A Trip to the Ocean
Last week we took a trip to a seaside town down in North Carolina. A beautiful and charming little place called Southport. My girlfriend's family has a place down there that they let us use. So me, her, and my 7-year-old daughter went down and stayed the whole week. We had a great time.
Their place is within walking distance to the quaint little downtown and the ocean. There's a beach, but not the kind of beach you'd really set up shop and go swimming at. That kind of beach is a short 15-minute drive away over in Oak Island where you get some beautiful, picturesque scenery. This beach is nice to just walk along and dip your feet in. The downtown has a few little shops, restaurants, and then more restaurants along the pier.
Every day we would walk into town, get coffee, check out a shop, and walk through the beautiful residential neighborhood and along the water. Then we would spend a little time at home before either going to the pool or beach, and then follow up with whichever one we didn't do. Then we would get ourselves together and go out and have dinner which we usually followed up with ice cream and another walk along the water. Sometimes we'd linger, or one night we played bocci ball, and sometimes we'd head home and play card games.
We did this every day and had such a nice time. It was mellow, and just good. There were times when we'd be walking, look out along the town and the water, and it would seem like we were walking in a painting. It was almost magical. It made me think how I'd love to live there and just continue doing that. But, every time I thought that, I knew it wouldn't fulfill me after too long. At some point you have to work, or contribute in some way to the community, to the world, or whatever. Maybe someday I'll have the opportunity to do both down there and have it all.