Photos and a present from my nephew

As promised, here is a pic of Derek on a horse (her name was Sugar) -- his first time horseback riding, by the way. Unfortunately, the photo of me on Johnny (hmm, wonder if he was named after Johnny Depp?) didn't come out. Maybe next time. Derek and I defintely want to do this again. If you're ever on Hatteras Island and want to ride on the beach, the wonderful folks at Equine Adventures will take great care of you.

A pic that I took while riding Johnny of everyone on the ride with us.

THIS is why we love the Outer Banks. Pristine and virtually empty beaches. Bliss!

Another beach shot. The water was almost Caribbean blue.



Marble stones that marked where the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse used to be before the U.S. Park Service had to have it moved after a major hurricane (can't remember the hurricane's name off the top of my head -- we get quite a few here in NC). If you click on the photo to make it bigger, you might be able to read the engraving. Each stone has the names of two or three of the lighthouse keepers all the way back to 1803. VERY cool.

This is the distance from the circle of stones marking where the lighthouse used to be to the lighthouse itself. As you can see, it was quite a feat of engineering.

Click to make it larger. Since Derek didn't have his telephoto lens, we didn't get too close. From my Internet searching, I think this is a Pygmy Rattlesnake. Not something we expected to find on a stroll down the beach. It was about 2-foot long.

And now to my present -- My nephew lives in Washington, DC, and just sent me the coolest present (it's a magnet that currently has a place of honor on my fridge). My immediate response (once I stopped laughing) was that I simply HAD to have that in a t-shirt. Hmmm, for some reason, Derek wasn't nearly as enthused about it. ; ) (See below for the link to the most perfect t-shirt in the world.) The Newseum at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. has it and more. Having worked as a newspaper reporter before and coming really close to making it my career, this is one museum that I have GOT to visit.

For you ladies who are writers, is this not the most perfect t-shirt in the world? (Yes, I will be ordering that one for myself.) And for the younger ladies, this opinion about boys might ring true for some of you. Here's the link to their online store. Have at it. ; )

Have a great weekend everyone! And on Monday, I'll be answering more of your writing questions.

Lisa