a document of days

While the general mood of the beach is similar to the relaxed nature of the mountains, traveling six hours to the south felt like traveling to a different country. The crisp mountain air changes to a warm, humid breeze; the rolling landscape, so dense with life, relaxes into a cool horizon. Again, I was experiencing everything for the first time, but Ryan was seeing the landscape for what it once was and what it had become.

After living just a few years of his life in Dayton, Ohio, Ryan and his family relocated to Carolina Beach and later, Wilmington. From the moment we arrived, we began piecing together all of the memories. From the view from their first condo:


To Ryan's elementary school, where he, as a mere six year old, lusted after little Drew Barrymore, a young actress enrolled at Carolina Beach Elementary while filming Firestarter.

Having never grown up on the beach, I simply can't imagine spending every weekend on the water, hanging out on the dock at night or worrying about the boat being stolen. (OK, maybe this isn't a common concern, but after the Flynn boat was stolen and later abandoned sans motor, I would think it became a concern of theirs.)


The best part of our trip to Wilmington was spending time with Ryan's sister Lisa, her husband Curtis, and of course, Ryan's nephew Ben. As we caught up on life and all that has been going on since we last saw one another, each of us took a turn (or two) attempting to transform Ben's transformer. You would never guess how difficult those things are!! It was addictive and I didn't not want to give up until Bumblebee was as he should be. At least a couple of hours later, Lisa figured out the final trick and it all came together.