
Every year, we block off the week of July 4th for our family vacation in Surf City. This is our favorite week of the year! The slow pace and family time is really wonderful. Also all the friends who come for a beach day + neighbors make it such a fun week.
I was reminiscing of previous years, as I typed up this post:
July 4th 2022
July 4th 2023
July 4th 2024
Here are this year's highlights in photos:
Jake "caught" a ghost crab.
A sea turtle nest just one access down from us!
Sea turtle tracks
Early Sunday morning Jake & I went for a walk on the beach. We saw the Topsail Turtle Project relocating the nest. The mama laid her nest up under the deck of this house. The Topsail Turtle Project decided to move the nest out from there and up to a better location on the dune, all 130 eggs. We will be watching this nest in 50-60 days - hoping we will see the boil.
Night Swim at the pool
Before we started our trek, Jake made sure all the tires were pumped up. My bike tire wasn't holding air so Jake put a new tube on. I must preface this by saying that our bikes are rather old, rusty and crunchy. The ocean air is hard on metal. All 7 of us made it to our breakfast stop.
On the way back a few of us rode to the top of the Surf City Bridge. I told Jake that I was concerned that my brakes would not make it. A few times that morning they caught or didn't quite catch until I pedaled around another time. Well, on the way down I coasted and rode the brake. About 1/3 from the bottom of the bridge my breaks were not catching. I tried a couple of times and then decided it was best if I jumped off of the moving bike. It was that or crash on the concrete. I jumped off successfully, landing on my feet while holding on to the handlebars. This gave me some heart palpitations. So conveniently, at the bottom of the bridge, there was a dumpster and we left the bike there. Biking home Wren rode on the back of Jake's; 7 of us on 6 bikes. Memories were made!
Wren biked with us to the top of the Surf City bridge.
A few other momentous events from the week:Monday night my phone rang just before 10pm. My friend and neighbor Donna, had just arrived to their home. She stepped off of the bottom step onto a dog bone, rolled her ankle and heard a crack. We made a trip to the ER in Porter's Neck. After a few hours of waiting, the x-ray revealed that she did indeed break the outside bone of her ankle-foot. We made it back to Surf City by 2am. We did enjoy catching up and no traffic on the roads from 10pm to 2am.
Unfortunately, Lily was having some ear pain midweek. I was sure it was swimmer's ear. I made some homemade drops and gave her Tylenol. She did not get any relief so I took her to a doctor in Surf City on Thursday morning. It was an ear infections - so odd since she had no sore throat, drainage or fever. She is loving the antibiotic and now feeling good!
Until next year, Surf City.