For those who have been waiting for the weather to improve before heading to the beach, consider this your alert that all signs point to a great weekend with things even better next week.

I snapped this picture just up the street from the arrow on this Google map. It is the area referred to as the Point at Emerald Isle. We drove by after we had breakfast this morning over on the Island, and I hopped out of the car and took the picture before we headed to Buck's Corner Farm for some fresh strawberries.

The forecast for Cape Carteret, NC shows the temperature at seventy degrees or better for the next several days. That is a much better way to finish to the month of April. It is a big improvement over the cool temperatures we saw earlier in the month.

If you are looking for a last minute beach rental, you can always make a call to see if anything is available for short term. You can also check my Swansboro or Beaufort travel guides for recommendations on other places to stay and even places to eat if you make it here.

Speaking of food I happened to be wandering down the beach the other day and stopped for dinner at the Crab Shack in Salter Path. I had a wonderful fried clam dinner. They actually use whole clams which is unusual for this area. The view from the restaurant is pretty hard to beat. You can also grab some fresh seafood next door at Willis Seafood Market. It is not hard to feel like you are close to the ocean and sound when you are in Salter Path.

These warming temperatures make it an especially great time to come to the beach. You can expect fantastic weather for walking on the beach and other outdoor activities. This early in the season there should be no crowds either on the beach or in the restaurants.

This morning and early afternoon we got the soaking rain that we need for our yards and woods. I am not sure that what the local strawberries need, but that is the way weather works. It has pluses and minuses. We just have to live with it. It was pretty impressive for a while today. Still it was warm all today until the bottom fell out of the thermometer some time after 7 pm. By eleven PM it had dropped 20 degrees to 50 Fahrenheit.

We have had lots of wind today and this is the highest I have seen the water on our dock in a while, but a day like today is one that you just have to curl up with your favorite entertainment and enjoy. I spent more time reading newspapers than I usually do and even took a nap which is a nice Sunday afternoon kind of thing to do.

I did manage to stir myself to take advantage of the setting sun. I even wrote a post on my View from the Mountain blog contrasting the storm on the coast and in the Virginia mountains where some places saw some light snow this evening.

It looks like this weeks weather is going to be pretty nice. By the weekend we will be back in the mid-seventies.