Candi and Michael ~ On The Move

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Delectable Ritual ~ Savouring the Sunset

December 21, 2014 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

 A beautiful sunset, viewed from our deck.

A beautiful Outer Banks sunset, viewed from our deck in Duck, North Carolina.

My favorite thing about our house in Duck was that the main deck faced west and had an extraordinary sunset view.  Jessica’s Dune is on a hill, one lot from the Currituck Sound and that lot is undeveloped because it acts as the community access to the sound.  This means there is nothing built on that lot and it provides an unparalleled sunset view.

Just another day in paradise.

Just another day in paradise.

We used to have a house on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in Truro that had a similar, extraordinary view and it was there that I first realized that there are beautiful sunsets many nights, we just weren’t normally in a place where we could see them.  It seems silly now, but I was amazed that you could see fabulous sunsets, night after night after night.  When we saw our first sunset at Jessica’s Dune, I knew we were going to re-establish the sunset ritual of being on the deck every night possible and watching the sun sink slowly and brilliantly under the horizon.

A gorgeous sun getting ready to sink under the horizon.

A gorgeous sun getting ready to sink under the horizon.

Sunset watching is at its best starting around 15 minutes before the sun slips below the horizon  and can last just a few minutes after it sets or can last up to 45 minutes depending on the clouds and the clarity of the sky.  Some nights there were no clouds at all and the show was in the rich colors of the sky as it changed from orange, to red and then to purple.  Watching the changes reflected on the water was also fabulous and it was often difficult to decide if the sky or the water was the prettiest.

I love that it is always a mystery what you will see and how, on some nights, the colors seem to last forever.

We often had dramatic cloud formations.

We often had dramatic cloud formations.

The ritual begins with one of us calling to the other that “It’s time!”.  Then with some wine and maybe some cheese we’d head out to the deck.  Sometimes we’d sit in great Adirondack chairs to watch and other times we’d stand at the railing.  Inevitably, we’d think this is the best sunset yet, and I’d run downstairs to get Michael’s camera – hoping we didn’t miss the magic and Michael could take a few great shots.  The best part was that we didn’t need to go anywhere.  We just had to look out the window and walk out to the deck to see these extraordinary light shows.

WE caught this sunset on the way home from Okracoke.  We were driving like mad to get to an open spot on the road so Michael could capture this scene.  Breathtaking!

We caught this sunset on the way home from Okracoke. We were driving like mad to get to an open spot on the road so Michael could capture this scene. Breathtaking!

It was really hard to pick just a few shots to include in this post because we really had many, many, MANY beautiful sunsets that could fill an album of wonderful evenings spent together.  This delectable ritual will always be one of my favorite memories of the Outer Banks.

This was one of the nights with no clouds.  The color of the water was enchanting.

This was one of the nights with very few clouds. The color of the water was mesmerizing.

 

 

Filed Under: Outer Banks, Travel Tagged With: Jessica's Dune, nature, Outer Banks, sunsets

Creating Home, Again ~ Arriving in the Outer Banks

September 5, 2014 by Candi Licence 8 Comments

After 5 days of traveling, we arrived in Duck, North Carolina.  Duck is a charming town just north of Kitty Hawk and is one of the newer residential areas on the Outer Banks.  The roads are curvy and tree-lined with beautiful Live Oak trees.  They are called Live Oaks because they keep their leaves all year round and they have lovely twisted trunks that form great shapes.  The downtown area is quaint looking with delightful shops that entice you to want to stroll in.  I know I will spend a few days poking around the shops.

Jessica's dune

Jessica’s Dune

We arrived on a Sunday around 3:00 PM and the traffic was fine until we got near Duck and then it came to a slow crawl due to the evidently never-ending changeover traffic that happens each summer weekend.  This would have been great for leisurely looking around, but we had been on the road for a long time and would have rather sped by the town to arrive at our new home.

