Today was the beach day for UNC! We woke up at around 7:30 in order to load the bus in time to reach Carolina Beach. The drive was three hours long, but the bus had air conditioning which made the trip significantly more enjoyable. When we reached the beach, we had lunch which came in the form of catered sandwiches, and then proceeded to go swim in the water. The waves were quite powerful (I was getting knocked off my feet repeatedly!) but we made a game out of it by seeing who moved the least after each wave.
After swimming for a while, I decided to go down to the boardwalk and explore a little bit. There were plenty of ocean-themed shops and restaurants. The main attractions were the seafood restaurants, but there also were stores that sold Carolina Beach merchandise and other various items. Rather than buying a souvenir, I opted to get some banana ice cream at a small ice cream shop on the boardwalk. It was fantastic!
After we finished exploring the boardwalk, we decided to return to the beach to swim some more. To my surprise, the waves had gotten much stronger and were much more frequent than before. Also, our rented beach umbrellas did not last for the whole day and were repossessed by the renting company. However, the sun had gone down a little by then so the heat and brightness was not unbearable. When I got back in the water, it became clear just how much more powerful these waves were. While I was getting knocked back a couple feet from the earlier waves, I was now easily getting pushed several feet back to shore.
Soon after losing the battle to the Atlantic Ocean, it was close to when we had to meet at the bus to leave, so I decided to go and dry off and change into a clean pair of clothes. The drive back was very entertaining since we had a few games of Gartic Phone and a karaoke session! We finally stopped at a Taco Bell and a McDonald’s to get dinner, and reached back to the dorms at around 10:30 PM.
This was my first beach experience and I definitely had a great time! I hope that this is continued for future SSP years and that we go back again during my time at SSP!
-Sharv
