Ocean

Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina is a town designed for family-oriented fun along the gorgeous Atlantic coast. Stretching seven miles long and sitting on North Carolina’s southern coastline, this island has the ideal family beach environment for playing in the water or building dreams in the sand. Whether this is your children’s first time seeing the ocean or an annual trip to the coast, everyone is sure to be awestruck by the sheer beauty that is Ocean Isle Beach.

The seven miles of pristine, sandy beaches that run their way along the island are the perfect place for a young one to dig in the sand or to wade into the ocean for the first time. The beaches have a low traffic flow, do not have bright lights, and are generally an all-around great family area. You will find family water slides, numerous beach activities, miniature golf, and plenty of swimming near the beach. The island has some of the best swimming conditions on the North Carolina coast due to the gentle surf that typically does not have strong currents and a water temperature that averages about 10 degrees warmer than the beaches of the Outer Banks region.

If you have golfers in your family who simply cannot bear to part with their clubs on vacation, then Ocean Isle Beach has something to accommodate their vacation needs. There is a wide selection of courses that are tucked along the Intracoastal Waterway, situated near marshes, and nestled between meadows and pine forests. Make your way to the Ocean Ridge Plantation-Tiger’s Eye Golf Links for what has been voted one of the top 100 public courses in the country and the best overall course on the Grand Strand. The semi-private Brick Landing Plantation is also a great 18-hole option that offers an on-site pro and a pro shop just in case you hook one too many balls out of play and out of sight.

After a long day on the links or in the sand, a convenient, laid-back restaurant is exactly what you need to unwind and relax. There are a few great places to eat on the island, each offering spectacular views of the ocean or the waterway. Head out to any one of them in the early evening to catch sight of the breathtaking sunset while enjoying a delicious meal with the family. One place to try is the Giggling Mackerel Seafood Grille, which offers indoor and outdoor seating on the water and the freshest seafood caught by a local captain.

Deep sea fishing is a popular activity out of Ocean Isle Beach, meaning there are numerous captains available to take you into the ocean for yellowfin tuna, sailfish, grouper, amberjack, and barracuda. Head out for a half day or a full day with a company such as Follow Me Charters and try for the catch of a lifetime. It is a great way to spend some time with the kids and introduce them to the exciting sport of fishing, but remember that it can get quite rocky so use a patch or take a motion sickness pill before heading out.

If you need some time indoors, the Museum of Coastal Carolina is an excellent option if you or anyone in your family is interested in the coastal history of the Carolina’s. There are displays of various marine life, antique fishing equipment, shark teeth, and numerous other natural history oriented-exhibits. The programs are educational, yet entertaining, and everyone will enjoy the Reef Room, which is a walk through exhibit that allows visitors to feel as if they are walking underwater amidst the fish, plants, and other aquatic life of the Atlantic.

When you vacation in Ocean Isle Beach, you need accommodations that will allow you to venture to the beach at your own leisure while also enjoying the beauty of this amazing town. The best way to get the most out of your spectacular surroundings is by staying in an Ocean Isle Beach vacation rental that sits directly on the water and has an unimpeded view of the ocean. Relax on the porch and watch as the setting sun casts a radiant glow over the water. Stare at the magnificent waves making their way towards the sand, and then retire to your private room so you can rest before another active and busy day around town. You really can achieve the vacation you imagined, so begin your search for Ocean Isle Beach vacation rentals today to find the one that has all the amenities you need at a price you can afford.

HomeAway.com has the most comprehensive selection of vacation rental homes on the Internet. For an alternative lodging option, consider Ocean Isle Beach vacation rentals for your next trip to Coastal North Carolina.

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Oh, Ocean City Maryland how much I love thee!

It’s a great if crowded place to take your friends and loved ones to during the summer months if you are living anywhere near Maryland, Delaware, Virginia or the District of Columbia.

The place is always jumping with great food, entertainment, super hotels, night clubs and of course the gorgeous boardwalk, the beach and the surf.

Here are the top ten things I recommend you do when you are in Ocean City, Maryland:

1) Surfing and swimming - the waves are fantastic. Just park your car in any of the many perpendicular side streets opening up directly to the public beach. No entrance fees, no nothing. Just dive right in.

2) The Ocean City Boardwalk must certainly be among the top 10 broadwalks in the whole country. It’s wide and long and always full of folks young and old strutting their thing and consuming mega amounts of suntan oil and ice cream. Originally constructed between 1900 and 1915, the Boardwalk is still the place to be after a “hard day” on the beach.

3) Parasailing - just hitch your chute to a fast motor and rise over the Atlantic like a seagull! Take a tandem ride with your loved one and watch the great panorama from a few hundred feet up in the air and realize what a great time the birds are having all year long. The city is home to quite a few experienced parasail operators with good safety record.

4) Jet Boats and Pontoon Boats are for the fast, young and furious. Rent a “cigarette boat” from any of the several operators and cut through the sparkling blue waters like a knife through a blue cake. Not recommended for the faint of heart.

5) The Salisbury Zoo nearby has just celebrated its 50th year and is a great place to take the kids to. It’s located 27 miles west of Ocean City on Route 50. They’ve got bisons, jaguars, bald eagles and enough furry and wingy friends to keep our own two-legged wonders happy and quiet for an hour or two.

