[QUOTE=Glory]
Jacksonville is pretty much a dive…of course, I haven’t been back there for over 15 years so maybe it’s improved.
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Apparently it still is. The guys pretty much try to find new and exciting places to drive to on the weekends, since there’s nothing to do around the base.
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
I’m not a golfer, either. Don’t get it; don’t want to. 
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You? You’re good people. We see eye to eye, my friend.
[QUOTE=Maus Magill]
Topsail Island/Surf City - There’s the Missiles and More Museum, which details the history of the Navy’s missile projects from the fifties. The museum is in the old assembly building. As you drive down NC50 to Surf City, you’ll see these 3-4 story buildings on the beach - those are the old launch towers.
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Personally I wouldn’t make the trip just for the museum, but I really like Topsail. The southern end is very laid back feeling for a beach town. Most of the houses are old looking and there aren’t chain stores everywhere.
I don’t think it’s fair to say “if you’ve seen one beach you’ve seen them all.” The ocean at NC is very sandy, warm, and gentle compared to California. Much nicer for swimming IMO.
My main recommendation is that you get the heck out of Jacksonville. Get a beach house.
Glory, my parents used to live in Swansboro (as retirees, not locals) and my husband and I were married there…in my parents’ backyard overlooking Kings Creek. I love the little town and we spent a lot of evenings wandering around there. I forgot to mention the maritime museum…worth a browse around.
Drive up to Lexington and eat BBQ for a week. I can’t say this enough. NC BBQ is the best in the world, and I’m from Texas! (Well, my family is.)
[QUOTE=awldune]
Personally I wouldn’t make the trip just for the museum, but I really like Topsail. The southern end is very laid back feeling for a beach town. Most of the houses are old looking and there aren’t chain stores everywhere.
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That’s why I go every summer.
Seconded. If you look at Topsail DO NOT rent at North Topsail Beach. See my earlier comments regarding the moving island. Surf city is much more stable and you’re more likely to actually have a beach in front of your house rather than a small strip of sand during low tide.
Topsail is a sand bar, not an island.
[QUOTE=AHoosierMama]
Topsail is a sand bar, not an island.
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As are almost all barrier islands, yet we still call them islands.
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima]
All wonderful suggestions- thank you guys! So I- being a desert dweller- am I probably going to fall over in horrible, humid pain, aren’t I? That’s ok, one does not need good, non-frizzy hair to have a good time. At least, I hope not.
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It depends on when you will be here. If it’s in the next few weeks, the air will still be pretty dry (though the water will be freezing). If it’s in, say, July, it’ll be hot as stink and probably pretty humid, though it’s always cooler near the water and you should have a nice breeze. Between Labor Day and the first or second week of October are really the best times to go to the beach here in NC - the crowds are mostly gone, the water is still warm and it’s less humid.
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima]
You? You’re good people. We see eye to eye, my friend.
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The waste of open land is almost as annoying as graveyards! And what. is WITH. the obsession with the little white ball? Can we just skip the game and go for a long walk that ends at a bar? Please??
[QUOTE=Maus Magill]
As are almost all barrier islands, yet we still call them islands.
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I know - even the ones like Topsail where I can be in the ocean and talk to my friend in the Sound. I think dolphins can clear it.