Winter Beach Day

Friday, we took Alex and Harper to Wilmington for a winter beach day.  It would be Harper's very first trip to the beach.  We drove through Wilmington and stopped at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.  We first hiked along the Basin Trail to the WWII bunker and overlook at Zeke's Island.  Then we hiked back and headed out to the beach.  There was almost no one here and we had the beach nearly to ourselves.  We first took Harper down to the water to look at the waves then set up a blanket and she took a little nap.  I walked around and got some bird photos, though there weren't a huge number here today.

There were a few terns and sandpipers right along the water's edge.

A couple flocks of pelicans flew overhead.

I also saw a couple cute willets pecking around in the surf.

After Harper's nap, we took her down to the waves one more time to see the ocean.

We were getting hungry at this point, so stopped for lunch at Jack Mackerels in Kure Beach.  Heading home, we made a stop at Smith Creek Park near where I-40 starts.

A 1.3-mile paved trail makes a loop around the small lake.

We had a nice hike around the lake and then made the drive home.