One of the wonderful things about living in NC is that the beaches are beautiful, and we're not very far away from our own little slice of coastal paradise. One of the beaches we love to frequent is Oak Island, NC. Oak Island is located between Southport and Holden Beach... more likely well know larger cities are Wilmington, NC and North Myrtle Beach, SC. I love Oak Island because Wilmington is just a ferry ride away, and NMB is about a 45 minute drive. Oak Island is a residential community, and it's not filled with lots of tourist or commercial properties. The beach is what people come for. Our friends have a house on the island (close to the sound), and have let us stay there many, many times. They are so generous, and we just love them.

Oak Island, NC

We were in Oak Island a few weeks ago, and enjoyed a beautiful time there. It was Baby S' first trip to the beach, and we had gorgeous weather!

Here are a few pics of our trip...

Beautiful beach.

Live eel on the beach!

Lots of sea foam on the beach after Hurricane Matthew.

Sacha with Baby S.

Playing in the waves and the foam.

A Bubble bath on the beach!

We love to visit Southport, a quaint coastal town just north of  Oak Island. Southport is home to the ferry, which takes you over to Ft. Fisher. There's a really cool aquarium at Ft. Fisher, great lookout points over the ocean, and you can go to Kure Beach, Carolina Beach, and up to Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington. Southport is also the filming location of the popular movie Safe Haven. Southport did see some damage from Hurricane Matthew. We were sad to see the pier closed due to structural damage, and to see the wall around the battery pretty much destroyed.

Swinging in Southport near the battery.

Damage from Hurricane Matthew.

Most of all, we enjoyed being out on the beach. The weather was perfect, and we were swimming in the ocean in October! That's NC life!

Baby S' first beach day!

B as The Hulk on the beach!

Beach baby!

Beach babes!

Live starfish we found on the beach!

We had a great trip, and we really needed those few days away. It's nice to be able to escape for just a few days to spend some family time together, and to recharge by the way of the sun, surf, and sand! We love the beach, and thank God for His marvelous creation!

Have you ever visited any of the NC or SC beaches? Which ones are your favorites?