We hope it's still there!

As Hurricane Dorian heads north after devastating the Bahamas, we also fear for the folks that live along the Carolina coast, as well as for the coast itself.  For almost four decades, we've visited it at least once each year, save for the four summers we were south of the border.
This year was no exception.  We went to the Outer Banks for kiting twice so far this year, and in August we traveled to Topsail Island, our favorite place to spend a lazy week at the beach.  It's great for early morning walks,

getting better acquainted with the newest granddaughter, 

 taking pictures you hope will be noticed by anyone at National Geographic,

 and generally messing around with kids and parents of the family.

My overactive brother Mark found a perfect place to kiteboard about an hour away, a sandbar in the middle of the Bogue Sound, which is a wide body of water between Emerald Isle (a barrier island) and the mainland.  This could only be approached by watercraft such as the jet ski Mark brought.

An ex-missionary of ours from Cincinnati dropped by for a couple of days, and of course had to be recruited - the first one is always free, right?

He surpassed all expectations, making my years-long struggle to learn the sport look silly, and by the second session, he was up and running.

He departed wondering if he could kiteboard in Cincinnati...(the answer is no.)

Paula has gradually shifted our accommodations up, and this time there was a pool, which was great when the surf would get too rough, or when someone badly needed to learn to roll a kayak, or a baby needed to float around.

It is hard to have a bad week at the beach, and once again it was a good one.  There's always that last afternoon before packing up, sitting talking on the sand and listening to the ocean before heading back home to whatever awful thing reality has waiting.

By the way, don't tell anyone about Topsail Island; it's a secret that's getting around to too many people from New Jersey already.  And New York, and Ohio and all those other places.

We hope you find a good place for summer reunions, and I didn't mention Topsail, OK?

Dave & Paula