Family Traditions

Coming together with family and friends at the beach can create special memories as we all reconnect with each other. For our annual Family Traditions contest, we would like to hear about your favorite adventure or excursion on the Crystal Coast. Share your story about a special place or a new discovery.

We invite all Emerald Isle Realty guests to enter. First prize is a free one-week vacation on Emerald Isle during our Islander or Sports season!

Submission format rules are as follows:

• Tell us your story in an essay format, either printed or as a Word document.
• Scrapbooks, calendars or other special items are welcome.
• Maximum of 3 photos can be emailed. Limit to 2 MB each or 5 MB total per email submission.
• DVD entries can be a maximum of 2 minutes in length and cannot have music.
• Include the date of your vacation and where you stayed.
• Indicate if you would like your submission returned.

Submissions can be emailed to summerfun@eirealty.com or mailed to:

2009 Family Traditions Contest
7501 Emerald Drive
Emerald Isle, NC 28594

Deadline is September 14, 2009. By submitting your entry to Emerald Isle Realty's Family Traditions Contest, you acknowledge and agree that text, photos, and all other related material may be used at our discretion including, but not limited to, advertising purposes by Emerald Isle Realty.

Family Traditions Winner

Lindsay Burton
From Atlanta, Georgia
"Constellations"

Lindsay and Dave.

"Within seconds we had spotted Orion and the Big Dipper. As I stared at the moonlit ocean from the deck of our cottage, the night sky above the Crystal Coast was filled with stars brighter than I'd ever seen. David had never been to the ocean, so when he claimed this moment to be the happiest of his life, I assumed he was just experiencing first-timer's excitement-they'd never had stars like this in Milwaukee. Yet when I noticed him fumbling in his pocket, the stars dropped from my vision and all I could see was his hand reaching toward me, holding a diamond ring. I allowed the question to hang for a moment within the sound of the wind and the waves before I said Yes. As a red moon rose and dotted the ocean with its pink reflections, I stared at my sparkling finger and smiled: this was only our fist night together at the beach where I'd grown up...

I was a toddler when my family started the Emerald Isle tradition...Never able to resist the ocean long enough to put on swimsuits, my cousin Meredith and I spent those first hours in wet clothes jumping through the waves...

Lindsay and her dad.

As David and I stared in silence at the red moon rising over the ocean, I wondered if our engagement vacation at Emerald Isle could match the memories I'd created so many years ago. Had a happy childhood privileged with nearly 20 years of beach trips painted a romanticized vision of this small Southern beach town? From the first star-lit hours of our engagement, to the laughs, shared splashing through the ocean, to the strolls down Bogue Inlet Pier after dinner, I realized that my fondness for Emerald Isle was not based on memories alone. During our nightly post-dinner glass of wine on the deck, David and I planned our future. As we join lives, a new family is being formed. And this new family will spend its summers at Emerald Isle."

Runner-Up:

Nick Vuckovich Family
From Stafford, Virginia
"A Paradise on Earth"

"It's a place which has provided us a home, brought spiritual tranquility to three generations of our family, and framed in memories what has been the best times of our lives.

      I hear out my window during the night,

The Vuckovich Family.

      The sound of the waves in the moonlight,
      You are playing this beautiful music for me,
      It's a feeling, not a sound, drifting up from the sea...

      Maybe it's the way you meet the horizon,
      Maybe it's the sea's unmistakable sound,
      It's more than just the visions you show me,
      It's your endless, ever-changing beauty...

      My sons have grown to love you, too,
      They've lived my dreams while in their youth,
      They share that other part of me,
      That never truly leaves the sea."

Runner-Up:

Paul Fuhr
From Milan, Ohio
"A Genuine Family Tradition"

Paul with his son.

"Years ago when we first started to visit Emerald Isle, I had no idea that we were beginning a genuine family tradition. Emerald Isle has turned into a backdrop of memories, a place to re-center myself, and a point of true inspiration...I cannot fully express what sharing Emerald Isle with my wife and my son means to me. The sight of my son wriggling in my parents' arms on the beach is the stuff of traditions. Seeing him smile with delight as I dangled him above the surf is as happy a memory as any I'll ever have...

Emerald Isle has always held a special place in my heart, but now it holds an even greater one: it is a place where my son will form his own memories an entertain his own dreams. I will never forget the sight of him starring out as the ocean in wonder-much in the same way I stare at him. I am already looking forward to next summer when we will all, once again, walk the beach together."

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