Wrightsville Beach with kids

As my father-in-law has repeatedly told Jack, "You are the most fearless non-swimmer I've ever known." Make that two when you include Oliver! So, sometimes we all want to give our parent antennae a rest and not go to the beach during this annual week o' family fun. What to do when the boys start playing tag in the house? You can rent a two-seater kayak and take it out with fishing poles, as did T and J this morning. You can shop at Redix, a fantastic store for pretty much everyone (I love shopping there, and each boy has told me, independently, that it's his "favorite store in North Carolina."). And/or you can find a good playground!

All possible here in Wrightsville Beach.

If you leave WB and head towards Wilmington, driving up what was Causeway Drive but is probably now Wrightsville Avenue, you'll see on your right (well before Military Cutoff Rd) signs for Wrightsville Beach Elementary School and the WB Municipal Center. Turn right into the Muni lot and head back to your slight right, away from the recycling area. In the back, you'll find a terrific playground with areas for kids 2-5 and those older than that. We go each year, and it's a well-designed, fun, safe area to spend an hour or two. This afternoon was really hot on the beach, but at the playground, a nice breeze kept us relatively cool so the kids could really run off the rest of the steam they had.

We met the loveliest family; a stylish mom and her two boys who each had a darling smattering of freckles across their noses and weren't much younger than J and O. As play often does, it bound this little foursome for a good half hour, and while I timed races I also got to speak to the boys' mother a bit. It was a pleasure to meet them -and Taylor, if you're reading this, your boys are so precious and well-behaved; kudos to you!- and they suggested a hamburger joint for dinner: PT's Olde Fashioned Grille (keep going up Wrightsville Ave until it turns into Eastwood; then take a left on Military Cutoff and about a quarter-mile later, on your left, you'll see PT's).

The boys were starving and ordered a giant lemonade, a half-pounder (for J), a quarter-pounder (for Ol) and extra ketchup for the fries. A) the fries were awesome, and B) you have not seen an almost-eight year old eat such a big hamburger so quickly as did J-Bird today. Then they had enormous ice cream sandwiches and then watermelon too. And then we got home and had baths and inexplicably, they then kept running. I cannot fathom little boy energy, and I'm a real energetic person.

In any case, it's really easy to have a good time here as long as you bring along some energy and a commitment to relishing the outdoors. It's harder to find a good cup of coffee, but all in all, things are cool.