Like every place, New Hanover County is shaped by its past.  I’m embarrassed that it wasn’t until fairly late in life that I learned about an integral part of New Hanover’s history.  I grew up thinking of New Hanover County as the home of the graceful Southern city of Wilmington, the battleship USS North Carolina, and several sunny beaches.  It was only later that I learned the ugly story of the infamous insurrection by white supremacists in 1898, an uprising that drove elected populist officials from office, murdered black citizens, and forced hundreds of black residents from the city.

This horrific incident still resonates but, for most North Carolinians, New Hanover County today calls up images of sun and fun and relaxation.  Home to Wilmington, beaches, an aquarium, and even an east coast film industry, New Hanover County is a destination for Tar Heel families.

For my long-time friend, Mary Ann, New Hanover’s Wrightsville Beach is the place she heads every October to celebrate her birthday at the beach house belonging to one of her oldest friends.  This house, old and creaky and unvarnished, is everything a beach cottage should be.  Several times, I’ve had the privilege of going along with Mary Ann on one of her annual birthday trips.  On this year’s visit, the skies were overcast and the temperatures were cool but the ease of old friends being together in a restful and timeworn house, the rhythmic sound of ocean waves breaking in the background, made it all worthwhile.

Mary Ann and I go way back and we have been through good times and bad together.  Friendships and houses and communities, all are informed by the past.  When things appear perfectly pretty and pristine, I feel a little uneasy about what may lie beneath the surface.  With old places and old friends, there is a comfort in knowing that what we see is what we get.

A big rope hammock on the porch, comfortable furniture inside, a magical walkway to the beach, a window seat with an ocean view, a good friend – here is just about everything I need for a relaxing October trip to Wrightsville Beach.

October 10 – 14, 2013, County #20 – New Hanover