Topsail Island Vacation

V*A*C*A*T*I*O*N in the Summer time, or so the song goes. The sentiment is great but it seriously limits the seasons. As a real estate broker in Surf City, many customers and clients throughout the years have asked me about a million times, "What is your favorite season of the year here on Topsail Island?" That's a very difficult question to answer. I've thought long and hard on that one.  Here goes.

It's true nothing can beat the 4th of July week on the island!  However Thanksgiving dinner out on the deck with Turkey AND Oysters is simply the best.  (A local tradition which I would have started if someone else hadn't already thought of it.) Fall on the island is probably my favorite time of the year. The weather is wonderful.  You may or may not need long sleeves in the evening. A little chilly for swimming for me but, my friends of a Northern persuasion laugh at me shivering and plunge right in till mid to late November. (Any later than that and they are just plain showing off OR practicing for the annual Topsail Island Dolphin Dip which is that ocean plunge that takes place every year on January 1.  (If you have a hangover from the night before, this is not the cure.) Kids and dogs are welcome, wear a costume, and help with this annual fund raiser for local charities - come for the fun - stay for the party.)

BUT. . . . Then again winter on Topsail Island is just plain fabulous. Every 3 or 4 years we get about an inch of snow.  Most of us don't know how to drive in it, a few of us will admit it. We run off the road. Local officials close schools and government offices including the county court house!!!! The crowds (if you can call six people and maybe a dog or two on a leash a crowd) are gone. You can walk the beach for miles and maybe see 2 or 3 other comforted souls, all kinds of birds parading in the surf line and maybe even a furry friend or two on a leash with someone else who is also at peace with the world. That's the very best time for hunting shells, beach glass and shark's teeth. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it's a secret, don't tell anyone else. The winters on Topsail are possibly my favorite time of the year.

Spring, ahhhhhhhh the sweet glories of spring on the island. What can be better than watching sunrises over the ocean, (or so I have been told) or reveling in the magnificent sunsets over the sound, so I know! Those of you who know me understand that I am NOT a morning person. (Morning is anything prior to 11 am.) Airing out the cottage and getting the petunias in the flower beds, making sure I have enough life jackets for all of the company on the boat and enough beach towels for the hordes of family and friends who begin to arrive about Easter time, all of these things will keep the locals busy.  Did you know the Easter Bunny on Topsail wears sunglasses and brings sunscreen in his basket? That's a fact Jack.  Oh yes, I love the springtime. It may very well be my favorite season of the year.

 

Summertime and the living is easy, fish are jumping and the cotton is high . . . . . . . Another great song and artist I'd like to pay homage to. (Thank you Ella Fitzgerald)  Well . . . . . I don't know about the cotton being high, but I do know the fish are definitely jumping. (Just ask my husband Doug Medlin at East Coast Sports, just a little plug for my honey) Fireworks for Independence Day, Free family friendly movies and concerts in the Sound side park in Surf City every Friday night, Farmers Market every Tuesday morning also at the park, skating at the old fashioned rink in Topsail Beach (just over the post office, complete with disco ball).  Come experience the annual Ocean City Jazz Festival on July 3 and 4th. Pirates are celebrated everywhere all the time on Topsail. (You know there is a little pirate hiding in all of us.) Yes, I think summer may be my favorite season.

Cathy Medlin

Owner/Broker/Realtor

Cathy Medlin is a teller of local legends, made up true, and imagined by a true connoisseur of local lore. She can be found at her office Island Real Estate on 405 Roland Ave. Surf City. Call her up 910-328-2323 or look her up www.topsailvacation.com