Topsail Beach Photos

When I went to Topsail Beach for a three night weekend (could it have been LAST weekend?), I stayed at the Breezeway Motel this time. It was in walking distance of Leslie’s home, and I didn’t drive anywhere the whole weekend. The Breezeway’s history goes back to the forties, but the current structure was built in 1972. In other words, it ain’t fancy but it was clean and comfortable. I asked for a room with a good view and I got it. The sunsets over the sound side were spectacular.

Here’s what it looked like in the morning.

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in Leslie Marsh’s “Riveted by Nature” class. On Friday and Sunday nights I ate dinner at the Breezeway Restaurant. Fried shrimp the first time (Dale’s beats them by a mile, but it was still good) and bacon wrapped sea scallops the second time (YUM!). Saturday evening, my friends Barbara and Lou and I had cocktails in my room to watch the vibrant colors of this sunset, then went to Beach Shop Grill, which sounds like a burger joint, but is one of the most expensive restaurants on the island. We had a great time and the food was delicious. I ordered raw oysters and roasted brussels sprouts.

I walked on the beach on Sunday evening as the tide was coming in, with awareness of those back muscles I strained picking up limbs after Hurricane Ian! Topsail is such a great place to beachcomb that it was hard to stop. The next morning I slept late then headed back to the beach as it approached low tide. There were very few people on the beach and it was exquisitely isolated and full of the kind of stuff that I adore and most everyone else ignores, like fossils. The dunes are being replenished with sea oats, and there were many wildflowers and Monarch butterflies in the established dunes.

I picked up lots of sandstone with holes in them. My main focus when I beachcomb is worn shells with holes – in other words, natural beads. This time I also picked up some wood and coral, but I was drawn to texture. I felt close to my mother during this time, remembering the last time we walked on the beach and she pointed out shells for me to pick up and photos to take. It was one of the most enjoyable times I ever spent with her. She was in her late 80s then.