Even  we beach residents have some stress.  This morning we ran some errands, and then we decided to stay in out of the heat.  I had a contract website project that I needed three hours to finish so it was a good thing to do on a hot day.

However, I had planned for some beach relaxation late in the evening.  About twenty minutes until eight PM this evening after we had finished dinner, we headed over to Emerald Isle.  I had packed one of my spinning rods, some shrimp, and gear for some bottom fishing.

I knew that my time on the beach would be limited, but I really wanted to wade out in that warm surf and do a little casting even if I did not catch anything.  This has been a tough week, and I have not had time to go fishing at all.  It just seemed right that I should fish a little on the eve of Father's Day.

We got to Third Street Beach around 8 PM.  I had not bothered to check the tides before we came.  I was planning on fishing no matter what the tide was.

It turned out to be about an hour after high tide which was not what I wanted, but I did not let it stop me.  In just a few minutes I was fishing.  Almost instantly the salt water drained the tension out of me.  When I turned around to check on my wife, she had disappeared down the beach.   I could see her walking along the edge of the surf.  We all have our own ways of relaxing.

By 8:25 PM our light was beginning to disappear.  My wife had settled back into her beach chair behind me.  I decided to do just a couple more casts.  On the very next cast I caught a nice spot which I quickly returned to the water.  When my wife saw me catch the fish, she asked if I wanted to fish longer.  I knew she had a couple of errands that she wanted to do before we went in for the evening so I told her I had been accomplished my mission.

In truth I did more than I expected. I actually caught a fish in the surf on the eve of Father's Day.  I had also managed to cool off and have a great time just standing in the surf.

We packed up and headed back down the beach towards town.  We had only been on the beach thirty minutes, but I would rather have thirty minutes of beach time than no minutes any day.

It was a good time, and we will likely be back tomorrow night, and I suspect we will have more time to stay and enjoy the beach.