Monday July 4th, 2011 Bogue Inlet Pier will once again host the fireworks for those visiting Emerald Isle on the holiday. For a couple years the relationship between Mike Stanley (owner of the pier) and the Town of Emerald Isle kind of went south. It all started when the town made Mike remove his long standing sign at the end of Bogue Inlet Dr. and replaced it with a sliver of a sign.

Well this didn’t sit well with Mike, and I can’t say I blame him. The sign had been there for what seemed like forever to me. But a storm (I forget which one) badly damaged the sign. When Mike put it back up, the town said it was “non-conforming” and forced its removal. unfortunately for Mike the old saying “You can’t fight city hall” rings true.

Nonetheless, I’m glad to report Mike and the Town of Emerald Isle have reconciled and the fireworks will be returning to Bogue Inlet Pier. Its so much better to watch the fireworks display on the beach vice McLean Park.

Fireworks will be at 9pm on the end of the pier. Hope you enjoy.

The new center is located next to Cape Lookout High School on Bridges St. in Morehead City. At a projected cost of $3.5 million the e911 center came under fire from critics and even some commissioners. That’s not a really big price tag considering all the upgrades to radio, telephone, and computer systems included in the estimate.

At any rate the project was completed well under the initial estimate. The final total was something like $2.89 million. I just hope we didn’t skimp on somethings that will only need major upgrading next year.

In years past there were dispatchers at four different “public safety answering points”. Morehead City, Beaufort (Sheriff’s Department), Atlantic Beach, and Emerald Isle each had a dispatcher. Now they’ll all be centrally located in Morehead City. Which to me seems like it has both pros and cons. If all the dispatchers and emergency communications are in ONE facility, that would create a single point of failure. But we’re limited in financial resources so I guess we can only take redundancy so far.

It is refreshing, though, to see the county doing something in advance of it being needed. We all know Carteret County is growing by leaps and bounds. This trend shows no sign of slowing down, and our emergency communications were in serious need of updating to keep up with the growth occurring in our area.

We went on a Sunday evening and the restaurant had a good crowd in it, but we found seats right at the bar and enjoyed watching the games on giant TVs. The service was prompt and courteous.

My buddy is a big fan of their spicy garlic sauce and the sweet BBQ. I tried the Caribbean jerk and the Asian zing. Both of which were amazing. They also have an extensive selection of both bottled beers and draft.

I was shocked to learn we were even getting a Buffalo Wild Wings on the Crystal Coast. It sure is nice they picked our area for one of their newest restaurants. Its a great place to hit up and catch the game with some good food.

I will definitely be back for another visit to this Morehead City restaurant. Especially with the NFL playoffs coming up and March Madness not too far off, you’ll want to hang out here so you don’t miss any of the action.

I’m getting ready to go visit Emerald Isle and check out the snow situation over there. We don’t get too much snow here along the Crystal Coast, so this is kind of a fun and rare event for us.

I’ll post some more pics of the winter wonderland once I have a few more. Highway 24 is starting to get a little slush on it, and I imagine any side roads are getting even worse by now.

Emerald Isle recently (a few years ago I think) paved the lot, built bathrooms and a nice walkway,  and volleyball courts at their Western Access near the Islander. When I first moved here this western access was a sand parking lot. While the parking was a little unorganized at times, it sure seemed to hold a lot more cars.

The improvements they have made are really nice to have. However, if it means charging people to park there, are they really that necessary? Why would the town add all of these “improvements” if there would be trouble funding their maintenance?

Atlantic Beach has stated they could use the money to help pay for things like lifeguards and trash pickup. How do these towns run out of money to pay for something that is as predictable as the tide? It’s not like this is some unexpected crisis that no one saw coming. Every year the beach is invaded by tourists and it costs money to keep it safe and clean.

Luckily I don’t have to worry about losing the free parking at the beaches. I have plenty of friends willing to let me use their driveway. I can’t help but feel bad for the families that live an hour or so away and used to be able to come to the beach for the day with very minimal expense.

I always thought the beach nourishment projects along the coast were funded with money from the state and federal governments and by accepting funding for these projects the beach towns agreed to provide a certain number of free and public accesses. I have to wonder what’s next. Will we soon be expected to purchase tickets for admission to the beach as well?

Being that Ballyhoos is one of my favorite restaurants in Emerald Isle, I get in there often enough to know any night is a good night there, however, Surf Night is totally off the hook.

The festivities kick off at 9:30pm Saturday night. Selah Dubb will be throwing down some hot tunes. Of course don’t forget to get there early and get your raffle tickets. Each Surf Night there are plenty of sweet prizes given away.

Ballyhoos is the perfect venue for an event such as this. I’m sure they will have some kind of drink specials and of course good food. Ballyhoos is a great example of some quality Emerald Isle nightlife.

There’s not too much to do this time of year, and Surf Night really helps make for a fun evening on the town even in the off-season. So if you’re looking for something to do this weekend mark Saturday at 9:30 for Surf Night and come win some stuff or at least listen to good music.

So for many of the kids, Cape Lookout High School is their last chance to make it to graduation. November 4th the Board of Education came down with a decision to close the school by month’s end.

Emerald Isle attorney Mike Lincoln, who represents the school, is working on appealing the state’s decision. The students have been busy writing letters to the board as well as to local newspapers. Back in August this issue was brought to an administrative hearing. It was in this hearing that Judge Joe Webster gave the school two years to improve the dropout rate. So the school’s students and faculty felt they at least had some time to improve. However, in true bureaucratic fashion the board of education decided to overturn Judge Webster’s ruling.