6) Assateague Island, ahh just nearby, where packs of wild horses still roam free on the beach. What a great place to pitch your tent and spend a night or two in the bosom of nature. Ideal for campers and nature lovers, this U.S. National Park is very close to the Ocean City. It has 350 camp sites open from April through October.

7) Free Concerts on the Beach. Visitors in July and August are in for this free treat on the beach. Tributes to Elvis, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffet and many other music greats are provided by the Ocean City Department of Recreation and Parks. Don’t miss the Labor Day Weekend concerts.

Sunfest is the city’s most famous festival. It’s a mega-scale art and crafts show, circus entertainment, “Search for Jewelry Hidden in the Sand” contest, and of course great food all rolled up in one.

9) Any runners? Seaside 10K is Ocean City’s fantastic 10K footrace with a beautiful scenic route. A must for burning up all those extra calories that you’d be packing while eating all that good stuff on and off the beach.

10) Winterfest of Lights. And who said Ocean City was only for summer fun? Check in on a November, December or January night and you might be surprised to find yourself in the midst of a forest of lights! You’ll remember the razzle dazzle of tens of thousands of light bulbs creating incredible holiday arches along the streets of the city for a long while.

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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999.

He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site http://www.privatetutor.us

In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).

A true movie fan since he was a child, Akinci provides FREE MOVIE PLOT IDEAS every day of the year at SCRIPT BOILER. Visit http://scriptboiler.blogspot.com today.

You are most welcomed to visit his COPYWRITING WEB SITE http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.

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Autumn is the season that signals change for launching a gentler life, and it is the time for harvesting the fruits sown earlier in the year. The variety of colors that are bound to fade and wither and the cooling weather have always inspired poets.

Here are five poems on autumn by Joy Cagil:

Autumn (A haiku chain)

floating from the sky

scarlet leaves of bitterness

soon the harvest moon

some shrill geese in flight

the brook sluggish like the sap

gold turns sepia

horse chestnuts rolling

over vermilion piles

on the rusty lawn

with final farewells

a lonely heart breaking in

the bare arms of oaks

Ballad of the Wind

Among autumn leaves

rustling in thick frenzy,

the wind sees the apple

and rises

with a celestial song.

“Rosy lush lips touching fingertips
on emerald green the chosen palette

come gently sway, to mark the moment,

with luxury of weightlessness.”

Shiny, untouched,

a pigment of impetuous joy,

awakening red, delicious,

floating to the wind’s tune,

welcoming,

the conceit of choice.

“Rosy lush lips touching fingertips

More vital than life is

the vanity of a kiss,

if beauty is madness

when the wind blows.”

Autumn Rain

The autumn Rain

spread nail polish

over the city

to glitter on

the sidewalks,

asking the flat world

to come alive

and shape up without

stocks and bonds.

But the traffic was hectic

and the people were stacked dominoes.

In frizzled kiosks,

tabloids turned

to paper boats

and went a-sailing

in the gutters,

avoiding haphazard

feet in boots.

Because the traffic was hectic

and the people were stacked dominoes.

Then rain imposed authority

over the umbrellas

with the pitter patter feet of

poetry’s thrust

for a little change in

focus

to create a change in

result.

Still the traffic was hectic

and the people were stacked dominoes.

On Crabapple Beach

Before Crabapple Beach rolls over

in its sleep to dream

of summer people

who’ll desert it again,

I scoop up the sand inside the arches

of my feet and wander

under the rising moon,

unafraid of the beach bums,

the cool water,

or anything else except

drowning

in the ocean between

me and the world.

Accordingly, I peek

for clues of life inside

well-lighted beach-house windows:

soup steaming on a stove,

white flowers in a coffee mug,

two lovers in an embrace,

slender volumes of verse

on a windowsill,

promising an eternity of simple joys

to souls with private pains.

And I recall a delicate moment

when, on a late autumn night,

on Crabapple Beach,

a little girl penned her first line of poetry,

her first newscast to the world,

with a sigh, as if saying, “I do,”

to a lifelong marriage

of clumsily scribbled words from her spirit,

and she felt the earth move

under her feet,

before overnight-gusts barreled through,

inserting icicles inside the sand.

Mute Autumn

They met in a dream

where fireflies flicked in quick farewells

and farmers gathered lush harvests

under a fragile sun.

While rusting leaves wavered between color and reflection,

whispering rumors as they fell,

she warmed her hands by her heart’s fire,

watching him walk up the plank over the pond.

He, a migrating bird; she, a deep-rooted willow,

speechless, deliberating the fusion

of two separate species

in a unique world.

In straw-filled terraces,

never enough nerve to talk,

Delicious, Gala, Rome, Winesap,

Cortland, Jonathan, a windfall crop,

she held up the apples one by one

and crushed them into glistening cider,

trying to charm him with her potion.

In that season of colorful shadows,

so adeptly developed was the illusion’s art,

the emotion so strong, it intimidated the psyche.

Maybe, she froze like the darkened pond,

too full of mystery;

maybe, he didn’t hear her silence.

But then, it was just a dream,

a dream that didn’t make allowances

for sleeping.

Joy Cagil is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/
which is a site for Poetry. Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/joycag

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