Today we ran for the first time since we arrived. It has been six days since I ran on that blustery day in Highlands (I don't like to miss that many days) and a lot longer for Martha, who is still recovering from her bruised knees. I headed east down Highway 58 toward Fort Macon, and realized as soon as I got away from the beach that it was much warmer, perhaps in the upper 40s with little wind - ideal conditions. Fort Macon is a great destination, a little over 2.5 miles away with water fountains and nice restrooms and little traffic on the highway. I was so pleased to see Martha approaching me on the way back - she ended up completing four miles of running and walking, being extremely cautious about falling and re-injuring herself. She is off to a good start!
In addition to that, we both joined Anytime Fitness yesterday, a place where I worked out many times last January; it has to be the cleanest and best-equipped gym I have every known, with the friendliest staff; Martha is scheduled for a session with a personal trainer later this week. This is all part of a Sabbatical, after all - not just reading and writing, but being active, feeling strong, losing weight, getting back in shape in the middle of January. It is restorative in many dimensions.
We decided to eat lunch at a Morehead City institution, El's, known throughout the South for its shrimp burgers; it's been around since 1959 and has been highlighted by Paula Deen, and it's only a little over five minutes away. We passed El's several times last year in its unpretentious little building on Highway 70; it does not look like the kind of place you would want to stop and eat!
This place is truly old-school. About 15 to 20 cars were pulled up haphazardly in the unmarked parking lot, generally facing the front door, from which two lively young women kept coming. One of them approached us immediately, took our order (shrimp burgers, hush puppies, and slaw), and returned in almost no time with a plain white bag (no logos or writing wasted on the bag or the wrappers inside!) containing our lunch, its aroma quickly permeating our car on the way back to the condo. I will have to post a photo the next time! - we consumed it too quickly.
There are a lot of interesting little places here. Across Highway 58 is a nautical two-story condo-building, accessible only by boats, some of which were neatly pulled up in neat little slips.
On this side of the road, there is a whole village of these pastel-colored trailers, whimsically decorated and humble little summer dwellings, some of them wearing decks up top like flat hats where a person might be able to stand on tip-toe and see the ocean.
Both this morning and again this evening, we have seen many dolphins, arcing and leaping into the air. It is as if they, too, are enjoying the increasingly balmy conditions!
What a beautiful day this was!
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