Wednesday, February 6, 2013

We're all from around here


“Are you from around here?”
This question came at me a few years back as I stood in line at a Southport dry cleaning establishment. A lost traveler had bolted through the cleaners’ door in a panic, seeking help in righting his course. I had called Southport and Oak Island home for about 18 years at the time and felt competent to solve the traveler’s dilemma.
“How do I get to Holden Beach from here?” he begged.
“Right out of the driveway, about 16 miles to US 17 South, then follow the signs to Mt. Pisgah Road, take a left. You can’t miss it,” I assured him.
The wayward traveler thanked me profusely and left.
In a few minutes it was my turn to be waited on. Jo, a native of Brunswick County who had charge of the dry cleaning establishment that particular day, assured me I had done well reorienting the lost traveler.
“And, you’re not even from around here,” she added with a devilish wink.
Wait a minute here. Am I from around here or not? To the lost traveler, I had been from around here quite long enough to issue directions. To Jo, a lifelong resident, I hadn’t quite made my bona fides yet.
This exchange illustrates, in its own way, the best of all that is life in Southport-Oak Island. Until the beginning of the 1980s, Southport had been described by countless travel writers as “a sleepy” or worse, “quaint” little fishing village where the Cape Fear River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The towns that now comprise Oak Island were called “undiscovered treasures.”  The area was populated by a number of indigenous families and one really had to watch what one had to say about any particular person – he might be talking to his third cousin twice removed.
When I arrived here at the dawn of the 1980s I was made to feel welcomed. My job – reporter for the local newspaper-- took me among the local politicians and community leaders, members of the indigenous families all.  Things soon began to change. The Chamber of Commerce launched a campaign touting Southport-Oak Island as “North Carolina’s Best Kept Secret.” Well the secret was out.  Brunswick County soon claimed its place among the fastest growing counties in the state and in the nation. The in-migration of transplants that ensued tripled the county population.  And, as the years passed, the line that separated those “from around here” from others grew fuzzy.
The qualifications for “being from around here” are a lot looser and less defined these days. We accepted the in-migration to our area and have become a happy blend of those born to this Paradise and those who found it later in life. The door is open to all who wish to be “from around here.”
So, if you’re looking for a great retirement place, a place for a second home, or even an investment property, why not look “around here” at all that Southport-Oak Island has to offer. I guarantee you will be welcomed and, in a short-time, you’ll be giving tourists travel directions just like someone who’s been “around here” for a lifetime.
Oh, if I can help you get here, please give me a call at Atlantic Realty Professionals. Mine is service from around here.

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