For Memorial Day weekend I took a spontaneous weekend trip to Duck Beach in North Carolina. My roommate Louise, who is from Denmark, begged and pleaded with me to go with her to this gathering of young single adults (YSA’s as we like to call them) from my church that happens every year. For her, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to mingle with hundreds (some years it gets up to 800) of young people with the same beliefs, values, and life goals. In Denmark there are very few people who share her same beliefs, so she felt she couldn’t pass this opportunity by.
I was extremely glad I agreed to join her. The 10 hour trek to Duck Beach was well worth the 4 days I spent meeting people from all over—young single people, mostly from ages ranging 25-35 traveled from D.C., Utah, New York, Dubai, Australia, and even Afghanistan, to participate in the fun-filled weekend.
The gathering, which has no director or coordinator, seems like just a general understanding between those that attend regularly. Giant houses are rented all along the beach and house 20-40 people each. The houses all have nicknames so that it’s easy to get around and know where to go. Some houses go by a persons name– for instance, my house was “Jonie’s house.” Some go by where the majority of the people staying there are from. There were two “New York Houses” and a couple “D.C. Houses”.
For most houses there is a standard fee for each person staying there (depending on whether you have a bed, a couch, or the ground), which covers the cost of food for the entire stay. Each house has a few people who take charge of finding and renting the place, planning the menu, and coordinating with people to stay there.
Time was mostly spent on the beach where large volleyball tournaments were held on Saturday and Monday. People had a blast body surfing, playing soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and laying out in the sun working on their tans.
The nights were filled with different events happening at different houses along the strip of beach. The main events were coordinated through mass text messaging, and some of the fun included karaoke parties, dance parties, movie nights, dessert parties, midnight crab hunting, late-night pool and hot tub parties, and acoustic nights.
Some other fun activities I participated in were going to the sand dunes in Kitty Hawk, getting ice cream from the local “Granny’s Ice Cream” parlor, sitting by the pool, and playing cards and board games with my roommates. We even ended up sleeping on an air mattress on the beach one night and woke up to a beautiful sunrise and dolphins jumping right in front of us.
It was a picture perfect vacation. I ended up making so many new friends and I met a lot of people that I can hopefully do things with in New York as I am relatively new to the City.
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