I slipped out of town for a quick girls weekend at Figure 8 Island off of Wilmington, NC. It was magnificent. My group of childhood friends and I have been going here every year or so since the year we graduated high school, the year one of my friend’s parents built a house on the island. Aside from the roads and the houses and the yacht club, Figure 8 feels untouched in a way. The sound stretches on one side, grass and waves, the ocean on the other, sand and waves. Calm, quiet, serene.
With all of us living in different cities now and growing families and dealing with pandemic life, it was just me and two friends this time around. But we turned it into an easy, relaxing weekend with no plans but dinner reservations and an urgent mission to catch one of us up on the first season of Ted Lasso.
Sometimes you just need a weekend of nearly nothing. Both beach days, I woke up early to read, journal, sip coffee. And the rest of the each day was devoted to a happy schedule-less-ness. Time to move, do physical therapy, talk for hours, slouch on the beach, slouch on the couch, catch the sun, fill up on beautiful food.
Our favorite (and only) new find of the weekend was Tidewater Oyster Bar, not far from the island. We were following one friend’s craving for oysters, and ended up at a nearby shopping center strung with white lights. We made sure our patio table was loaded with oysters (shooters include), cajun shrimp and IPAs. It was a simple but gorgeous spread (the Oysters Rockefeller were my favorite). We’ll definitely be back.
We really didn’t need more than one adventure. Because we weren’t really there for that. We were there to decompress, and just to be together. It’s all we needed.
