One of the best parts of coastal living and life along the Crystal Coast is getting to experience a wild horse and dolphin scenic tour anytime we want.  My kids and I are big nature lovers, so any chance to see wildlife in a natural setting is just magical.

One stallion challenging another – often used to intimidate an opponent to prevent a fight. © NCPS

Why See Less, When You Can See It All!

Experience a Wild Horse and Dolphin Scenic Tour

The wild horse and dolphin scenic tour is a 15 mile, fully narrated tour. On it you’ll cruise by Carrot Island and the Rachel Carson Reserve, you’ll see the NC State Port, Blackbeard’s House, Beaufort’s historical homes, high-rise and drawbridges, Duke Marine Lab, Fort Macon, USCG Station, Radio Island, the Morehead City Waterfront, as well as big beautiful yachts from all over the world with a good chance of seeing the Wild Banker Ponies and Atlantic Bottle-Nose Dolphins. Pony and dolphin sightings are typical but obviously not guaranteed, but either way, you’ll have such a good time.

Atlantic Bottle-nose Dolphins frequently swim beside the Crystal Coast Lady as you cruise.© NCPS

Pick Your Own Tour with The Crystal Coast Lady

One Warm Coat Drive

Hey friends! I’m a big fan of getting involved at a local level so this year, one of the non-profit organizations I’m on the board for is encouraging everyone who can to donate a new or gently used coat this Winter. 

Why Coats? 

Health experts report that even a 2-degree drop in body temperature results in reduced heart rate, loss of coordination, and confusion. Adults cannot work effectively and children find it difficult to learn. For most, a warm coat solves the problem. But, for the nearly 15% of Americans living in poverty, a warm winter coat is a budget “extra.”

Did you know?

• 15% of seniors live in poverty
• 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year
• One in five children is living in poverty

You Can Help Carolina Locals During the One Warm Coat Drive

Gateway Western Carteret Community Alliance and the Crystal Coast Christmas Festival have teamed up with One Warm Coat this holiday season to help our local community members in need. This is such a sweet way to help someone in need, right here in our community, this holiday season. 

You can donate a new or gently used coat during the Festival (Dec 2 – 11) and your contributions will go to a local domestic violence center and a local homeless shelter.

You can also bring in canned goods as well, contributions will also go to our local shelters.

Cans and One Warm Coat Drive and Drop Off Location: 

The Market At Cedar Point
1046 Cedar Point Blvd
Cedar Point, North Carolina

For more info call (910) 330-7937 or (252) 285-6606

About One Warm Coat

One Warm Coat works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need. We encourage people to keep others warm by donating a new or gently used coat.

One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that assists in the donation of coats. We help individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country collect coats and deliver them to local agencies that distribute them free, to people in need.

If you have gently used coats and jackets you’re no longer using or no longer need, please pass them on to someone who desperately needs them this Christmas. You can drop them off now through December 11th. 

Thanks in advance! 

Moving to North Carolina’s Crystal Coast has given the kids and I so many more opportunities to see a wide variety of wildlife, especially birds like the Cardinal. All along the Crystal Coast, there are great places for bird watching and if you have a bird feeder like we do, you already know this!

Gorgeous Cardinal perched on a black metal bar during Winter. © Chris Chow

The Cardinal is One of Our Favorites

One of our local favorites is the Cardinal. It also happens to be North Carolina’s state bird. Did you know they’re also known as cardinal-grosbeaks and cardinal-buntings? The sexes usually have distinctive appearances with males being bright red, like the one above, and females being a rusty brown.

Beautiful Cardinal enjoying a little Winter weather in Swansboro, NC.

The kids’ dad snapped the photo above on his phone from the window while he was in Swansboro. It was a brisk Winter morning but the birds don’t seem to mind at all. Of course, we do notice a whole lot of activity at the feeders during the Winter, most likely because it’s harder to find seeds and berries.

Have you ever wondered what a Cardinal sounds like? You can listen to a Cardinal’s song right here. Enjoy!

Inviting Cardinals to Your Yard

The perfect moment when a female Cardinal takes flight. © Elvis Bueno

If you’d like to encourage Cardinals to visit your backyard, you can help by supplying some of their favorites like seeds, insects (you can buy mealworms), and berries. That’s what we do. Their diet is quite varied. Most home and garden stores will have a wide variety of seed selections perfect for Cardinals. 

Female Cardinal perched on a tree branch. © Ryan Tasto

Our favorite place to shop for all things bird-related, including seed, is a sweet little shop in Atlantic Beach that acts as a dual purpose store. It’s Kites Unlimited and Bird Stuff, etc. That’s literally the name!

I love that store so much and so do my kids. We’ve been popping in there since we moved here in 2012 and we still enjoy stopping in whenever we’re in Atlantic Beach. It’s one of those stores where there’s always something new to see and they’re so knowledgable about birds. 

Kites Unlimited and Bird Stuff, Etc.
1010 W Fort Macon Rd
Atlantic Beach, North Carolina 28512

(252) 247-7011

What’s your favorite bird? Is it one that’s local to you? Kick off the conversation in the comments. 

Yesterday, I shared that we decorated gingerbread houses and had a wonderful time. It was a great way to start the month of December and a great way to get into the holiday spirit. Shortly after our gingerbread decorating adventure, we strolled over to the waterfront to watch the Morehead City Christmas Flotilla. It was the perfect weather, chilly but not too cold – just cool enough to make you feel like the holidays are coming! We all had a great time and look forward to adding this to our annual holiday traditions.

Here are a few photos from our evening at the Morehead City Christmas Flotilla – 

Life along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast is already proving to be magnificent. 

There were so many great boats decorated in such festive ways. I wish I could have captured them all. Maybe next year. Hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we did.

Be sure to check out our cute gingerbread houses and if you’d like to follow along with all our adventures in our new home town, you can follow along by checking out my blog posts on the Crystal Coast.

Today was another day for the books! The kids have been saying that they miss Florida but when I ask them what they miss, they always share memories – not places.

I explained that the memories you make travel with you wherever you go. Then I reminded them that we’re making plenty of new memories here in North Carolina, too. But, that they will still have all of their old memories of Florida.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses for the Holidays

© Dayngr

We certainly haven’t been bored! Since moving to the Crystal Coast, I’ve made sure to look for fun events we can do together as a family to really get the kids engaged and help them fall in love with their new hometown while making new memories. Our latest adventure, decorating gingerbread houses.

© Dayngr

We drove over to Alex and Brett’s Bakery, in downtown Morehead City, to decorate Gingerbread houses.

© Dayngr

My sweet friend, Daisy, came along for the fun, too. I’m happy to say that she made some great memories right along with us since it was her very first time decorating a gingerbread house.

© Dayngr

The staff at Alex and Brett’s were so sweet. They made sure the kids had a wide variety of candy available to them and kept replenishing it whenever they ran low. Most of the candy made it on to the houses but some made it directly into their mouths. Kids will be kids.

© Dayngr

We all had a great time and made some precious memories together. I think we did a pretty good job on those gingerbread houses, don’t you?

On To The Next Adventure

After we decorated to our heart’s desire, we walked over to the waterfront and Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant to watch the Christmas flotilla! Here are the flotilla photos. 

If you’d like to follow along with all our adventures in our new home town, you can follow along by checking out my blog posts on the Crystal Coast.