One of my favorite events all year in this wonderful coastal town, is the Annual Saint Patrick's Day Festival. Turnout is expected to be around 20,000! The event takes place in the Emerald Plantation Shopping Center, in the eastern part of town. Physical address is 8700 Emerald Drive, Emerald Isle, NC 28594.

The festival is always on the Saturday prior to Saint Patrick's Day, which falls on Saturday, March 14th, 2009. The event is scheduled to occur between the hours of 9am- 5pm.

There is a kid zone, filled with rides for the younger revelers. Children ages 2-5 are eligible to participate in the Little Leprechaun Contest.

For the adults, there is a beer garden, with tables, chairs and great music. There is a midway, with wonderful food and drink, featuring Irish and coastal foods. This year, we are scheduled to have over 75 vendors selling authentic handmade arts & crafts, and their will be three separate stages featuring live entertainment. Be sure to catch Barefoot Wade, and Pamlico Joe. They are two of my favorites!

Island Dave and I look forward to celebrating Saint Patrick's Day with you, so please try to attend this wonderful festival!

As a lot of my readers may know, I own and operate a vacation home cleaning business. In all of the years (approximately six years now), this is the first luncheon that I have been invited to. A few generous home owners honor the property management company that take such wonderful care of their beach homes. I'm not complaining, in fact I don't work directly for the management company, I am an independent contractor.

Being an independent contractor has it's advantages, I essentially work for myself, and choose to be on everybody's side. I love living on the Crystal Coast more than anywhere else in the Continental, United States of America. I represent my community as a whole, and have appointed myself an unofficial Emerald Isle Ambassador.

The homeowners of this lovely three bedroom condo in Indian Beach, NC were adamant that I attend. That astounds me, but I am very honored that I was able to meet them for the first time and attend such a lavish lunch. Mrs. H. really knows how to entertain. She provided several dishes (homemade no less) that I've not had in a gathering of so many people! Including a fresh fruit dessert tray accompanied by a fondue pot filled with delicious dark chocolate! My other favorites were the artichoke dip, smoked salmon, and the cream cheese / wasabi dip.

Thank you Major and Mrs. H for a lovely afternoon, and for the wonderful bottle of wine that I have yet to share with my husband, and thank you for the Virgina peanuts for my crew members. They are already enjoying them!

Today I had the privilege of meeting George and Ian from Greensboro, North Carolina. We met on the dock at the Cedar Street Soundside Park. There were a few local young guys around Ian's age, that he could hang out with. They were throwing a cast net to catch bait fish for later(which can be seen in the background, behind George and Ian)! The Cedar Street pier ends in steps that go down, into Bogue Sound. The two local guys walked out a fair way with their cast net in tow. The sound is shallow enough in most places to walk across from Emerald Isle, to Cape Carteret on the mainland, with exception of the Intracoastal Waterway/channels. I admire George and Ian for spending the morning and early afternoon together at the park. Quality time for parents and their children are precious, and the years go by quickly. I hope they will be able to return in the years to come and enjoy our beach each and every time!

While Emerald Isle is primarily a small family vacation town with few shopping centers, the main Emerald Plantation shopping center (where Food Lion is) offers a nice variety of stores.

Two of our favorites in town are both in Emerald Plantation. Compass Rose and Planet Wear offer some of the most unique items you will find in Emerald Isle. Planet Wear is a true hippy shop, with loads of hand-made tie-dyes (made by the Planet Wear owners), as well as more consumer-oriented Liquid Blue tie-dyes, hemp jewelry, gorgeous skirts and dresses, incense and accessories, and all sorts of interesting trinkets and baubles.

Compass Rose (right) is a new age shoppe located behind Planet Wear and across the walkway. This mystical hole in the wall offers an extensive selection of silver jewelry, sun face art, statues, mystical power accessories, books, soothing new age music CDs, tarot items, incense, and much much more. Don't miss the frequent guest readers that frequent Compass Rose.

If you stop by either shop during your stay in Emerald Isle, make sure to tell Linda (right) or Phil that Dave and Tiff sent you!

