The Beach House. Girlfriends. Chapter One.

I left last Thursday morning with my friends Betsy and Amy, for a girl’s trip that I have been really excited about!

 

We were on our way to N. Carolina to meet up with our friend Ashley.

I met these three girls in the 7th grade. Some thirty five years later, we remain friends. Ashley grew up going to their family beach house every summer at Carolina Beach. I remember hearing stories of the beach house and I had an idea in my head of what it must have looked like.

I can’t really remember the details of how planning the trip came about, but I do remember thinking it might be one of those trips that we just talk about. When we actually picked the date and started making plans, I couldn’t believe we were really going to get to go to the beach house!

Ashley picked us up at the airport, and we headed east to the beach. It was two great hours of girl chat. Our drive included a Trader Joe’s stop where we stocked up on a few yummy eats and a little wine!

As we got closer to the house, I was getting a good feel for what this little place was going to look like. When we pulled up to the house and I saw it for the first time, I knew the whole weekend was going to be just like I had imagined it would be. Long time friends reminiscing in a cozy little house on the beach, sharing stories, laughing, drinking wine and building more memories.

We walked into the house and immediately we had to head out to feel the sand in our toes and look at the water. I loved the walk to the beach!

 

 

 

 

Here’s the beach house!

 

The view when we first walked in……

 

Looking into the house from the beach side…..

 

it was cozy and perfect!

 

We spent the rest of the day on the beach, sipping wine, eating cheese and crackers, snacking  on some veggies……and reconnecting.

 

Friday morning, Amy and I went to Yoga! Amy had never been and I was excited to share my new found love of Yoga with her!

After Yoga, we had a mile and half walk back to the house, but just around the corner was a cute little bar that I hated to pass up!

We stopped for a nice cold Morning Beer and sat outside…..

 

After our beer, we decided to check out the street view……

 

We spent Friday afternoon on the beach all day. Amy had this awesome idea (after Yoga and a cold one) to rent umbrella’s for the beach, so her and I hung out under the umbrella’s while Ashley and Betsy soaked up the rays!

 

I’m in a happy place here people……

 

 

After an afternoon of the beach, we decided to clean up and visit the Tiki Hut for drinks! Just saying “Tiki Hut” makes me happy!

 

We took a gazillion pictures!!

 

You never know just how happy a Tiki Hut and a couple of drinks can make you!!

 

It was junior high all over again…..

 

Later, we had dinner and tried to act like adults, then we hit up this awesome little bar where you literally walked into the huge cooler and picked out your own beer! You just take it to the bar and pay! I want one of those bars at home!

 

Then we got sleepy and called it a day.

Saturday morning, I woke up early and decided to make coffee and go down to the beach to watch the sunrise.

 

Absolutely gorgeous….and so peaceful.

 

After the sunrise, WE ALL went to Yoga! I loved having everyone there together. It was a great workout, and after Yoga, we skipped the bar and the cold beer and found this place instead!

 

They only sell hot glazed donuts! Uh…..yum.

 

When we got back to the house, we decided to make breakfast and use up a few of the groceries that we had bought! The strawberries we had froze up on the top shelf of the fridge, so Amy found a blender hidden away and made smoothies! I introduced the girls to Cookie Butter….we decided to call it crack! I cooked up some eggs and we shared the donuts. Ashley made coffee and I had a little OJ with the Moscato to finish off our little random breakfast! Betsy opened the Moscato and broke the cork. She also opened the wine with a cork screw. It was a screw top. Betsy’s funny that way.

 

Our unplanned breakfast was a hit!

We spent the rest of the day on the beach playing Bocci ball, walking the beach, taking beautiful pictures, napping, reading books, flipping through magazines, reading sex quizzes (THAT was entertaining!) and sharing more stories. SO MANY stories! We talked about childhood crushes that we had never shared. We talked about how sneaky we thought we were when we were kids, we talked about how many stupid things that we did that our parents never knew about, we talked about the times that we DID get caught together, and we talked about how many miles we put on our bikes when we were kids! It was a great weekend of remembering.

These are some of my favorite pictures from the beach!

Betsy actually took this one, but I told her to take it, so I’m accepting HALF of the credit! Love the clouds! That’s Ashley to the right. She still has the same kick ass body she had in High School. She is likely not going to like me pointing her out though! 🙂 Own it, Ash!! Actually, Amy and Betsy still have the kick ass bodies that they had in High School too! Nice job, girls!

 

l’m not sure who took this one, but i like it!

 

I took these on the morning that I went out to watch the sunrise.

 

Nature at it’s best…..

 

ahhhh…….

 

I think I need to frame this one!

 

We took a walk down to the pier……

 

We wanted Amy to go too, but she was snoring under the umbrella. Snooze, you lose. HAHAHAHAHA! Cracking myself up!

 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire weekend! That’s Ashley’s suit. I probably need to frame this one and send it to her for the beach house! Maybe a late birthday present??? It’s actually her birthday today! She is the oldest of the four of us! Happy 48th Birthday Ash!! (We spent a lot of time talking about how we really must be in our 30’s, or maybe even our 20’s??? We feel young anyhow, and THAT’S a good thing!)

 

We went to the Tiki Hut again on Saturday. Why wouldn’t you?? Wait…first a selfie!!

 

Then to dinner.

Check out the healthy pours on this wine flight. I did end up sharing, although in this picture I look like I’ve already had a bottle…or two!

 

 I drank just enough wine that I might like rare tuna now…..

 

After dinner, we went to the Dive. BEST NIGHT EVER!! Here, we got to dance like fools (I know I looked foolish!) and sing along. I must have done a lot of dancing and singing and really loud talking, because I had a sore throat and I was hoarse for two days!! Geezzz that was fun!

 

Singing and dancing and talking makes me happy….

 

Sunday morning was the first cloudy day that we had, and since we were heading home, it was the perfect ending to our awesome trip, We had coffee on the porch looking out over the water, then packed up to head home.

We decided to have one last meal before we went home…..and one last drink.

 

Before we left for our trip, I referred to it as our “First Annual”. Everyone seemed to like the sound of that!

I can’t wait for The Beach House. Girlfriends. Chapter Two!

“love the life you live, live the life you love”