There’s No Place Like Home

We’re home again. And there’s no place like it, I must say.

I remember that feeling as a child, coming home after a week or two of vacation, after being cooped up in the car for hours on end. The thing that always smacked me in the face, though, was the 70s vibrant green shag carpeting in every room of the house except the kitchen. Every time we’d get home, within a couple of minutes, someone would say, “Wow, the carpet’s so green!”  After living in a sans green world for a few days, the carpet was shouting “GREEN!!” at us. In retrospect, I can imagine how my mom’s feelings about that carpet must have changed over the nine years we lived there, probably going from love to tolerance to maybe even plotting its demise.

Our flooring at our home is all neutral, however, so without that green distraction, the first thing to catch our attention is usually the beach itself. “The sand is so sandy-colored!” we say. Just kidding.

Good news! The beach is still here. Actually, it doesn’t look like this anymore, however.

It’s more like this. We’re in high season here on the island now, which means that we have a large number of tourists here. This alters many things about the island, including the crowds on the beach.

If I were so inclined, I could start another blog just on tourists and high season. The supply of stories they provide is endless. I could write a post, for instance, about the week a seemingly cute little boy was staying three or four houses down from us. He obviously loved the ocean, which made us kindred spirits, but he had this horrible habit of spending several hours every day jumping waves and screaming like he was being violently bludgeoned every time he jumped, which made us not kindred spirits. Too bad I don’t have an audio on that one. Or, I could write in extensive detail about the time a tourist couple chose my dune as their personal brothel. Good times and great stories, folks.

Therefore, with high season now in full swing, it seems appropriate that I include some posts on tourists this week. In the spirit of honesty, and, well, humor, I will attempt to address both the good and the bad about tourists and their proclivities. Stay tuned. I’m also going to throw in a few insider tips on how to make the most out of your vacation, which is important. The Carolina islands are magical places, truly, and if you come for a visit, which you should, you should try to enjoy every second of your time on the islands. Who knows? It might even make you want to move here.

So make yourself that margarita you may or may not deserve but clearly want, and pony up to the cabana for some stories, island insider vacation tips, and whatever else pours forth.

8 Replies to “There’s No Place Like Home”

  1. Hi! I love your blog. I found it on a google search and have been reading away. Your “about” me sounds like a glimpse into my not so distant future. My husband and I have decided to move to the Wilmington, NC area after spending way too much time in the cold north (I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and the winters are killer in PA). We have a toddler and at first I thought- how are we going to do this and maybe we should wait – we can always do it later. But I love the line that you said that later doesn’t always come because after finding out about the RA, I really feel that way too. I want to do this as I can still enjoy it. We’re looking at Wrightsville Beach area or somewhere coastal or not far from the beach in the Wilmington area. I know you are probably busy but I was wondering Are you familiar with this area at all? I don’t know anyone down there and some of the apt complexes in Wilmington that we are looking at temporarily seem nice, however, I don’t know how the schools are or if they are safe areas, etc. Are there any coastal towns that you recommend within the commute to Wilmington? We really want to be at the beach. I figured I would ask a mom-blogger like myself for some help:)

    Jen
    jenc2522 (at) yahoo (dot) com (incase you have time to email me back:)

    1. I am familiar with Wilmington. We went all up and down the coast from Virginia to Florida when we first began our research on where to relocate. Wilmington is charming and has much to offer. Wrightsville is the closest island to Wilmington. Some of the islands north or south of Wrightsville offer more reasonable housing costs, from what I’ve seen, if you don’t mind the drive. I’ll contact you with more info. when I have a little more time, because there are some good ways to get reasonable housing right on the islands if you know where to look, and they are things that would apply to most if not all of the Carolina islands. Best wishes on your journey. Keep me posted!

  2. Oh, I can’t wait! We are also in the high season of tourism, but it really gets crazy from July 4-Labor Day. I look forward to the stories–I have a few of my own.

    1. I can imagine! July and August are slightly higher than June is for us too. Hang in there!

  3. Oh, that looks just lovely. I could certainly make that my home 🙂

    gloryorganics.wordpress.com

    1. Thanks! We really love it here. Thanks for stopping by!

  4. How much fun! I recently began a post on toursits in Hawaii—so much fun (haven’t finished it yet :)) I get such a kick out of that stuff, I’ll look forward to your posts!

    Enjoy the season…
    monica

    1. Hmm, then I can’t wait to read yours either! Are you going to address honeymooners? Because, when I was there as a honeymooner myself, it sure seemed like half the tourists there were also honeymooners.

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