Hi! I’m Darcy Geho, a Hobbs Realty guest, and my husband, Marshall, and I are so pleased to share this peek into our annual relaxing autumn week in Holden Beach with you!
Every fall season (usually October), you will find us enjoying a relaxing week in an oceanfront Hobbs Realty vacation rental. We love visiting in this bonus season that still has plenty of sunshine, ocean water still warm enough for swimming, and the start of trout fishing season!
Come along with us as we relax, fish, swim, and more!
VISITOR’S TRAVELOGUE
Friday
As former Wilmington, North Carolina residents, what used to be a short drive to the beach is now a two-day adventure that includes a drive to the airport, an airport hotel stay, and two flights totaling 1,496 miles, and the final (easy!) drive to Holden Beach.
But, as you know, it’s worth it!
Saturday
After a long day of travel that started with a 34-degree morning in Minnesota, we arrived in Wilmington to an 84-degree afternoon. We picked up our luggage and grabbed the keys to our rental car, and we were ready to go!
When we arrived in Holden Beach, our first stop (as always) was the Rod and Reel Shop for a fishing license and a few other supplies. Next, we drove over the Holden Beach Bridge, which quite possibly is my favorite part of the entire trip. The first time you see that view each year is just simply the best.
We checked into our oceanfront vacation rental where we walked out onto the deck just in time to see the sunset in Holden Beach. We unloaded the car and then relaxed for just a bit before heading out to the Food Lion to get some groceries and supplies.
We prepare almost all of our meals throughout the week in the kitchen of our vacation rental. I’ll be sharing a bit more about cooking in our vacation rental in a future post, so stay tuned for that!
Sunday
Our first morning in Holden Beach brought sunny skies and a calm ocean. Marshall starts each of his Holden Beach mornings with a pre-sunrise walk out to the East End inlet in search of trout, while most of my mornings are spent sleeping in a bit while watching the sunrise through the bedroom window.
Marshall showed up just in time for breakfast with one Spanish mackerel and his daily limit of (four) speckled trout. He coincidentally sold four of his handmade fishing lures right out of his tackle box to fellow anglers who saw them in action on the beach this morning.
The rest of today included lots of sunshine, an afternoon swim in the ocean, a couple of hours of floating in the pool, and quite a bit of talking about how we wished we could bottle the sunshine up and take it back to Minnesota with us. And yes! Plenty of fall days are still warm enough for an ocean dip!
Monday
There is something so special about the first weekday of vacation, and this morning we started our day with a sunrise beach walk and fishing in the inlet. I took photos and videos of Marshall catching several trout for us to use in promoting his lures on social media.
Later this morning, we shopped to stock up on the rest of the groceries we would need for the week, including a few pounds of fresh shrimp from Old Ferry Seafood.
A friend of mine came to visit, and we enjoyed relaxing at our vacation rental and visiting while floating in the pool.
Tuesday
Today was more of the same glorious things - morning inlet fishing, walks on the beach, and a few hours of floating in the pool while reading. In the afternoon, we went back to the inlet for some sunset fishing and photography.
Wednesday
Today started like most of our other days, with morning fishing and breakfast. Every year, we fill a large cooler with shrimp and fish to take home, and this year was no exception.
So, we froze some of the trout that Marshall caught and took a trip to Calabash to get 30 pounds of shrimp from Chandee Shrimp Company. We buy quite a bit of local seafood from Holden Beach seafood markets during the week as well, but a quick road trip is a nice change of pace in the middle of the week.
On our way back, we stopped by Holden Beach Seafood for some crabmeat and seafood breader to take home, and Fishheadz to check out their selection and buy some crab dip and key lime pie. Back at the vacation rental, we de-headed and froze our shrimp and made and froze shrimp stock with the heads.
Today’s weather was a bit chilly and windy, but I still snuck in some quick pool time. We went to the inlet in time for sunset and enjoyed fishing and photos again. We made a quick stop at the Holden Beach General Store on our way back for a few supplies, including some pimiento cheese to take home.
Thursday
It was extra windy this morning and we were grateful for the warmer days we enjoyed earlier in the week. The weather didn’t stop Marshall from starting his day fishing in the inlet though!
Later this morning, we took a quick shopping excursion just off the Causeway to get a few things from Food Lion and Walgreens, some saltwater taffy from Vincent Van-Go, and a visit to Mary’s Gone Wild.
In the afternoon, I spent some time doing a bit of reading and writing on the deck. We went out to Sailfish Park for a bit, and later a friend came by for dinner.
Friday
The weather was windy again this morning. Marshall of course went fishing in the inlet while I enjoyed some coffee on the deck. Later in the morning, we checked out Bridgeview Park and the Pavilion Fishing Pier near the bridge.
We also took a midday walk on the East End to the inlet, where Marshall fished and I gathered some seashells for my niece and nephew. Two of our friends came to visit for dinner.
Saturday
Today was the dreaded last day, and we cleaned and packed everything up by our 10 a.m. check-out time. Of course, the wind had disappeared and the weather was perfect!
On our way off the island, we stopped by the Holden Beach Pier for a quick walk to give our leftover frozen bait to the first accepting fisherman. We also went to the East End for one last beach walk and fishing session.
We returned our rental car, enjoyed a locally brewed beer in the Wilmington airport, and flew home.
When Are You Going to the Beach?
I hope you enjoyed traveling to the beach with us! A relaxing week at the beach is our annual getaway treat, and we can’t imagine spending our treasured week at the beach anywhere other than Holden Beach.
Do your plans include a visit to the beach anytime soon?
Search here for your next vacation rental, or give Hobbs Realty a call at (844) 846-4885.
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Darcy Geho is a contributing author to this Hobbs Realty blog. She spent 11 years working in the vacation rental industry while she lived on and traveled the North Carolina coast. Like most of our visitors, when she isn’t on Holden Beach, she looks forward to her next visit.