Topsail Beach, NC

Two Days in North Topsail

This year, I've gotten used to the fact that vacations won't last longer than four days. With a wedding around the corner and a nine-day honeymoon following, I'm already a couple days over my allotted vacation time, so quick weekend trips will have to do.

Last weekend was especially quick. Mitch and I hopped in the car at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning after going to bed far too late on Friday to drive the four hours from Charlotte to Topsail Island, located between Wrightsville Beach and Camp Lejune. We had about 36 hours to enjoy a little family getaway to a quiet spot at the beach. Apparently, I'd never been to Topsail (although I could have sworn I'd been when I was younger at some point), but I've frequented places like Emerald Isle, the Outer Banks and Holden Beach for these kinds of trips. These are all great places to have some quiet time without worrying about where you have to go for entertainment, though there are usually local spots nearby if you're looking for something to do, or for getting a group of people together for some quality time without a lot of distraction.





At the beach, I love getting up early. For some reason, 7 a.m. isn't so painful when you're on the porch with a cup of coffee and sun and salt air brushing your face, am I right? I brought my current book club read, Eight Hundred Grapes, hoping to get through a good chunk of it, but instead I found myself either caught up in conversation or zoned out staring at the ocean. Not bad alternatives.


For dinner on Saturday, we rode down the island into Surf City to eat at Mainsail. After some delicious crab cakes - and steaks and mahi for the others - the waitress suggested that we hop over to Beach Bunny Ice Cream for an after dinner treat. Everyone was too full, but we made sure to stop by the next day before we all headed for home.


Where's your favorite getaway spot? I'm looking to make a longer list of new places to experience. Maybe I should try yours!