We've posted a couple of times about fun things to do in Emerald Isle with kids. What about the adults in the party? Well, if you like bars or cocktails with your dinner, there are several to choose from here in town.

• Kathryn's Bistro and Martini Bar: Located near the center of town on the North side of Emerald Isle
• Flipperz Family Bar & Grill: in K&V Plaza across from CVS
• Portofino Ristorante & Wine Bar: in the shopping plaza on Coast Guard Rd near the Emerald Isle Bridge.
• Paddy's Pub: Also located in K&V Plaza, at the north end of the plaza.
• The Emerald Club: On Emerald Drive next to Jordan's Seafood.
• El Zarape: Located on Reed Drive opposite the Emerald Plantation shopping center (across Emerald Drive)
• Rucker Johns: in the Emerald Plantation shopping center
• Jordan's Seafood: in the downtown on Emerald Drive near Bogue Inlet Pier

You know when you come to Emerald Isle that you are probably here to get away from your daily struggles and looking to relax in a peaceful and beautiful location. If you bring kids, you'll naturally want to find things for them to do so that they aren't, God forbid, 'bored'.

One great solution is to take in a round (or three) of miniature golf. In Emerald Isle, you have two options. One is Emerald Forest Golf, located on Reed Drive, behind the Pacific Store that is across Emerald Drive (HWY 58) from the Emerald Plantation shopping center (where Food Lion is located).

The other option in Emerald Isle is Lighthouse Golf, located between Emerald Drive and Reed Drive off of Islander Drive (about half a mile from the Emerald Isle Bridge).

There are other miniature golf locations outside of Emerald Isle that are also close by, the Golfin Dolphin is in Cape Carteret near Lowe's Foods, and Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf & Raceway is further down the island in Salter Path.

If you are vacationing along the Crystal Coast, and you've got kids, you know you need to find things for them to do in Emerald Isle while you are here.

One of the best places to take them is to the only Emerald Isle water park: Water Boggan. Located at the corner of Reed Drive and Islander Drive (about half a mile from the Emerald Isle Bridge), the Water Boggan is one of the oldest amusement places on the island.

There are several water slides, a game room, and even a snack bar. Prices are pretty good for a day of fun, and you know your kids will love it.

This isn't a huge park like you might find elsewhere, with dozens of slides and numerous other water-related areas. Water Boggan has 4 or 5 slides, but they are fast and fun, and in the 'things to do with kids in Emerald Isle' department, it is very near the top of the list.

It is the busy time of year here in Emerald Isle as thousands of families come to our beautiful town for weekly vacations. There are hundreds of properties in town available for vacation rentals, and several rental agencies you can choose from.

We would encourage you to consider Bluewater GMAC for your Emerald Isle vacation rentals. Other rental agencies are professional as well, but Bluewater's rental house inventory is the best in our opinion. Note that many of the properties will already be rented, but there are still numerous weeks available for vacation rentals right now, so have a look.

They offer several pet-friendly homes, oceanfront and soundfront locations, and all sorts of styles and varieties to fit your vacation rental needs. Check them out at bluewatergmac.com. Note that if you are in the market to buy houses in Emerald Isle, you can use the Real Estate Sales tab to search through the houses for sale.

We hope to see you in Emerald Isle soon!

First, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I'm a father to 4 very lazy cats, who seem to often exhibit the slowed-down pace of life that Emerald Isle offers both humans and animals.

While the summer months are more crowded and somewhat hectic for people who live and work here, our cats have no concern whatsoever that they might have to do anything than lounge and relax.

Lots of folks like to bring their dogs with them to Emerald Isle when the come on vacation. Many of the rental houses will allow dogs, but be aware that there are usually non-refundable pet fees that range from $100-$300 depending on the rental agency and the unit.

Please remember that Emerald Isle has a leash law: always keep your dogs on leashes and absolutely always clean up after your pet. Carry plastic baggies with you so that you can easily take care of your pet's poop.

We like our beaches to stay as clean as possible, and no one likes to step in dog poop, or worse, have their kids playing around it. Be considerate of others, and everyone can have a relaxing, enjoyable stay in Emerald Isle!