Beach Decisions

I love beach decisions.

Should I go to the “yoga on the beach” class first or swim in the pool and then go to the yoga class?

Yoga wins.

Should I walk or ride my bike?

Turns out I have to drive to yoga.

I spent too much time sitting on the deck watching the American flag flap in the breeze while waving and smiling at all the morning walkers.

I decide to bike ride after yoga; jump in the pool after lunch; and then walk late at night and enjoy the stars in the pitch-black sky.

While floating in the pool, we discuss whether to kayak or Jet Ski the next day.

I recommend stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and get soundly rejected.

Jimmy, the pool guy replacing the water heater, says we should kite-board.

We’re too lazy for the learning curve of a new sport, and decide to kayak.

Later, we kayak and watch the jet skiers, the kite-boarders, and the stand-up paddlers.

Shall I paddle hard or take it easy? Both, I decide. Paddle hard; paddle gently; repeat.

As we float into shore, there are more  decisions.

Shall we go out to dinner or barbecue on the grill at home?

We opt for Gidget’s where the salads are fresh and the pasta never disappoints.

The decisions never stop, but the beauty of beach decisions is that the options are all good.

Here are a few of our good decisions:

• My friend, Gregoria, brought mood lipsticks and we tried on every color to find our favorite shades.  We couldn’t decide which one we liked the most, so we ordered them all on Amazon. (Zalan aloe vera mood changing lipsticks)
• Faced with baking sheets full of fresh pastries, we broke down and bought the Apple Ugglies at Orange Blossom Bakery. “Tradition,” Ann, our Apple Ugly lover, insists; so we go along.  http://orangeblossombakery.com/AboutUs.html. (I just learned from searching for the Orange Blossom’s link that they have healthier versions that are baked and not fried. That will be a better decision for us next time! They also have chocolate covered uglies that I must totally avoid!)

  

• Sara decides she wants Paula Deen’s strawberry cake for her birthday. I comply with that birthday wish and make a last minute decision to add pureed leftover strawberry salsa to the cake. YUM. Excellent decision.
• I ask my friends about their advice to their younger selves and plan a blog on that topic. Another good choice. (Watch for that advice in an upcoming blog.)
• Sara and my niece, Chalisse, text me to tell me how much they would enjoy breakfast in bed. I decide to surprise them and really do it, complete with strawberry garnishes. Another good choice because it’s not something I can do very often.

Perhaps the best decision I made was to stop at the Buxton Bookstore.

 

We’ve driven by it a million times over the years and never stopped.

How I overlooked it is a mystery to me. I love local bookstores.

I walk in the quaint little house and discover the hidden gem of the Outer Banks.

Shelves brimming with books. Books of all kinds.

I ask the owner to recommend some.

“What have you read and liked lately?” she asks.

I reel off a few titles, and she walks me around the store pointing out one good book after another.

I am in book heaven.

We chat about memoirs, favorite writers, and best books by local authors.

“How do you find time to read all these books?” I ask her.

“I’ve read every book in this store,” she says. “I only order a book if I’ve read it.”

Every book?

Every book.

I am amazed, not only that she is such a voracious reader, but that her shop has survived since the late Seventies.

It’s quite a feat to stay in business for that long on Hatteras Island — especially for a bookstore.

The combination of surviving a tough, seasonal economy and some nasty hurricanes is impressive enough, but, a thriving bookstore in the remote village of Buxton, North Carolina wows me .

No Amazon mega bookstore monster ruling the literary world here.

I want to grab this bookshop owner’s face and kiss her.

Stopping at her store was a great decision.

So was stopping at Mel’s Diner in Grandy, NC on the way home.

Poor Mel is retiring because he has cancer but, he loves the place and can’t bear the thought of not seeing his good customers every day.  (The gentleman in the photo is one of Mel’s regular customers; not Mel.)

We will miss seeing Mel, but we are so glad we got to know him.

Yes, another good beach decision.

The decisions I need to make at home are not nearly as fun as the decisions at the beach, so I will savor the memories and count the days until I can go back.

Now, that’s another good decision.