Life in Wilmington, North Carolina

The summer following our move to New Mexico, David and I spontaneously decided to live on the beach. David had spent time in Wilmington while he was in the Marine Corps, and he has family who still lives there. I'd only visited once, but at that point in my life, I figured, why not? It was one of those summers when we just decided to take a break. A break from thinking about our future, from work, from school. At the time I was upset that I wasn't in my career field yet, but now I realize we were lucky to have one last summer break as adults.David worked odd jobs and I worked as a waitress at a restaurant right on the river. We had flexible schedules that allowed for us to enjoy our surroundings and take it easy. We spent a lot of time exploring and relaxing on the beach. My sister was able to visit for a weekend as well. I grew up in cold and beach-less Rochester, New York, so living on a beach was a pipe dream come true. Plus, getting to run with Juneau on the beach felt like I was in a movie, every time!If any of you are One Tree Hill fans like I am, I spent a lot of my time searching for landmarks - the river court, Karen's Cafe, even Peyton's house. There are plenty of scenes that took place right on the river walk by the restaurant I worked.Life on the beach was peaceful. We moved to Wilmington without really thinking about what was next. We thought we'd be there for a while, but about two weeks after I got there, I received my acceptance letter to Indiana University for graduate school. This ultimately put an end date on our summer at the beach, but it also got us excited for yet another adventure.Have you ever lived on the beach?