We're close to both the Sound and the Ocean

We’re close to both the Sound and the Ocean

About 5 miles and 45 minutes later, we arrived at Jessica’s Dune, a large house, high up on a hill – one house from the sound and about 12 houses from the ocean.  Our original plan was to take a quick look at the house, get a storage space, unload storable items and then go back and unload the items we wanted in the house.  The only problem with this plan was that we were tired and just wanted to stay at the house.   However, this meant that most everything we wanted for the house was neatly packed in the front of the truck – behind the items to store and, therefore, was difficult to get to.  We had stopped as we went through Duck and got some grocery essentials so dinner was all set.  We opted to just unload the suitcases that we traveled with and call it a night.  Next time we travel, we’ll rethink how we load the truck and load all essentials near the back for quick and easy access.

The comfortable living room

The comfortable living room

Jessica’s Dune is a 3 level house with most of the living quarters on levels 2 and 3 to take advantage of the view and wow is there a great one.  The living room and part of the wrap around deck face west and have a commanding view of the sound and sunset.  I’m really looking forward to seeing lots of fabulous sunsets from the deck.  We had a house on Cape Cod for a several years that had a similar west view over water and I really loved how easy it was to see beautiful sunsets almost every day. The west deck also has an outdoor hot tub which I expect we will use almost every night.  Can’t wait to try it out.

sunset from our deck - YAHOO!

Sunset from our deck – It doesn’t get any better than this!

The kitchen, dining room and screened porch are also on this level.  The deck is so large that we can easily have both our hammocks set up as well as plenty of sitting room – heaven.  There’s a gas fireplace in the living room which should be lovely once it cools down and fall arrives.  The 3rd floor has three bedrooms – a master bedroom suite, a queen bedroom and a bunk room with 4 twin beds.  The first level, formerly a garage, has been closed in and has a pool table, bar area and general game room area.  We’ve set up all Michael’s photography shelving on this level  as well as all the boxes we need to sort through to sell off their contents.  This is great because they are out-of-the-way and we don’t have to drag them up one or two sets of stairs.

After staying in our adorable conch cottage in Key West, Jessica’s Dune feels like a mansion.  The house has a nice open layout on the main floor and the deck which wraps around three sides of the house provides ample outside space with some part always in the shade, some part always sheltered from the wind so you can really get the exact experience you want.  The kitchen is large enough for both Michael and me to work together easily which is also nice.  Mick has even figured out how not to be underfoot every second.  Jessica’s Dune has more of a rental house feel and we are using more of our household goods here but is still comfortable and will be very workable.

The next couple of days will entail securing storage, unloading the truck, and settling in.  Living in Florida means mostly no stairs so being here where we will be going up and downstairs multiple times everyday will be an adjustment and good exercise for me.  (I’m going to keep telling myself that as I’m lugging up boxes.)  This should be a good incentive to think about what items are really important and what we can get rid of!  Can’t wait to complete the move in so we can begin exploring and having fun.

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The gorgeous Outer Banks Atlantic beach – just a short walk from our house

 

Filed Under: Outer Banks, Travel Tagged With: Jessica's Dune, Outer Banks

About Candi and Michael

Michael and I retired early in 2014. We stored everything we couldn't part with (art and prized possessions), sold most everything else, packed a trailer and started traveling full time. We rented a fully furnished house, in a place we always wanted to visit, lived there for 3 months and then we moved onto the next place. We stayed in Grenada for 3 months and ended up buying a house. Now we are modifying the plan a bit and we will live in Grenada and travel part-time. Read More…

Where are we now?

We are both in our home in Grenada.

 

