We’re at the Beach

We’re on vacation for a few days, at Wrightsville Beach. I’m writing this post actually before we get there, so it will be interesting to see how much my imaginings will match our actual days.

We’ll be leaving home in the morning, and so we’ll get to the area probably before our hotel room is ready. (It’s just a 2.5-hour drive to the beach.) While waiting for check-in time, we’ll go to the university campus, (University of North Carolina, Wilmington), where Cowgrit and I went to school. We’ll walk around, let the boys run around, and just see what’s new since our college days. From what I’ve heard, it’s very different.

Then we’ll probably get lunch at one of our [read: my] old favorite restaurants: the Oceanic. I love seafood, but no one else in my family does. So I rarely get any fish or shrimp, or the hushpuppies and cocktail sausce that goes with them. Not only does the Oceanic have great seafood, it’s perched right on the sand dunes overlooking the beach.

Then we’ll head on to our hotel, check in, take all our stuff up to our room, change into our bathing suits, slather on sunscreen, and head on out to the broad sandy beach. I love the smell of ocean air. The sound of waves crashing. The occasional cry of a seagull. My mom and step-dad took my brother and me to the beach over the weekend many times each summer when I was growing up. So when it was time for me to choose a college, the one within 10 minutes of the beach drew me like a bro to a beer.

After a long afternoon on the beach, we’ll retire back to our room for dinner. We’ll probably just order in something, or make something ourselves. Then we’ll watch a movie or some TV, maybe explore the hotel a bit, and then hit the beds, very tired.

The next day will have us doing whatever we feel like doing, whenever we feel like doing it. Breakfast in our room, then back to the beach, or maybe to the pool. Lunch may be a picnic outside. Then a swap of location — from beach to pool, or pool to beach. Mid-afternoon, we’ll head back to the room for an extended rest/nap before getting washed and dressed for a dinner out somewhere. Where, I don’t know, but not Moe’s, or Golden Corral, or CiCi’s pizza — this will not be a choice for the boys, this time.

The next day, we’ll get out to the beach or pool early for a few hours play before we have to check out of the hotel. After checkout, we’ll cruise around the beach town, walk out on a pier or two, look at the marina, grab lunch somewhere on the move, maybe check out a local store for some silly souvenir. We’ll head back into Wilmington, and maybe head down to the riverfront. I’d like to take the boys on the USS North Carolina battleship, but it will depend on our timing of everything before getting there. With or without the battleship tour, eventually we’ll hit the road for back to home.

I’m sure everyone will be tired, (the good kind of tired), and we’ll probably just relax at home until bed time. Then Real Life takes over again, and although the boys are starting their track out from school, I’ve got to go back to work.

Bullgrit