At OBX, it's the little things

One of the greatest things about going to the beach is much more subtle than sunshine and sand.

It’s the little things.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love the ocean. Yes indeed. Love getting out my ocean rods and reels and catching blues, spots, snooks—whatever. Love getting crispy by the sun. Walking barefoot. Fresh seafood on the grill. Paddleboarding and chasing ghost crabs and parasailing and hiking Jockey’s Ridge.

But, frankly, I can—and do—enjoy exciting pasttimes at home in West Virginia. I have a cabin in Pocahontas County, home to countless trails and streams and peaks. I fly fish most weekends, have access to two of the continental United States’ best whitewater rivers and the best climbing sandstone within an hour’s drive of my front porch.

At the beach, though, I can …

Enjoy beers we don’t have in West Virginia. Like New Belgium, a brand I’ve never found at home. Heck, they sell Fat Tire in K-Mart down here, for crying out loud.

Take outdoor showers. The beach house has an outdoor shower with an open top, and there are few things I enjoy more than, after getting crispy, sandy and sweaty following a long, hot day at the beach, climbing into that shower, making the water as cold as I can handle, and stand in it until I get wrinkly.

I’m sure there are more little things, but those are the two that immediately come to mind.