Salty Reflections

I invite you to browse this new category for our Beachside Banter Blog! Salty Reflections is another means of sharing life here on Hatteras Island through the lens of a camera. Almost everyday here brings yet another opportunity to capture a moment in time with a photograph of this wonderful place I now call home.

I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire and really fell in love with Hatteras Island the very first time vacationing here over 20 years ago. The weather, wind, water, sunsets, the caring people I became acquainted with, and the island lifestyle kept me coming back here time and again, year after year. Now it seems hard to believe that 11+ years has passed since moving and settling here permanently.

As an amateur photographer over the years I have always enjoyed the challenge of searching out a path less traveled in hope of finding a unique photo opportunity. And yet even here (a small place geographically), Hatteras Island has many such paths. I continue to be amazed by the ever-changing landscape, the resilience of our natural vegetation and variety of wildlife that are able to endure even the harshest weather conditions that sometimes occur here. Collectively all that is here continues to inspire me and can provide so many great moments that my camera is (almost always) nearby and ready!

So from time-to-time I will post a photograph from my modest assortment that I have kept stashed away. There may be a caption or short story that goes along with it, or there may just be the photo itself, which may stir a fond memory or brief reflection of your own Hatteras Island visit!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, it is true that island time really does exist! It was an easy transition for me to find my island time comfort zone. If you let it, island time has a way of eliminating the clutter in life, and helps simplify things. I like that.


Katherine

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Lots of people have hobbies, but few people invest the kind of time and energy into their extracurricular activities that Hatteras residents Ted Midgett and Bill Ballance have dedicated to their favorite pastime of dirt-track racing.Every Friday afternoon, from mid-April until the end of August, Midgett and Ballance load up their car and make the nearly three-hour trek to Elizabeth City, where they compete against other enthusiasts on the Dixieland Speedway’s three-eighths- mile dirt track, not returning home until around 2:30 the next morning. And that’s just race day. They spend several hours each week painstakingly detailing their car—taking it down to the frame, cleaning it, replacing any banged up pieces of metal, repainting dings and scuffs, and hand-checking each nut and bolt on the vehicle. That’s right. Every nut. Every bolt. Every week. “You’ve got to love it,” says Ballance. “It’s stress relief for me. When I’m doing this, I’m in another world.”For Midgett, who has been at it for nearly 25 years, the love affair started early. “I always liked [racing],”he said, “even as a kid.”His dad, Stockton Midgett, used to race beach buggies, and even when he was just riding a bike, Midgett would put a racing number on it. So when the Dixieland Speedway opened in the early 1980s, Midgett couldn’t just sit in the stands. “Four of us from down here went up to watch the race, and we said, ‘Hey, we can do that.’”They came back and built two cars. “We thought it looked easy,” he said. “We found out it wasn’t.”After years of racing, it just got to be too much for Midgett, and he, along with most of the other Hatteras boys, decided to give it up. Then, about 10 years ago, Ballance, owner of Ballance Oil in Hatteras, found himself with a sponsored car, midway through the dirt-track season, and no one to drive it. So he contacted Midgett, who agreed to finish out the season. They’ve been partners ever since, and it seems they make a pretty good team. Over the years, they’ve won seven championships, and almost every year, they take home the title of best looking car. So far this year, the duo is in second place, trailing the leader by 12 points, and leading the third place contender by more than 35. Not bad for a couple of pentagenarians. Of course, Midgett and Balance get a lot of help from behind the scenes. “If you really want to know what goes on, talk to [our wives] Chris and Beth,” Ballance said. “If we didn’t have their support, neither one of us could do this.” In the off-season, Bill and Ted completely rebuild the car. “We take it right down to the frame,” says Ballance. “Ted and I can pick it up and carry it.”Then they start from scratch, cutting the sheet metal for the body, ordering new parts, carving treads into new tires and putting everything together, so that's when the season rolls around, the legendary red and black No. 1 car is ready to roll.

Reprinted from the Island Free Press www.islandfreepress.org

Island Time?

I moved to Hatteras Island in 1994, completely sight unseen. Why? Because the U.S. Coast Guard said so!

We were stationed in Charleston, South Carolina when we received our orders and I thought the idea of living on an island would be “quaint” and “charming”. Since I had grown up a Navy brat I knew I could handle just about any duty station for 3 years, it would be a cinch, no problem, I could do it standing on my head.

