She is from Johnstown, PA close to Shanksville, the site of the heroic take down of United Airlines Flight 93.

There was total chaos in the airport. They made an announcement that the airport would be closing and that anyone traveling to the West Coast could find their luggage at Carousel C. Bernie got in line in hopes of securing a rental car and I went to find our luggage. I knew the moment I saw the sea of black luggage that I would be sifting through the bags for a while. By the time I found our bags Bernie had returned with bad news on the rental car option. She was the next person in line when they sold out. With our luggage in tow and not a clue what we were going to do next we stopped to catch our breath. The airport was crawling with police, military, the bomb squad, the fire department and so many uniformed men and women it was very scary for a small town girl like me. The announcement over the loud speaker kept repeating the airport would be closing in an hour bringing us to the reality that we had to find a plan.

Bernie started calling the bus lines, Amtrak, car rental agencies to no avail as public transportation had been temporarily suspended. I found a group of officers who were nearby and asked for help. One man told me to take the "L" to downtown. Another said I couldn't do that because they were closing down the downtown Chicago area. At that very moment is when I had meltdown. I burst into tears at the thought of being so far from home in an unfamiliar city when our country was in panic mode with no place to go. Luckily one of the officers pulled me aside and suggested we catch a cab to an offsite car rental company to try to secure a rental. We did so but of course no options were available. In sheer desperation we decided we should find respite and try to figure out what to do next. The cabbie took us to the Hilton in Oaklawn where we were able to secure a room for the night, or at least that was the plan.
We settled into the room and of course turned on the TV to find out the details surrounding the horrific attack on our country. Bernie started calling for alternate transportation and was able to secure the last two seats on Amtrak to Johnstown to stay with her brother. The hotel was agreeable with our decision to leave so we headed to the train station. As we made our way to PA we had to get off the train at every stop as a security measure. There was no rest for the weary. After traveling all night her brother picked us up at the station the next morning. We enjoyed their hospitality and were thankful for a familiar face. The following day a friend of hers drove us to Fredericksburg, VA where a friend of ours picked us up and drove us to Raleigh to get my car from the airport. It was the total planes, trains and automobiles experience.

It was a super rough few days, but I had it so much better than thousands of others. My heart goes out to those who lost family and friends, those who were injured and those who witnessed the terror first hand and lived to tell about it.

Never forget 9/11…I know I won’t.

God Bless America!

Hemingway Cats on Hatteras Island

I have been neglecting my blog and shame on me. :) It's just been a busy few weeks and I haven't had the opportunity or the creative mind to find something to blog about. My BFF, Cindy, who is commonly referred to as "my wife" encouraged me to blog about our expanding family. We are a very pet friendly family. We have two dogs, a Brittany Spaniel named Bam and a Miniature Daschund named Dottie Doodles. We also have two cats, Millie who was found in the middle of Highway 12 in Hatteras one night on our way to dinner at the Breakwater, and Chance who was Millie's only kitten. Never having a female cat before now my husband and I have been somewhat unfamiliar with the mating habits of felines. That of course was until we have been blessed with seven little bundles of kitten joy that have come wrapped in gray and white bouncy little packages. They are the cutest things ever...not many things in this world are as cute as a kitten.

Much to our surprise many of the kittens have a trait that is technically known as Polydactyl, which is Latin for "many digits". Three of the kittens actually have one extra toe on their front paws and two actually have many extra digits on their front paws...eight total to be exact. Everyone has been intrigued by these rapidly growing bouncy pouncy kittens so Cindy suggested I write about them. I didn't know much about the term, but knew that the common name is "Hemingway Cat" so of course I did the natural thing and Googled my interest.

I found a great website: http://cats.about.com/od/felinegenetics/a/polydactyl.htm with lots of information on the subject. The following is information from their site to help better explain this trait. "The trait for polydact comes from a dominant gene, and only a polydactyl cat can parent another polydact. Although the Maine Coon (whose ancestors are also thought to have immigrated to the U.S. aboard ships) is believed to have been the first breed to have this trait, polydact is considered a fault in that breed, and indeed in every other breed except the Pixie Bob, a relatively new breed. So, rather than a breed, polydact is just a genetic trait, somewhat like the genetics for the tabby pattern. Instead of the normal 18 toes (five on each front foot and four on the rear) found on most cats, polydacts have six or more toes on the front feet, and sometimes an extra toe on the rear." Well that pretty much sums up our litter. It's pretty cool, I have to admit. They really look as though they have mittens on their paws.

I have been trying to sweet talk my hubby into keeping one of them and naming him Mitt. :) I think it's a great idea but he's not so sure.

As a new proud parent I wanted to share a few photos of these adorable fuzzy little creatures...