FOUR IF BY SEA

Pack it up, Pack it in Pack it up, Pack it in

Just because we’re local doesn’t mean we’re experts at packing lightly for the beach.

by amanda mcdanel

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG COLLEGE STUDENT SPENDING MY SUMMERS ON THE OUTER BANKS, I was either at my retail job, my restaurant job, or at the beach – often all on the same day. I would head straight across the street from the swimwear store where I worked to the beach, armed with nothing but a chair, a bottle of sunscreen and a cooler big enough to hold a water and two beers. I’d soak up the sun, chat with the lifeguards, take a dip in the ocean, then pack up, put on my dress blacks and serve crab-stuffed avocados to vacationers in Duck. The next day was some version of wash, rinse and repeat.

Little did I know how much everything would change after I moved here permanently and started a family.

I have a very clear memory of the first summer I was dating my future husband, Johnny, when we drove south to Hatteras Island where the waves were pumping from an offshore storm. It was a cool August day, grey skies overhead and a light drizzle of rain, but nothing was stopping him and his friend from enjoying the waves. For hours. Not even his date shivering under a blanket and a cockeyed umbrella, drenched to the core with rain sheeting off her eyelashes. For hours. HOURS. While I’m confident that day solidified our forthcoming nuptials in my husband’s eyes, I was not quite so keen to repeat it – and, in retrospect, I should’ve been able to recognize it as a precursor of what beach days would look like in my future.

Whether you’ve rented an oceanfront house or are enjoying the many open beach accesses along the Outer Banks, your beach days may not look quite as easy breezy as a young college student, but I guarantee you they are not as involved as the present-day McDanels’ planning of “a big beach day.”

The adventure begins at 8 a.m. over coffee while my husband checks two of the three local pier cameras to get an eye on the waves. He then cross-references the pier footage against tide charts while consulting other surf forecasting websites to optimize the chance of selecting an ideal location for the days’ adventure. Next comes a group text from one of the beach clan wives asking where we’re planning to spend the day, only to be met with someone suggesting a random beach access with no parking while another responsible friend offers a beach access where she’s meeting visiting friends, and Johnny declares the inadequacy of both locations.

If there are no waves or little swell, we also have to find a location with a sandbar, which improves the chances of the “kids” (a guise for the dads) catching at least a few small waves. If there is swell, it might mean packing up and driving south for 45 minutes, climbing over a sand dune and dragging a tent, beach chairs, a beach table, a cooler, and a bucket of sand toys about a thousand yards toward the ocean. I must mention that both of these scenarios require a totally different set of equipment: short fat surfboards, beater boards or longboards for the small waves, light thrusters for larger waves, or stand-up paddle boards for completely flat days. And that’s just for the dads. The inclusion of any other young grommets who want to surf requires adding extra equipment in the form of boogie and/or skim boards.

The well-prepared local beach goer must always be further equipped with a fishing pole in case the trout start biting, the drum are running, or they simply want to mess around and catch a bluefish. While this could be reduced to one pole in theory, the enthusiastic sportsman usually has two available in case different test lines or rigs are needed. A full fishing backpack is clearly necessary as well in order to access different colored grubs just in case the trout prefer Electric Chickencolored grubs instead of the Salt and Pepper Chartreuse ones on a given day.

A waterman also has to be careful to never reach the point of dehydration, so a Yeti cooler filled with one large water bottle and 18 cold beers must be made available at any point during the excursion. Sandwiches from a local gas station provide sustenance for said waterman, however, if any other members of the beach party require provisions, they must be packed or procured themselves.

After a long day of water adventures, additional recreation is then required in the form of organized sports. The previous hours’ activities – while indeed recreational – do not fulfill this requirement since these land-based activities must be performed with a cold beverage in hand. Yet, like the previous watersports, they must be performed individually or only in the company of other adults. The top choice for the McDanel family includes horseshoes, but they must be a competition set forged of heavy solid steel weighing at least 20 pounds. Acceptable substitutes include cornhole and bocce ball, but no compact games such as frisbee, kadima or football are allowed – I don’t make the rules, that’s just how it is. Finally, truly dedicated beachgoers do not abandon the day under any circumstance. Rain or storms will be met with a group huddle under the largest tent in the party, supplemental beverages and ice cream treats can be acquired by walking to one of the closest piers, and alternative bathroom requirements for all ages must be mapped out early on. So if you’re reading this while perched on the sand in front of your oceanfront house, enjoy running inside to take advantage of indoor plumbing, a nearby fridge to make sandwiches and unlimited quantities of ice for bringing back another round of cold cocktails. And if you happen to see me chasing down a six-year-old, corralling a dog or pleading with a 12-year-old to apply another coat of sunscreen, and want to share, I’d appreciate it. While I love summer beach days, I probably still need one. Cheers!