What I find hard to believe is they want to close the school in the middle of the year. There’s kids who have been working hard to overcome their hurdles, and the state isn’t even going to let them finish high school?

All of this is because of a high dropout rate? Well at least SOME of the kids are graduating. Not to mention the fact that many of these kids were planning to dropout of other high schools in the county. And instead of just letting them drop out, they send them to Cape Lookout High School.

Let’s look at what happens when we close this school. Instead of having a second chance high school to send struggling students, they will have no other option and dropout. Now ALL high schools in the county have their dropout numbers go up. You see, it isn’t that Cape Lookout is doing a poor job. Its our wonderful State Board of Education that is FAILING to deliver a promising future for Carteret County.

Morehead City – Its that time of year again. The Crystal Coast welcomes the 8th annual Carolina Chocolate Festival. I first went to this event 5 years ago. Needless to say it’s something I look forward to each and every year. This year it will be held from February 5th-7th.

• On Friday February 5th at 11:00am there will be a Tee off FORE Charity and Chocolate golf event at Brandywine Bay Golf Course in Morehead City. I’m not much of a golfer, so I’ll likely be sitting this one out. Cost is $45 and includes lunch, chocolate desserts, and a golf cart.
• Then at 6:30pm prepare for An Evening Wrapped in Chocolate at Shepard’s Point. This will feature a chocolate dinner from Chef Charles Parks. Tickets are $160/couple or $80/person. Proceeds benefite Boys and Girls Club of Coastal Carolina.

• Saturday February 6th at 9am the Carolina Chocolate Festival opens its doors at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City. The festival runs until 6pm. Tickets are $8 for adults, $2 for kids 5-12, and kids under 5 are free admission.
• Also on Saturday from 11am to 3pm is the Chocolate Spa at the Sheraton in Atlantic Beach. Get a facial or mini massage and enjoy champagne and gourmet chocolates. Reservations are required and tickets are $60 and include admission to the Chocolate Festival.
• From 2pm to 5pm stop into the Chocolate Uncorked event on the 2nd floor of the Civic Center. Emerald Isle Wine Market will have some decadent wines to sample and a silent auction.

• Sunday February 7th is the second day of the Carolina Chocolate Festival in Morehead City. The hours are from 10am to 3pm and the ticket prices remain the same except for free admission to Active Duty service members with I.D.
• From noon to 3pm check out Potters for Parkinsons Bingo on the Civic Center’s 2nd floor. There is going to be prizes and surprises for all.
• The Carteret County PAWS sunday brunch will run from 11am to 3pm at Floyd’s 1921. Costs $20 per person and reservations are required. Call (252) 727-1921 or (252) 726-7925 for reservation/ticket information.

So I hope to see you out at one or more of these wonderful events that all support great charities in our area. Just remember not to eat too much chocolate.

2009 Carolina Chocolate Festival

The town’s fireworks display this year is not taking place at Bogue Pier as it has in years past. Instead this year Emerald Isle’s Fourth of July Celebration will take place at McLean Park. It’s set to get going at 9:30pm.

If you’re not sure of where McLean Park is in Emerald Isle its near mile marker 18.

Just a reminder in North Carolina many fireworks are illegal. This includes anything explosive or aerial, roman candles, and rockets or similar devices.

You can and will likely get a ticket in Emerald Isle for igniting these types of fireworks. Don’t ask me how I know this. I’m unsure about watching the fireworks in Emerald Isle this year though, since they won’t be at Bogue Inlet Pier.

I always thought that was a wonderful way to celebrate the Fourth of July. It is unfortunate the town and the owner of the pier couldn’t come to an agreement on their sign at the end of Bogue Inlet Dr. Instead they forced Mr. Stanley to remove his sign.

While it is saddening that the Emerald Isle fireworks won’t take place at the pier, I really don’t blame the pier owner for his decision. Why work with them, if they can’t work with you?

I hope you make it out to this year’s fireworks. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to watch them. Happy Fourth of July!

The purse last year was a record $1,854,575! A boat named Artemis, the winner took $708,400 of that.

Today the waterfront headquarters opened for registration. It will open again on Friday (June 5th) at 9am and remain open until 5pm. At 6pm on Friday there will be a Lady Angler Event at the Civic Center. Tickets are $15.

The last day for registration is Sunday (June 7th) on the waterfront from 1pm until 5pm. And at Town Creek Marina in Beaufort from 6pm until 9pm.

There will be weigh-ins Monday through Friday (June 11th-14th) at about 5pm. Saturday’s is at 4pm.

Last year 177 boats were in the tournament. They caught and released 163 billfish.

This Morehead City Blue Marlin fishing tournament has come a long way since the first one back in 1957. The total prize for this inaugural tournament was a whopping couple hundred dollars.

No one even caught a marlin in that first tournament. In fact I think the first marlin caught off the North Carolina coast wasn’t until that following September. An angler from Raleigh, Jimmy Croy landed a 143 pound blue marlin. He was fishing aboard a boat called the Mary Z captained by K.W. “Bill” Olsen.

This year’s Big Rock is set to be an outstanding event. Each year the tournament raises thousands of dollars for a variety of charities.

I’d like to wish all of the anglers in this 51st Big Rock the best of luck!

I hope to make it to the scales at least one day of the tournament and get some photos of a nice marlin or two.