Recent Posts

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  • Pouring a Patio Extension ~ How Hard Can It Be? March 8, 2019
  • A Day in the Life ~ Picking up Sheila’s Birthday Cake April 9, 2018
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  • Taking the Plunge ~ The 2017 Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop October 25, 2017
  • Coming Home ~ Sweet, Sweet Home ~ First Impressions March 6, 2017
  • One Roof On, Another Roof Off ~ And Other Changes March 11, 2016
  • The Best of Grenada Sailing Week ~ The Workboat Regatta February 26, 2016
  • Two Steps Forward, No Steps Back ~ Making Progress February 23, 2016
  • Walking the Plank ~ to Dinner February 4, 2016
  • Taking the Inside-Out Concept to the Extreme – No Roof ( … for now ….) February 1, 2016
  • And So It Begins ~ Raising the Roof, Literally! January 26, 2016
  • The Calm Before the Storm ~ Christmas Season in Grenada January 15, 2016
  • Free at Last ~ Clearing our Container through Customs December 26, 2015
  • Best Laid Plans ~ and Murphy’s Law December 16, 2015
  • A Moving Adventure ~ “Bon Voyage”, Container December 14, 2015
  • Research, Procure, Pack, Repeat ~ Buying (everything) for our Grenada home December 5, 2015
  • Coming Home ~ Our First Visit to Our New House December 2, 2015
  • The Ultimate Challenge ~ Remote Project Management in a Third World Country November 29, 2015
  • Living the Dream ~ Buying a house in Grenada September 24, 2015
  • Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 3 of 3) April 16, 2015
  • Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 2 of 3) March 31, 2015
  • Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 1of 3) March 29, 2015
  • Canboulay, J’ouvert, Mas ~ Carriacou Carnival 2015 March 27, 2015
  • “Eat Local” ~ John’s Oceanview Restaurant February 11, 2015
  • Gourmet Grenadian ~ Boots Cuisine February 5, 2015
  • Our First Adventure ~ Welcome to Grenada January 29, 2015
  • Making Home ~ Settling into our Villa in Woburn, Grenada January 27, 2015
  • Canine Captain ~ Mick’s Travel Adventure January 23, 2015
  • Operation Grenada ~ Moving Ourselves to the West Indies January 21, 2015
  • Imagination Revealed ~ Dale Chihuly’s Glass Inspirations December 31, 2014
  • Delectable Ritual ~ Savouring the Sunset December 21, 2014
  • Dinner on a Sandbar ~ Blue Moon Beach Grill November 26, 2014
  • Best Beach Getaway ~ Ocracoke Island November 10, 2014
  • Whirlwind Tour ~ Showcasing the Essence of the Outer Banks November 5, 2014
  • Wild Mustangs ~ An Outer Banks Adventure October 18, 2014
  • Marvelous Moondance ~ Full Lunar Eclipse October 15, 2014
  • An Unexpected Gourmet Delight ~ Mike Dianna’s Grillroom October 12, 2014
  • Personal Chef on Call ~ Chez Michael October 8, 2014
  • An Enchanted Sanctuary ~ Elizabethan Gardens October 5, 2014
  • Fun Music and good food too! ~ Cravings September 30, 2014
  • Chasing the Light ~ Shooting the Bodie Lighthouse at Daybreak September 23, 2014
  • Learning to Fly ~ The Wright Brothers in Kitty Hawk September 10, 2014
  • Creating Home, Again ~ Arriving in the Outer Banks September 5, 2014
  • Farewell Key West ~ C & M “On the Move” August 25, 2014
  • Beautiful Birthday Memories ~ Dinner at Cafe Marquesa August 4, 2014
  • “A Key West Locals Secret” ~ New York Pasta Garden July 29, 2014
  • The Square Grouper ~ And Other Fish Tails July 26, 2014
  • The Locals Hideaway ~ Boca Chica Beach July 24, 2014
  • Tantalizing Tapas ~ Santiago’s Bodega July 21, 2014
  • Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This ~ Moonrise/Sunset Sailing July 18, 2014
  • Happy Wife, Happy Life ~ The Key West Jewelry Bar July 8, 2014
  • ‘Hunker Down’ with Bill Blue and Friends July 3, 2014
  • Local Color ~ Mr. James Chapman July 1, 2014
  • A Mid Summer’s Night Dream & Spectacle ~ Summer Solstice June 25, 2014
  • Savory or Sweet? ~ Key Plaza Creperie June 19, 2014
  • “A Great Place …. if You Can Find It” ~ Hogfish Bar and Grill June 19, 2014
  • ONE HUMAN FAMILY and the Key West Pride Parade June 18, 2014
  • Cajan Delights at the Blossom Cafe June 14, 2014
  • Candi and Michael’s Honey Moon June 14, 2014
  • Hunting for Iguanas June 4, 2014
  • Rainy Day and Café Solé June 2, 2014
  • Exploring Key West May 27, 2014
  • Really settling in May 25, 2014
  • Market Day Delights May 22, 2014
  • Namaste ~ Our Key West home May 17, 2014
  • Arriving in our Key West Paradise May 16, 2014

Tag Cloud

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