Celebrating Independence

The ladies of Chez Copa hit the old dusty trail last weekend to celebrate Independence Day in North Carolina with Katie's Sis! Not only can I cross off another state from my to visit pile, but we had a blast!

Day One:

Jamming along to the PURE GOLD play list linds assembled we made it to Cape Cartaret in record time! Spread out in the back seat of Lucy (yes my foot was elevated Jerry) I was appointed ambassador of the road. Like a kindergartner in a station wagon I waved at everyone who made eye contact!

Pulling up to the gorgeous house I was greeted by the other gimp (Katie's Dad) and we hobbled the rest of the weekend in unison!

Day two:
After stuffing ourselves with All-American Grub including Jeff's world famous b-b-q (ok maybe not WORLD famous but it was pretty good) we headed onto Emerald Isle to secure our fireworks viewing spot. A co-worker of Jeff's lives practically on shore. But nothing is every a straight shot with chez-copa.

When we arrived, we noticed a few things out of place, like the 5 police suvs parked outside the house. Pulling up in our 4x dodge ram complete with beer cooler in the bed, the officers were so gracious as to leave their search of the property and properly greet us by encircling the truck while the neighbors laughed from their porch.

Probably not the most natural reaction but while Linds froze, Katie giggled anticipating a hoax. My first response was to speak to the PIO and find out if there was a story. The backpack reporter on the scene beat me to it.

Just as our host emerged from an adjacent home, we were released and made our way up to continue our own investigation of the scene.

Not wanting to be left out, we all actively participated in the the police search. For example, during a later arrest of the perpetrator, his drivers licence fell out of his car. While Katie eagerly snapped shots ( for later reporting purposes of course), we called down from the house to the officer. Just think, we may single-handily saved a CRUCIAL piece of evidence. Right? Never mind those officers who have been investigating these hardened criminals (petty theft, fyi), we were going to show them how to work a real crime scene. We watch NCIS and CSI!

As the excitement wained and the perps were hulled off, I debated whether or not to offer my services to the reporter, I mean, I did see the whole thing go down and had already investigated the neighbors and the home owner. (BTW- they had no idea..etc). The poor channel 12 man had to be the cameraman, producer, and reporter, I wanted to help the guy out.

The fireworks didn't seem to be quite so exciting after that.

Day 3: The BEACH!
We had a few preconditions for an otherwise routine beach veg session - with a bum foot and crutches it had to be close to the drop off point. Working within our limited options we chose the pier. After a lovely day in the sun and a quick dip we headed for dinner. Brace yourself for another copa-ism.

Apparently the pier we selected was a fishing pier. A one stop shop where you can fish, gut and clean your catch. Well those little remains rarely make it to the provided garbage receptacles. Rather they are dropped off said pier. Now in California we have well acknowledged and adhered to shark seasons, but I guess in NC it is a year round phenomenon. And would you like to guess where the main shark hangout is for the area. You guessed it...our little pier. Oops.

Always an adventure!