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.

Kure Beach: Day 2, Pt. 2

The convenient location of the cottage made coming and going to the beach easy. The afternoon brought on more of the same from the morning. Beach. Sandcastles. Waves. The temperature was warmer in the afternoon (most days reached 84-85 degrees) and the surf was more calm. The colors of the beach in the afternoon were so much brighter to, as opposed to the muted colors in the mornings. In the morning we would set up high on the shore because of the violent waves. In the afternoon, much of the shore that was covered in the mornings with surf, was free to explore for shells. 

Charly loved to let the waves come as close to her toes as possible, then turn in a flash and run away. The hilarious part though... as she turned to run, her right arm would swing out in a pinwheel motion. The picture below kind of shows this.

The picture above shows how she sometimes liked to wait and jump into the waves at the last second instead.

Sandcastles were a bit easier to build in the afternoon, because of the calm waves. We would try and build them fast, close to the shoreline, and see how many we could build. I think the most we built before the waves washed over them (or before Hayes smashed them) was 30. This made Charly feel bad so Kelli or I would try and entertain Hayes some other way. Charly takes her sandcastle building pretty seriously when she's on the beach.

After a few hours in the afternoon sun, we walked back to the cottage and got ready for dinner in Kure Beach. Kure Beach is only a town of 2,000 people, so there aren't many restaurant options in town. The options that are there however, are all apparently good so choosing one that night was tricky. The restaurants in town are also all located in the same block near the Kure Beach Fishing Pier. 

We decided to eat at Freddie's Restaurante, one of the most popular restaurants on all of Pleasure Island (what the locals call the much larger Carolina Beach and Kure Beach). There was a 45 minute wait for a table, so we put our name in and walked down to the beach to explore the pier.

The pier was impressive and picturesque. Especially at dusk. It was very calm and peaceful. The kids played in the sand, we snapped some pictures, and Hayes fell in the water again. Before we had a chance to walk the pier, our buzzer made a noise and informed us that a table was ready. Our 45 minute wait turned into only a 20 minute wait.

Freddie's was great Italian eating, but pricey! It was kind of a beachy, dive, family-run restaurant. The service was great. The Yuengling beer was delicious! Charly loved her spaghetti and Hayes had difficulty sitting still. Not even the iPad would entertain him. He wanted to see some "fish!" So we paid our bill and went back to the pier before the sun completely disappeared for the night.

Sunshine (Kure Beach: Day 2, Pt. 1)

We weren't entirely sure what kind of day (or week) we were in store for, after the periods of torrential rain our first afternoon in Kure Beach. We were so exhausted from driving the last few days that we all slept in. But as we woke, we were pretty sure there was sunlight streaming in through the blinds. Instinctively, I grabbed my phone to check the weather before looking out the windows for myself. Our week of clouds and rain, had turned into sunny forecasts and mid-80s! We ate a quick breakfast and walked across the street to the beach.

When small kids are involved, there really is no relaxing on the beach. Kelli and I both packed books to read (Kelli, for fun; me, for class) but never once brought them to the beach. If we weren't carrying Hayes out into the water (only to have Charly want to go too) we were building sandcastles for Charly (only to have Hayes knock 'em down). There would be brief moments where the two would become lost in digging sand or searching for shells where Kelli and I would quietly sit down to just relax, but we'd be discovered by them almost immediately! Seeing the look on their faces however, would always remind ourselves of why we wanted to provide them with these experiences in the first place. Besides, who wants to relax on a beach when you can play on a beach?

The surf was much more wild in the morning than the afternoon. The waves were larger, more foamy, and invaded the shoreline more violently in the early-to-late morning. It was loud too! In order to build sandcastles we had to be high on the beach, otherwise the waves would wash them away. Although the kids thought that was pretty fun to watch too!

The loud noises the waves created and just the general power of it all wore the kids out pretty easy. They would play and play in the water and then go relax in the sand. Then they would play and play in the water again and then want to relax in the sand. Two hours at a time was about all they could handle before they were ready to return to the cottage for a break.

We ate lunch at the cottage each day to save on some money and time. That first day on the beach though, we were all feeling the fatigue. Charly and Hayes ate their lunches quickly and then crashed for a two hour nap. Kelli and I did too! We needed our rest to keep up with them on the beach in the afternoon.