East Coast Eason's: Oak Island

We booked a nice long weekend at Brian and Nancy's beach house in Oak Island. A little January get-away we were all very much looking forward to! On the way to pick up the boys (early) from school on Thursday, a rock flew up and cracked my windshield. Not a good start!

A little 3 hour drive later and we made it to the beach house! Brought our stuff in, let Moose have a little run in the fenced-in area, and we headed off for an early dinner at Shagger Jack's. The great thing about going to the beach in the winter - no wait at restaurants!

The boys' favorite activity was the foosball table! Many games played!! We did end up doing a foosball tournament the very last night..... I'll give you a hint who the winner was... she also had this very same foosball set at her house and played many times over her childhood... ;) (Hey! I couldn't go easy on them - Kade doesn't go easy on me for chess - nor Brock for swimming!)

When it was my turn to play, I noticed how scratched up the board was - not dirty, just scratched. So I tried giving it a little elbow grease. This set is over twenty-five years old - it's doing pretty good! (Apparently Brent thought it hilarious and wanted to snap a picture)

We let the temperature get a bit warmer, so after lunch we made our way down to the beach. Moose was so excited!! The boys too!

Not too many waves that day, but it was still a little cold with the ocean wind.

Who was pulling who?

Shagger Jack's presents the children's meals on top of a frisbee - Kade was excited to bring his out to throw on the beach.

All my boys!

Photo credit to Brock. I guess Moose was tired of posing for pictures and decided digging for shells/crabs was more exciting!

Kade was determined to build a sandcastle - no matter how small nor with any tools!

Oak Island water tower in the distance.

Brock, my little aquarian, had to at least touch the water.

Friday night we headed to Southport for a nice dinner. We were planning to eat at the recommended Fishy Fishy Cafe, however they were closed for renovations (or something for a week), so we walked over to Edgewater 122. It was really good - highly recommend. I had grilled flounder and it was cooked perfectly! Brock said his burger was really yummy too! Brent stayed on the land lovers menu and opted for the 16oz ribeye. He said they cooked it pretty good for a fish restaurant. (Nothing compares to his own cooking)

It was gorgeous. We sat on the deck, enclosed with vinyl flaps so you can still see the water and boats - and right under the heater. A million dollar view in the summer!

After dinner, we walked around just a bit to get a better view of the water and sunset.

Ah, we attempted a night picture.

The next day, we wanted to do something a bit different. Brent and I were sitting outside on the 3rd floor deck sunning ourselves and threw out a few options. I suggested we weren't too far from Wilmington - and Brent decided he wanted to give us a little UNCW tour. Brent attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 1991-1995 for his undergrad. There were many more buildings than from when Brent was a student, but the dorm buildings were still there - and the boys loved seeing which window was their dad's!

After lunch at PT's Olde Fashioned Grill (Brock's third hamburger of the trip), we made our way down to the riverfront..... and spotted a Grandpa doppelgänger! Brock spotted him first - but we all agreed!