Bald Head Island!

I just got back from an awesome trip at Bald Head Island! All of my family was there: My grandparents, my uncle, my aunt, my cousins, my mom, my dad, my sister, and me! We always go to Bald Head Island for one week in the summer and I always have a blast. Bald Head Island has lots of cool nature programs, beautiful beach houses, and awesome beaches. I'll break down the trip into days and tell you all about everything.

Saturday
After five hours of driving, my family finally reached the town where the Bald Head Island ferry leaves. I was so exited! We met up with all the others and boarded the ferry. It's cool to be on such a big boat. After about 15 minutes, we reached the bald head Island harbor, unloaded our stuff, and set off for our house, Stars and Stripes, on the tram. At the house, we unloaded and settled down to watch the Bellmont Horse Race. My dad always gives us $2 bets, and I bet on the pretty black horse named Da' Tara, even though its odds were 38-1. Well, guess what? I got myself $76 because Da' Tara won! What a way to start a vacation! We then went out to play around in the ocean as our delicious spaghetti dinner was made.

Sunday
Sunday was a day of relaxation... for the grown- ups! My cousins, sister, and I had an awesome day splashing and swimming in the ocean. My aunt and mom brought lunch down from the house and we feasted on chips, sandwiches, and cookies. The bad thing was, we were out in the hottest hours, so everyone got burned badly. Oh well, at least we had some awesome enchiladas for dinner.

Monday
Yay! The first day of Conservancy Camp! Conservancy Camp is a really fun nature camp held at the Bald Head Island Conservancy. We named all the animals at camp that day. The Scarlet Snake was named Sir Phillip (The boys all voted on that one... ugh.), the toad was named Tad, and the Eastern Mud Turtle was named Squirt. We then went down the the beach and caught fish. Back at home, we went down to the beach again, and played for a few hours. Ebb and Flo's Steam Bar was our dinner destination that night. I had some very good fish and chips and made a drink of Fanta Orange and Coke. It turned out looking pretty cool.



Tuesday
That day at Conservancy Camp, we went to the salt marsh! I caught lots of shrimp but nothing else. Other people were catching crabs and fish, so it was a little frustrating. I got my white shirt covered with mud from the cast nets, but it was still fun. We went down to another beach and found a horseshoe crab in a tidal pool. It was so cool!



My aunt made a weird bean salad for dinner. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad, either.

Wednesday
We went out and caught bugs for the animals to eat that day at camp. Mostly we just caught pill bugs, but we did find a tiny katydid and a cricket. We put some pill bugs in for Tad the toad and I saw him eat one. He ate it so fast, I didn't even see him move. One second the bug was there, the next second it was in Tad's mouth. My cousins and sister claimed they had gone to the same beach and Henrietta (that's what they named the horseshoe crab) had still been there. We went to a place called the Shoals Club instead of the beach that afternoon. It was fun to play in the pool. We also had dinner at the Sandbar Grille there. I had a very good hamburger.

Thursday
We named some new animals at the Conservancy. Another toad was named Oogley (I wanted it to be Todd), a Snapping Turtle was named Gracie, and a Green Tree Frog was named Spiderman. (???) We went to that same beach again, but Henrietta was gone. My mom made Chinese lemon chicken for dinner. I was so hungry, it tasted good, but I don't think i would have liked it otherwise. We had family picture at the beach, and found a starfish there in a tidal pool.



Then we went on a turtle walk. You see, at this time of year, mother Loggerhead Sea Turtles would come ashore and make nests. The Conservancy had turtle walks that let you walk along the beach with a Conservancy member and rush to the scene if a mother turtle came ashore to lay her eggs. Unfortunately, we didn't see any, but it was fun to stay up till midnight.

Friday
Aw, man! The last day of Conservancy Camp! We dissected squid that day and you will not believe what we did! First, we looked for the tiny little bone that poked out of the squid's back. We pulled that out, and then looked for the ink pouch. Using a scalpel, we cut the ink pouch open and used the bones to write with the ink! I wrote a letter that said "Hello. I'm writing this with squid ink." It was gross and cool at the same time. Then, we went down to the beach and caught all sorts of stuff, like flounder, puffers, and live sand dollars! We had chicken tacos for dinner, and then divided into teams for the annual scavenger hunt! We have to take a picture of as many things on the list as we can within the time limit. After that, we went to get ice cream.

Saturday
Well, on Saturday we packed up and left. I felt sad about leaving, but was already looking forward to next year's trip! After we got back to the mainland, we stopped at a restaurant called Fishy Fishy with our grandparents. I had a fantastic flounder sandwich. Sadly, we got back into the car and drove home. I hope everyone can someday visit Bald head Island because it is so fun!