1. Wrightsville Beach – The North End
Wrightsville Beach offers a lot of fun kid-friendly activities. If you like being outside, don’t mind a walk in the sand and are willing to pay for parking (~$3/hr | March 1 to October 31 from 9am to 7pm (with some enforced 9am – 8pm) then I recommend heading to the famous “Mailbox“.
- Parking: Park in Public Beach Access # 2 (located next to Shell Island Resort)
- Restrooms and a foot washing station are both available.
- Stroller Friendly: No
Points of Interest:
- “The Wrightsville Beach Mailbox” has been a hidden gem on this stretch of the beach for many years. In 2003, locals Bernie and Sidney Nykanen placed a mailbox at their favorite spot on the North End of WB facing Figure 8 Island. They placed pens and a notebook in the mailbox to allow its’ visitors a spot to write down scriptures, favorite quotes, prayers, love letters or just a simple message. When I moved here in 2010, I remember walking the sandy mile walk with my new friends to this famous mailbox. We would write our names in the wrinkled, half soaked pages and take time to read what others had written. It’s always been a fun adventure. In 2018, during Hurricane Florence the mailbox was moved along with the many notebooks collected over the years to the Wrightsville Beach Museum. A new mailbox is now located in front of Shell Island Resort for a more prominent location for beach goers to access (the old location is now roped off for a bird sanctuary). Visit the mailbox with your kids and leave a note or message for someone else to discover.
- View Figure Eight Island: Continue walking toward the North of the island, where on a clear day, you can glimpse over at the exclusive Figure Eight Island community. Only accessible by boat or over the private bridge, these million dollar homes are always impressive to see.
- Dip in the water: During high-tide, a nice natural pool forms at the very tip of the island. Although the water is calm at this specific point, I don’t recommend allowing children to swim in the ocean (where waves appear) as the tides can be very strong and no lifeguards are on duty in this area.
Have fun and go enjoy the North End! One of my favorite places on Wrightsville Beach.
Your Friend – Amanda
