Feeling Like a Local (Kure Beach: Day 3, Pt. 1)

Each morning we noticed a guy walking barefoot down our street to check out the beach. He would always return a few minutes later, walking barefoot back the direction he came from. When we went to the beach on the morning of Tuesday, July 1 (our third day in Kure and our fifth away from home) we saw the mystery guy... with a surfboard in hand! He was a surfer, checking on the condition of the waves each morning. 

We set our chairs in the sand and had just emptied our beach toys when a fun retired couple set their chairs right next to ours. After spending a few days on the beach, I found this to be a little odd because Kure was big enough yet remote enough to keep your space. And this seemed to be the custom each day. As the beach filled up, beachgoers would look for places to stretch out and not crowd others. But not this couple! They practically cozied right up!

The night before, Kelli was really disappointed that she didn't ask someone to snap a family picture. She vowed to get more as the trip winded down. The retired guy must have read her mind, because no sooner had he set up his chair, he was asking me out-of-the-blue if I'd like him to take a family picture. He noticed our camera and continued to talk to us on and off all morning. They were locals and were impressed we made the drive from Iowa. They had lived in Georgia and owned a vacation rental in Myrtle Beach but sold it when they retired so they could build a home and move to Kure Beach permanently. They gave us some good tips of things to do before we headed home.

With the surf it's normal wild self in the morning, Charly and Hayes focused on sandcastles. After seeing Hayes have all the fun smashing the castles the day before, Charly decided that looked like fun. I couldn't build them fast enough! 

There is not much more to say about our days spent on the beach. This is pretty much how our days were spent. We go to the beach. We build and destroy sandcastles on the beach. We run in the water on the beach. We go home and rest. We go back to the beach. We saw so many of the same vacationing families on the beach. With Kure Beach being so remote, we began to feel at home there. Kelli and I both agreed that having a "home" to come back to each day, instead of living out of a hotel, was definitely the way to go for a beach vacation! We both agreed that this was the type of place we could retire to someday!

The kids were just in awe of the water, and that feeling never tired. Each day when we stepped foot on the beach, it was like they were seeing it again for the first time all over. 

Two hours was the max for the kids though. As much as they loved the sand and the sun and the surf, after about two hours they would begin to noticeably drag. They moved slower. They wanted to be held. Hayes would want his pacifier (yep, haven't broken him of that yet). We'd venture back to the cottage for some lunch and then return when they were rested for another few hours. Then we would rest some more, and go for dinner and walk the pier. For a few days, it was the life.