There was just one little problem I hadn’t anticipated….island time. A relaxed attitude about schedules, the gray area of 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after the appointed time. Now, keep in mind, I was raised in the military and then married into the military. If 0900 was the scheduled time for an appointment then I was there at 0900, ready for whatever lay ahead.

Shock number one came when I went to enroll my older son in school. “What time does school begin?” I asked. The answer - “8ish”. I’m an adult, I’ve been able to tell time since I was about 5 years old, I do not recall seeing 8ish on any clock - ever. Certainly this must be just for the littlest of the children, it was only kindergarten after all, just a little extra time as a young child begins to learn the routine. Nope. School starts at 8ish. Alrighty then, moving right along.

Several years later, I knew I had been converted to island time when I was on the phone with my brother who lives in Boston. While we were chatting he pulled into a gas station to enquire about a state inspection. The conversation went something like this:

Baby Brother: How long for an inspection?
Station Attendant: 30 minute wait
Baby Brother: I’ll be back

That was it, the full conversation. Information exchanged, appointment made, on to the next item on the “to-do” list. I began laughing and my brother asked what the joke was. I explained to him that his less than 30 second interaction would have taken at least 15 minutes here because there would be inquiries after the entire family’s health, a promise to get together soon and an appointment set for a vague time in the future.

It isn’t that islanders are slow, it’s not that we’re inconsiderate to the schedule of others, it’s that we take the time to care about people around us. I live on island time now and like to think that I’m a better person for it.



Cindy

Sandy toes and baby blues

Memorial Day weekend brought good fishing, great cook outs, and a baby girl’s first trip to the beach. Taylor (my daughter) at the ripe old age of 6 months had her first experience of what it was like to have sand between her toes!

Her dad and I loaded her in the truck with all her favorite toys, sunscreen, umbrella, bottles, water, and the list goes on….we are lucky that, as parents on Hatteras Island, we have the luxury of driving onto the beach in our 4 wheel drive making bringing a baby’s necessities much easier. I can’t imagine having to haul all of these items to the beach by crossing a parking lot, then climbing a dune over a sand path to the water. Needless to say as new parents we did not want to forget anything and wanted to make it the most enjoyable experience possible. Upon arrival at the beach, Taylor’s bright blue eyes were following the seagulls and she was smiling from ear-to-ear. Her dad spotted the perfect location for Taylor’s first beach exploration and backed in.

Believe it or not, the weatherman was right on! The sun was shining, a nice cool breeze was blowing, and there was no rain in sight. What more could one ask, for Taylor’s first beach trip? At this point we (well Stephen, my husband) unloaded the truck, anchored the umbrella, and I applied two, maybe three or even four layers of sun block to Taylor. We were so scared she would get sunburn. I stand Taylor up and she holds on and starts walking towards the ocean. She does her normal “squall” of happiness, and is now almost in a dead run (remember she is 6 months, and I am holding her hands and following behind)! I think the water is cold, but not her! She heads as far out into the wash as we will let her….giggling all the way.

Now we get to the good part. While sitting on a towel playing with a toy, Taylor tipped completely over with her head going right into the sand! You would think she would get upset, but no, not her! Like a true Hatteras beach baby, she just sat up and enjoyed eating the sand. How do you keep sand out of a 6 months mouth? You can’t! By mid afternoon she was getting a little tired and our day was nearing an end. We load the truck, strap Taylor in her car seat and slowly head for the access ramp. By the time we hit ramp 49 , (maybe 3 minutes) she is fast asleep. All in all we had a great day and a great first trip to the beach.





Carinne

Summer Sundays are for clamming, friends, and Nascar racing!

This past Sunday dawned a bit cloudy with a fairly stiff northeast breeze, undeterred and hoping that the forecast for clearing by mid-day was correct, we (myself, my husband Ted, and Kim and Chris who are friends from Elizabeth City) loaded up the boat with all the essentials needed for a great clamming trip.

