Wednesday the 18th day of August, 2010
This week is not about the boating adventures of Liquid Therapy. But, rather, Freedomfest - A celebration of Chris Clements getting out of the Army. 13 years has been enough service to our nation for him. So his wife Carter, has been planning this event for several years and now Freedomfest is in full gear. We are at the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina in at Frisco a stop along Highway 12. It is wonderful here. Carter rented two huge houses and has many of their friends (18 last count) here for this week's celebration of Chris's freedom. I have been many special places in the world, but the OBX has been drawing me back year after year since I was 16 Sea oats and dunes are the only things keeping this thin strip of land between the Roanoke Sound and the Atlantic from washing away. And, one day that could happen anyway if Mother Nature so desires.
There is much feasting, drinking and the nice beach here to enjoy. The air and water temperatures are perfect and Chris's friends are welcoming him back into civilian life. I remember getting out of the Navy and how I felt back in 1972 as though I'd gotten out of jail or something. Not having the pressures of wondering what would happen next and where. And, the bureaucracy of the entire service thing was just insane to me. I did my part and left. Chris has done his part and is leaving too. The military is not a bad thing for people to do for their part of our freedom. It just should be a page in your life. Chris has more like a chapter having 13 years of service.
Susan and I arrived Monday afternoon and got introduced to everyone, went for a splash in the ocean and had several drinks and laughs. Dinner was excellent with tilefish and grouper baked, corn and a salad. A yummy blackberry crumble for desert and the night was suddenly causing me to sleep. I did shoot some pool. Both houses have pool tables. Very nice. Couldn't get my trick shot to work. OH WELL out of practice. Pool was something I did a lot of in the Navy. HA.
Tuesday got me thinking about surf fishing. Now surf fishing has never been very good to me EVER. But, it's fun and each cast has the potential to catch something. I drove to the Hteras and spoke with the tackle shop about what to use for bait and bought two bunkers to slice up. Scaled is how the guy at the bait shop told me I needed to prepare my bait. He might still get a laugh with his buddies about how he told this guy that he needed to scale the bait before the fish would bite it. I scaled it and Carter was very excited to surf fish. I showed her how to cast and she was a natural at it. I on the other hand broke the sinker off as the bail flipped during a cast TWO times watching the entire rig fly into the Atlantic. So it goes with my Penn704 reel that I bought in 1972. Penn stuff never wears out and the OBX tackle shops still have screws and parts for these things. My 704s are old friends that never let me down and HAVE brought in many fish over the years. So, I shot a few pictures.
Here is the view I have as I type this article.