I set my alarm for 6:45 am. It was a Saturday and I didn’t want to get out of bed that early, but I knew that the sun was going to rise over the Atlantic just after seven. The alarm went off and I was surprisingly awake as I started the single-serve coffee maker. As I walked on to the hotel balcony, I couldn’t help but be pleased at the thought that I was one of the first people in the U.S. to watch the sun rise that morning.
Over the course of the year-and-a-half prior, I had not taken the short drive out to Wrightsville Beach. I knew that the ocean was there, and yet I didn’t feel the need to see it. However, one of my favorite bands, Murder By Death, was playing in Wilmington, NC later that weekend. And I did feel the need to see them.We decided to make a weekend of it and booked a room overlooking the oceanfront. The morning after our arrival I sat, sipping the single-serve coffee, watching as the sun revealed the ocean, the sand, and the beach houses that were previously concealed by the night before. Come to find out, I did need to see the coast, and solidify my place on the map.