Necessities include, the boat bag containing snacks, sunscreen, hats, long sleeved shirts (in case we get too much sun), towels, books, and knitting (these last two items go with us in case one or several of us decide to take more of a “supervisory” role in regards to the effort needed to clam J). Also essential for the trip are the clam buckets, clam rakes, the cooler iced down with beverages, and on a Sunday in the summer, the portable radio (with an extra set of batteries just in case) so we can listen to the Nascar race. As an aside here, for those that are hooked on seeing the race on TV, the radio broadcast by MRN (motor racing network) is a fantastic way to get your “fix” with very colorful commentary and announcing. It’s a really good compromise when trying to get those diehard race fans out of the house and into the sun….besides, if something really wild happens you can always catch the recap on the speed channel or ESPN later that night. Everyone give a great big HOO-RAH! to Tony Stewart for winning the Pocono race this past week! We will speak not of Dale Jr’s finish…

Lo and behold, just as the forecast said, about noon the skies cleared up and the wind settled into a nice gentle breeze. Trust me, the weather thing tends to be against us when we have a day off and friends visiting. We launched from Teaches Lair Marina in Hatteras Village ( there is a great live webcam here http://www.teachslair.com/webcam.htm if you’ve never seen it). Unfortunately, we have to launch each time we use the boat! This is a long standing argument (excuse me, “discussion”) between my husband and myself….I want to leave the boat in the water for the summer so we can use it whenever the mood strikes (like at the end of a difficult day for a sunset cruise) while he wants it back on the trailer, so it stays cleaner? This is somewhat akin to an argument we had when we first started dating, we always hand washed the dishes, but he had a dishwasher….when I asked why he didn’t use the dishwasher the answer was because it was new???! Needless to say, I prevailed on that issue and am still holding out hope on keeping the boat in the water. But I digress.

Because of the northeast breeze the water was super clear and gorgeous. It looked tropical. We went to our current clamming “hot spot” in hopes that not too many people had found it since last week. Please don’t waste your breath asking a Hatterasman about where the go clamming, I found out very early on “out in the sound” was going to be the best answer I would get. Now Ted is a clamming machine….he can find them when they aren’t even there which is a trait I have on good authority he got from his grandfather….it makes for a good marriage in-so-far as he doesn’t like to eat them but I love them any way they are fixed! Clam chowder (Hatteras style), clams casino, clam fritters or my favorite steamed in the grill. Mmmmmm good!

When Ted jumped off the boat in about 2 feet of water in order to set the anchor, he stepped on a clam, which proved to be a very good indication that the clams were still right where we left them! We use the long aluminum rakes, which make all the difference in the world as far as how you “feel” the clam strike the tines when you are raking. It was the first time Chris had clammed and in no time at all, he had the hang of it. Limits on clams are up to 200 per boat with at least 2 people and they must measure at least 1 inch at the hinge to be legal. If you care to go on a clamming trip and don’t have your own boat, many of the local marinas have inshore charters that would be happy to oblige, just check. We reached our limit within an hour or so and then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and wading around the sandbars on the Ocracoke side of the inlet across from the ferry docks looking for shells and hermit crabs and generally having a great time. Kim and Chris were able to head north back to the “real world” with a bucket to share with their friends and family. Next time, I promise to remember to bring my camera!

Have a great week! Beth

Wow! Finally! Our first entry!

We have spent a lot of time and given a lot of thought as to the theme of our blog. We have decided that we want ours to be a bit different than the typical "business" blog, we want it to be about our Midgett Realty family, those with the last name Midgett and those that have a different last name but are just as much members of our family, our fellow employees. We all agree that we want it to be reflective of every day life on Hatteras Island.

By far, the most asked question that we get is "what is it like to live there"? This blog will strive to answer that question as we take time to share our island lives with you. You will learn that many aspects of our daily lives are just like yours, whether you live in Pennsylvania or Ohio, California or Canada or points in between or afar. We have children to get to school, commutes to drive to get to work, and never ending list of "things to do" for our homes. (Albeit all of these mundane chores of life take place in an environment that we think is paradise on earth!)

However, you will also learn that our family of staff here at Midgett Realty is a pretty eclectic group of people with wildly varied talents, interests, and backgrounds. To be expected, we count as staff members (and their families) boaters, fishermen, photographers, windsurfers, kiteboarders, birdwatchers, kayakers, surfers, hunters and gardening enthusiasts. But did you know that we also have computer geeks, a gemologist, a devout fan of Dale Jr., gourmet cooks, community activists and volunteers, 3 amateur meteorologists, Pirates, Buckeyes, and Tarheels (sports fans all!), 5 knitters, 2 spinners (yeah, folks who spin wool or other fibers into yarn), several members of local government boards, skateboarders, conservationists, softball players (we sponsor both a Men's team "Midgett Bros." and a Women's Team "Midgett Sistas") and even one racecar driver! (Late Model Dirt Track)

In the weeks and months ahead we will share our lives with you, through the seasons with all our island has to offer. Enjoy!