The Freckles Are Baaack

"The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears, or the sea." Isak Dinesen

So we've made it to part two of the birthday extravaganza. Not only are we at the beach, not only is the weather gorgeous (hot, no humidity, slight breeze), not only is our hotel great, but... I've already found a yarn store. Yarns of Wilmington is a tiny little house off Wrightsville Ave, with lots of gorgeous yarn. For once I went in with a purpose and came out with two sets of sock yarn (to be posted later) and a sense of great accomplishment. Then we went to the beach. Which wasn't too shabby either.
Actually, the beaches here are fantastic. The water is so clear and that wonderful blue-green color. I won't post any pictures yet, as the shots we've taken during the day are filled with dramatic, fast-talking, big sunglass-wearing 'tweens (my name for late high school- early college kids- old enough to wear practically no clothes, but not old enough to drink or carry on interesting conversation).
At first, the beach was highly family oriented with my favorite kind of people-watching: babies in hats. I Love the babies in hats, on their sausage legs, walking with determination (always with determination) either towards the water or away from the water. Hubster and I went into the water, splashed around for nearly an hour, came back and settled ourselves on our towels. There I was, with my Katie Fforde Restoring Grace, innocently reading, when I look up to discover we're suddenly surrounded with all the 'tweens who didn't make it to MTV Spring Break 2006. They were everywhere- on cell phones, slathering up with baby oil, trying to score beer, and, as expected, wearing practically no clothes. So while I say "check!" to the gorgeous, clear, blue-green water and "check!" to the shell-covered beach and "check!" to the fabulous weather, I definitely think finding more "family-oriented beaches" might be a good decision. More babies with hats.
Until Hubster leaned over and said, eagerly, "this place is great, isn't it? Lots of, you know, people." I kept my sigh to myself. "Check!" to me planning our next beach vacation.