The Boy and the Beach (Part 2)
Part 1 of this series was a little boring, as it only covered my work and general travel thoughts. Here is the stuff you're actually interested in.
Downtown Down South
Our trip so far had been interspersed with beach visits and tune-ins to the Stanley Cup, of which our Carolina Hurricanes were facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights. All the games we watched were absolute nail biters, in true Canes fashion!
The highlight of the weekend was obviously Rachael's birthday, though. It started with a trip to Wilmington's downtown to check out the farmers market. I got myself a cool glass of lemonade and a bag of local coffee beans to take home. By the end of the visit, we all decided to stop at a local coffee joint called Hidden Grounds. I got a lavender latte and enjoyed the scenery, but I don't really have a desire to return. It was cramped, overcrowded, and overpriced. It felt like the kind of superficial place you'd find on a TikTok "hidden gems" video. Here's a dinosaur.
We went home and took some downtime by breaking out Wingspan, which is my favorite board game of all time. Its rules are too complicated to list here, but know that it is a deck builder featuring real-life birds from around the world and it has captured the hearts of my entire family. I recently acquired the Americas expansion at my local Barnes & Noble and got to try it out for the first time with everybody else.
Isn't the base game built from American birds?
Yes, but this specifically covered South America! The new mechanic is the hummingbird garden, which allows dozens of hummingbirds to flutter in and out of your aviary throughout the game. I thought I was doing really well throughout the game, but I actually ended up in last, crushed by the hands of my younger sister.
We ended the day by heading back out to the beach. Since this was later than 5:00 at this point, I was able to take Willa along with us! She had been to the beach once before and didn't care for the environment or the waves. A mere year later, she seems to have come around to it. She even had a smile as we walked!
The Long and Winding Road
I left Wilmington shortly after lunch to head back home. Along the way, I learned that my best friend Mark's neighbor was selling off discs from his enormous record collection that day. Eager to not pass on this opportunity, I swung by their place before making it back to my own so I could peruse the collection. I got all of the below records for under $200. Not a bad haul, and certainly not a bad weekend!
