A few weeks ago, I ventured down to Topsail Island on the coast of North Carolina and took a long weekend with Geoff and his family. Geoff’s parents rented a house for week and we were literally RIGHT on the beach. It was such a treat and so relaxing! I didn’t anticipate creating a blog post since it was truly just a vacation – I honestly didn’t take many photos except for the ones in this post. But, I was so happy with how a lot of them turned out that I thought I would share! This spot might not be on your radar, but it’s one of the best beaches I’ve been to in a long time. And surprisingly, a lot of people I went to college with (including my cousin!) now live in the Raleigh area – a couple hours from Topsail Island. It’s definitely bustling with young professionals from the sounds of it!  Keep reading to see more of my snaps and read more about my trip to Topsail Beach on Topsail Island, North Carolina.

Long Weekend at Topsail Beach on Topsail Island, North Carolina

Topsail Island (note: most locals pronounce it Top-sul) is located on the coast of North Carolina and is a little less than an hour from Wilmington, North Carolina and just over two hours from Raleigh, North Carolina. We opted to fly into Raleigh because there were a lot more flight options from Boston and it was cheaper than flying into Wilmington. Both are completely do-able, it really just depends on where you would be flying in from, which makes more sense for you. From Boston, Raleigh is a very quick flight. I think it was an hour and a half or so. We took off at around 7, and by 8:30, we were already in Raleigh. As hard as it is to get up and get yourself to the airport on those kind of mornings, I love that once you get to your destination, you truly have the whole day and no time feels wasted!

A rental car is needed for a trip to Topsail Island, but once you see the beach pictures, I promise you it’ll be worth your trouble. It took us a bit longer to get to Topsail Island on the way there since we made a pit stop in Durham and walked around Duke University’s campus. Geoff has a couple landscape architecture projects at Duke, so it was fun to see those in person! If you get the chance to stop by Duke University, I highly recommend checking out the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Gorgeous and I imagine it would be just as beautiful in the fall. Would be a great spot for a picnic too!

Once we made it to Topsail Island, we headed straight to the beach! Topsail Island is very touristy. If you’ve ever been to Key West, the mile or two stretch going into Topsail Island reminded me a lot of the stretch that leads into Islamorada before Key West. Lots of shops to buy floats, beach chairs, buckets, and everything you could ever imagine! Even though it’s touristy, once you get there, the beach doesn’t necessarily have that touristy feel. It’s a very long beach and we didn’t feel crowded whatsoever. It’s not like many beaches where you’re “third row” or “fourth row” from the beach. You’re first row, and the next people closest to you aren’t for yards away. It was plenty of room for us!

Every day, we would wake up, have breakfast, make our drinks (everyone needs a beach drink, right?!) and then walk down to the beach. The good thing about staying at a place that’s right on the beach is that you never really feel like you have to “pack for the day” like you would on a normal beach trip where you’re driving there or walking from afar. We could leave our things at our beach chair, walk up to the house to make a lunch, use the bathroom, or let’s be honest, to get another drink 😉 and not feel afraid that our things would go missing!

This trip was filled with lots of boogie boarding, beach darts, and beach bocce ball, which I’m now obsessed with and I really want to get my own set! This set, that’s on the nicer side, would make a great housewarming present, and is a little out of the box from what most people would probably ask for!  I’m not normally one to play beach games… simply because I don’t have my own game sets, but these make the beach so much fun! I’m not one who can sit in my chair for hours on end and be content. I’m one that has to mix it up by getting in the water, playing games, and even taking a walk on the beach. I’m definitely thinking about picking up this set and this set for future beach trips.

By the way, if you don’t already have a portable speaker, I tell everyone about this speaker I received as a Christmas gift a couple years ago. This speaker is sooooo good you guys, and you would be absolutely amazed at the sound quality, and how loud it can get. I bring it on every single trip we go on so that we can listen to music in our hotel room and/or the beach! All you have to do is connect to Bluetooth and you can play all of your music through it easily. The charge is great too. I’m forever obsessed with it and always recommend it to everyone! It’s great quality and will last for years. I think every single member of my family owns one because it’s so good!

What I’m not used to here in New England…. warm ocean water! It was so nice to be able to get in the water on Topsail Island and to still be able to feel my legs (haha). I love ocean water over lakes and pools – Call me crazy, but there’s just something about that salt water that makes me happy. The waves were a bit much at times, but it was fun. People who are close to me know that I’m not the most confident swimmer in the world haha – I’ve gotten knocked down one too many times by waves, so I’m a little bit of a baby now. But, it was all in good fun and it really was so nice to get into ocean water that was warm for a change.

On most of my travel posts, I come at you with TONS of recommendations about where to eat, what to do, etc. I told you guys above that this trip was very much relaxation only, and not much exploring happened. Hey, just being honest! We mostly cooked at home every night and hit up the beach every single day. If you’re into craft beer, we did hit up a local craft beer spot (forgetting it, but will link it if I can finally remember the name!). We really wanted to get the chance to hit up Salty Turtle Beer, but unfortunately, didn’t get the chance to! We got tacos at Shaka Taco which was a fun spot with outdoor seating. It was really casual which we were in the mood for. You order at a window and then they deliver your food to you at high top tables on a patio. I highly recommend walking across the street after and getting a snow cone from Pelican’s SnoBalls. So good and they had tons of flavors. I got Strawberry Lemonade because I’m lemonade obsessed! I hadn’t had a snow cone in ages, so it felt like such a fun throwback!

Have you ever been to the coast of North Carolina or is it now on your list of places to visit?! Let me know in the comments! You can also check out some of my other travel posts here!