We spent last week nine hours down the coast in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. A quiet, pretty little beach town, the perfect place in which to relax. Picture heavy post ahead (apologies for duplicates from FB or Instagram), starting with my favorite thing about vacationing on the beach: the opportunity to see the sun rise and the light play off of the water. I got up at 5:30 every day except one to see it. I got dressed quickly, grabbed some iced coffee and a chair, and crept down to the beach as the light crept up.
I also like the sunsets and Magic Hour in particular, but they were only good Sunday and Tuesday. There were some spectacular moonrises as well.
There's nothing like staying beach front, something which is much more affordable down south rather than in Jersey. We had some sweet flyovers too due to the proximity of Camp Lejeune.
Emerald Isle has a cool pier, the Bogue Inlet pier. Carol and I walked down one morning and MFD and I went out on top of the pier Thursday night. It was swaying in the wind then and I beat feet off of that pier so fast. Panic at the disco.
MFD and I joined my Dad & Carol on a tourist shopping excursion that included lunch at a roadside dive that was awesome.
We also checked out Swansboro one morning. I liked the cute little towns that were a quick drive off of the island.
You can't talk about vacation without talking about food. Monday - seafood feast (crab legs, steamers, scallops prepared two ways, shrimp prepared three ways); Tuesday - taco Tuesday, guacamole, salsa and cheese with chips; Wednesday - pulled pork, sauteed green beans, roasted potatoes, cole slaw; Thursday - MFD and I went out to Kathryn's and split a soft shell crab. I had a great ribeye. Vacation cereal, I rarely eat it at home. Us northerners bring scrapple with us on vacation. An awesome berry tart in Swansboro. Reese's s'mores dessert. Fabulous ice cream from the Sweet Spot. If you're ever in the area, go to Big Oak in Salter Path and get the shrimp burger and fried pickles! Our friend Julie recommended it and it was awesome.
But of course the main attraction was the beach - and the company. It was great to spend the week with my family with Stephen's friends from college in town as well. We did a lot of swimming, no sharks in sight. Top two pics are MFD catching a wave and my Dad. Thanks to Carol for the bottom two pics of me on my float with Stephen assisting to keep me from being carried away.
I did a lot of reading (thanks to Carol for the standing pic), finishing 6.5 books and starting a seventh on the way home.
And of course we did a lot of relaxing and picture taking and laughing and talking.
Beach scenes
I love the restorative and rejuvenating powers of being next to the sea. 
A little symmetry in the beginning and the end...
It's been five years since MFD and I spent a week at the beach mostly in relax mode. I mean, I was in total relax mode. I forgot how awesome it is to do that. If I was any more relaxed, I would be dead. MFD was in work mode except for the times I forced him to be in relax mode...I appreciate that his business is demanding but I will always push relaxation on him. We all need it, am I right? We loved it so much we already decided to go back to Emerald Isle with my family in 2017. See you then, sleepy seaside town.
Linking up for Wanderlust Wednesdays with Kate, Emily, and Kerri
