A community pool is nice and all, but you can just use ours

The town of Carolina Beach is *this close* to having a community swimming pool -- which we are all for.

Let's go to WWAY!

Town Council voted Tuesday night to approve the community pool pending it fitting into the town’s annual budget.
Most of the people that attended Tuesday night’s meeting seemed excited about the idea moving forward but not everyone thought it was in the town’s best interest.
...“It's a need at this point,” said John Pellizzari, Ashley High School’s swim coach.Pellizzari says the facilities in the county are over used and having a controlled environment to teach kids to swim would be beneficial to the community.
"It's nice to have the ocean but you can't control the ocean. In a pool environment, you can control the pool environment. You can see, you can teach, you can walk you can stand," said Pellizzari.
Town Council voted 5-0 in favor of moving forward with the next step of planning for a community pool. They will now crunch numbers and see if a pool fits in with the budget.
...Mayor Bob Lewis says it will be months before the town officially decides whether they will build the pool.

Again, community amenities like this? I'm all for it. But just know that if you stay at Our Beach Place, especially in the warm months, we got a pool.

CB leaders discuss expanding the boardwalk - BOARD-WALK!*

*Yes, that's a nod to "Under the Boardwalk." 

Not sure what the outcome was (the meeting was last night), but Carolina Beach leaders were scheduled to discuss a possible boardwalk expansion, according to WECT.

Anybody want to give an update?

Mayor Bob Lewis wants town council members to consider using $2,500 to draw up plans that could double the size of the existing boardwalk.  

"My concept would be to have multi-layered types of decking," said Lewis.  "Maybe a children's area where we might build a wooden pirate ship and play area for children.  This might be a feature that brings year round visitors." 

Lewis says the plan would not use tax payer dollars.  Instead, the town wants to use $1.2 million of leftover grant money from the NC Aquarium Pier Project, which was never built.  The town would first have to get clearance from state legislators.  

Lewis is confident that if plans are drawn first, then the town can get private investors on board in addition to using state grant money. 

"The idea here is, can we replace it with something that is really spectacular and can be a focal point in the community," said Lewis.

Oh, snap, Olde Salty!

The Olde Salty restaurant in Carolina Beach has gotten its share of publicity of late because of a sign that says: "Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated!"

As this article states, this has raised all sorts of legal questions. But take the legality of it for a second and think about whether it's "right" or not. My first thought -- as someone who enjoys a nice, quiet dinner -- is something along the lines of "bravo!"

My next  thought -- as a parent -- is that I'm shocked any establishment would put up something like this. My third thought is that I'm not sure I would go to the Olde Salty, knowing this is up there. (And it's not because I'm scared my kids may misbehave -- that's actually the least of my concerns. I'm not sure I would want to give them business.)

It apparently has not hurt business, however, according to the owner.

“It has been a good thing for us,” Armes told NBC affiliate WECT. “It has brought in more customers than it has ever kept away.”

Indeed, a first-time diner at the Olde Salty told WECT he embraced the signage. “It’s not very enjoyable when you hear a bunch of kids screaming,” Gary Gibson said. “It’s nice to see a sign like that up.”

Full disclosure: I have no idea what the Olde Salty is like, or its clientele. I will now put forth a sweeping generalization and say that a place with the name "Olde Salty" probably has loud enough adults that kids aren't that big of a distraction. But I could be painfully wrong on that.

But what are your thoughts? Are you more apt to eat at a place that tries to police childish (literally!) behavior? Or do you find it tacky and will stay away?

Humpback Whale spotted off CB coast!

It is not uncommon to see dolphins swimming just off the shore at Carolina Beach. We have seen our fair share of those things while spending time at Our Beach Place. However, of the hundreds (thousands?) of days I've spent on a North Carolina beach, I've NEVER seen a whale, let alone a Humpback.

Gregasaurus80 posted this video to YouTube. It's kinda shaky and grainy -- but, hey, I'd be excited if I saw a whale this close to the shore.

Enjoy!

CB videos on the old* YouTube

*And isn't YouTube now considered a mainstay enough to describe it as "the old?" I think so.

Thanks to the beauty of the old Google Alerts (see what I did there?), you never know what sort of Carolina Beach-themed items will wind up in the (very) old inbox. A couple the past couple of days have been to CB-related YouTube videos.

The first one comes to us from siradamcotton. It's just :30 in length; I'm not sure at what point of the island it was filmed; but it very much reminds me of the view from Our Beach Place.




The second one is from nightsweeper08. I gotta tell ya: I'm not exactly sure what this just-over-a-minute video is all about, but I like it. I think it's promoting The Lazy Pirate. There's even a theme song!



Enjoy them, kids.

Wrightsville bans the cancer sticks

Election Nights are always full of ups and downs. Without getting TOO political, this year's EN was a little more down than up for yours truly. But  I am encouraged by what happened in Wrightsville Beach. Hooray, local politics!

Let's let WBTV tell the story:

 The two-year battle has finally come to an end with Wrightsville Beach residents voting to ban smoking on the beach. 

Of 1,675 residents, 966 voted in favor of the smoking ban at Wrightsville Beach.
Town officials will now have to prepare the beach as a non-smoking zone, putting up signs and violation fines.

Law enforcement will also have to train officers and lifeguards on being vigilant and when to start handing out citations.

...

Wrightsville Beach is the first beach in North Carolina to ban smoking on its shores. The town was able to put this issue on this year's ballot because the beach is town owned.

Other North Carolina beaches have tried to ban smoking but were unsuccessful because of ownership rights. The Town Council of Carolina Beach passed a smoking ban but in order for it to take effect, the state would have to make it a law.

Freeman Park pass costs going up

We don't drive out onto Freeman Park much. (Well, ever.) But for those of you that like to purchase a yearly pass, be ready to pay more beginning December 1 to be able to access that nice area of wide-open beach via vehicle.

"The town is increasing the price of the yearly pass to Freeman Park from $60 to $100 starting December 1. The town will use the extra $40 to set aside for future water resource projects," according to WWAY.