Home away from Home

I don't remember how old I was when we first started driving down to topsail with the entire family, but I know I was young.  I know it was over 20 years ago... I know that the original nintendo was the most current game system... and I was young enough that I had to make my cousins do all the 'jumps' when I was mario.  year after year, our family grew up together down there, so it's a very special place to me.

a quiet beach town, topsail is one of the greatest places on earth.  as a 'barrier' island, it's about 26 miles long and only a half mile wide... in many places you can see the shore and the sound at the same time.  this year we decided to do a friends trip, and we stayed on the sound for the first time.  our sweet little community had its own dock and access to the sound - a wonderful place to watch the sunset with a beer in your hand {see mikey doing just that pictured below}.  

there's some great history to the island too.  in the 1700s, pirates used the sound to hide and wait for passing merchant ships.  over time, merchants learned that they could tell if these pirates {including blackbeard} were hiding because you could see their 'top' sail from the shore.  many believe that blackbeard's treasure was buried on the island.

During WWII, the island played a key role in the military 'operation bumblebee', including the production, storage, and launching of rockets.  concrete observation towers which still stand today were constructed to monitor the experimental launchings.

I am happy to share this amazing place with you... enjoy!