A Week at the Beach

Towards the end of September, Bob and I met some of our brothers and sisters at North Topsail Beach to:

• Celebrate Bob’s birthday—heck, celebrate everyone’s birthday!
• Enjoy the shore, the wildlife, and each other’s company.
• Relax.

On our first morning, Bob and I sat on our deck with coffee and watched offshore lightning from a passing storm.

After daylight, we scanned the waves for mullet, sharks, and dolphins.

tIDES

This was our third year in the same beachfront condo, part of an eight-building complex whose pilings are tucked behind rows of battered sandbags that look like beached whales. We found the changes in tidal erosion striking compared to 2021 and 2023. Bob read that this particular location lost 250 feet of beach over the past 30 years and as much as 100 feet in only one year.

High tide was the curse of our visit, the waves lashing at our beach access, daring us to put a foot out and reach for sand. For my first morning walk, I had no problem stepping onto the beach, but an hour later water had reached our access stairs. I had a choice: to walk a mile back down the beach, and then a mile on the beach road, barefoot and with traffic.

I decided to plunge ahead, but before I could reach the stairs, a wave threw me into a sandbag, and I went down like a toy. The couple behind me were undeterred. The woman said, “The same thing happened to me!” in a happy drawl.

After that, I drove up the road to Beach Access #1 to begin my morning walk.

A nor’easter blew in during our week here, and the storm surge buried a row of sandbags, just like that.

Birthday party

Three of my brothers and their wives came from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and California to hang out at the beach with me and Bob.

Camille gifted each sibling a squishy clownfish light to help them remember our week at the beach. Next, Bob handed out blue marbles—blue like water, upon which we depend for life—and told everyone what he admired most about them. This was inspired by the book Blue Mind by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols.

Then it was time for a wish over candle flames, followed by bowls of my homemade Chocolate Beet Cake and ice cream. You’ll find the recipe for that cake on our website at:
https://troutsfarmtoo.com/chocolate-beet-cake/

jaws

When they were little, Joe and Jim called each other Jaws, so when Bob and I drove past this giant shark in Snead’s Ferry, we said, “We’ve got to get a picture of them with this shark.” The funny thing is, they thought the same thing and had beaten us to the punch.

a morning stroll

It is our policy to leave behind only footprints.

It was a perfect fall day, crisp and chilly in the morning, then bright and hot enough for a swim in the afternoon. The tides were high in the mornings and low in the afternoons during our week at Topsail.

I kicked off some silliness with a toothy-looking shell.

MULLET

Jim and I had gotten slapped by a wave full of flippers while swimming the day before. We thought we might have imagined it, but now we had proof that we were sharing the water with mullets.

SEAVIEW FISHING PIER

We paid $2 each to join about 140 other people on the Seaview Fishing Pier, three miles south of our condos. The man in the tackle shop said they have had as many as 1400 people on the pier at one time.

We watched a man steady a wriggling fish beneath his shoe and sink a knife into it. I didn’t realize fishing could be so bloody, and on the way back down the pier, I saw every stain for what it was.

special effects

Dancing lights

We did see a small pod of dolphins on one of our walks, but no sharks, neither of which are in the above photo, as far as I know.

In the surf

final look

New River Inlet

On Sunday morning, John, Darla, Joe, Bob, and I met in the parking lot for a round of lively goodbyes. Jim and Kathryn had left on Saturday. Then, like a small flock of birds, we lifted off, leaving behind the mullets, the waves, and the sandbags, clutching our blue marbles and shared memories.