Sun, sand and a seagull named Burt

Last weekend, Jared, Beany and I took a break from our regularly scheduled programming (a.k.a. hanging in the PJs and watching Food Network until noon) and headed a few hours east for our little lady’s first trip to the ocean. As per the advice of a friendly lady on our last flight back from Missouri, we planned a daytrip to Carolina Beach and Southport, N.C. And we had a pretty groovy time.

First up was the beach, where we planned to picnic with the lunch we had packed back at home. After pushing the jogging stroller through the sand (hello, workout!), we managed to find a few square feet of open beach on which to stake our claim. The beach was packed. And hot. Very hot. But everything felt better once we hit the water. There was lots of splashing and lots of laughing. Beany is a regular beach baby. Cue the Beach Boys. Preferably with Uncle Jesse singing lead.

After the beach, we hopped a ferry to Southport, a cute little town across the water. We were accompanied on the trip by a half dozen seagulls, one of which chose to leave an unwelcome gift on the top of my head. Thank goodness for baby wipes and Purell. And more Purell. My Irish sister-in-law says it’s good luck, so lucky me.

I’m pretty sure the culprit wasn’t this little guy named Burt. He seemed to mind his manners.

Here’s a fun factoid for all the ’90s kids out there. Southport happens to be the real-life location of Dawson’s Creek’s fictional town of Capeside, Mass. Pretty nifty, huh?

We didn’t bump into Dawson or Joey on this leg of the trip, but we did see some fun beachy sites and nosh some pretty delicious fish tacos at the Fishy Fishy Café.

Then with full tummies and a camera full of memories, we hit the road and headed back home. It’s amazing how relaxed you can feel after only a day of retreat. I suppose summers are good for that.

Have you gone on any getaways lately? Any fun adventures just a few hours from home that you’re excited to try? Let’s hear it!

XO,
Katrina