Oak Island and Southport

The best part about moving to North Carolina and not having jobs yet? You get to go to the beach on a Monday! While the beaches and towns emptied from the weekend Fourth of July festivities, we enjoyed the uncrowded beach and the small town of Southport.

I haven't seen the Atlantic Ocean since I was eight, so I forgot how warm the water is compared to the Pacific Coast. We spent the day at one of the beaches on Oak Island, one of the few pet friendly beaches during the summer. We parked right by the beach and didn't have to pay for parking. Score!

Boston's first trip to the beach. He looks like he's having fun, but he HATED getting in the ocean. I had to drag him during our walk on the beach, I'm pretty sure people thought we were being abusive.

After the beach we headed to Southport. Visiting this small town feels like you're in a Nicholas Sparks movie, probably because at least three of his movies have been filmed here. We even got to visit a few of the sites from Safe Haven. I wish we could have stayed longer but it was SO hot that we were ready to leave. I am planning to come back and stay for a weekend, it's the cutest small town and would be perfect for a weekend getaway.

The shack where Katie works in the movie Safe Haven.

This place is so beautiful, I love all of the boats.

The Fourth of July festival fringe is still up and you can see the same fringe in the Safe Haven movie (we watched the movie when we got home and noticed it).

This is roughly where the shop from Safe Haven was located.

Beautiful place. I couldn't get enough of the boats and docks everywhere. Breathtaking.

-Makenzie