Watkins are the Best Kin

Robert here, writing this blog entry.  The Watkins side of my family is primarily concentrated in the states of Virginia and North Carolina, with the exception of my father’s branch, which is scattered to the four winds in Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, and Washington.  For the past 35 years the VA/NC Watkins have gathered every year on the south end of Topsail Island, NC for a week long family reunion.  Even sporadically before this, going back to 1952, my father and his 3 brothers had vacationed together on the beaches of Wilmington, NC and Myrtle Beach, SC with their families.

The first cousins in 1952

The 4 brothers had a total of 15 children (my cousins), who became quite close due to these family reunions and other gatherings at the holidays, etc.  Most of the senior Watkins are gone now, but the fourteen remaining cousins still carry on the tradition with their ever-growing families.  If all the descendants were able to be here this week, it would be somewhere around 100 Watkins, ranging in age from 93+ to the newest little one born last month,

 

1958 Cousins

 

2016 Cousins

Our branch of the family is known as the JHW’s (Joel H. Watkins descendants), and due to our scattered locations we do not make it to the Topsail reunion every year, except for my oldest brother who lives in St. Louis.  We try to go every other year, and even this is getting harder with our kid’s schedules.  But 2016 is a big year, and all of the JHW siblings are able to go, along with most of their children.  The reunion is the same week every year during the month of July, and everyone reserves rental cabins at the end of the week for the next year.  We basically take over most available rentals on the south end of the island for that week.

Topsail Beach

Always Changing Beach

After having tried various other beaches around Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, we settled on Topsail Island around 1980.  The south end is a well-kept secret of quiet residential streets and the best beach around.  The central and north end of Topsail is more developed, louder and more crowded, while “our” end is perfect for relaxation.  Topsail is a narrow strip of sand, about ½ to 1½ miles wide and 27 miles long.  With the Atlantic on one side and the Inland Waterway (the Sound) on the other side, the island offers something for everyone; ocean fishing, sound fishing, crabbing, beach walking, shell and shark tooth hunting, beer drinking, sun bathing, swimming, playing beach bocci ball, visiting with relatives, etc., etc.

"Our" spot on the beach

Beach Bocci Ball game

Sand Babies

I have lots of fond memories of the beach from my childhood – getting blue crabs to follow a fish-head on a string into shore where we could net them; trying to find the biggest fossilized shark tooth in the sand; looking for ghost crabs on the beach at night; and skinny-dipping in the ocean after dark.  Our cousins were our best friends for a week, and they still are!

The beautiful Sound side of the island

The cottages on the island are all built on pilings that keep the living area about 10 feet above ground.  This allows them to weather the bad storms and hurricanes, which can wash over the island.  Many cottages on the south end are also built on small canals cut perpendicular to the sound, which allows boat access and private docks.  These are the prime properties, but sometimes hard to get for rentals.  My VA/NC cousins who come every year have the advantage of reserving their same cottages a year in advance on the day they checkout. 

Typical Cottage

This year Le Anna and I are sharing a cottage with my brother Joe, my sister Ruth and her family.  Our family does not put on any pressure to do group activities, so the week can be as relaxing as you want it to be.  I love the beach, so my normal daily routine goes something like this:

·      Wake up around 7 AM, go for a walk and/or have coffee on the porch and then a leisurely breakfast

·      Pack a lunch and go down to the beach around 10 or 11 AM with chairs and big umbrella – we stake out the same area of the beach every year, and every day – and sit, visit with cousins, swim or walk on the beach until you “burn” out, which could be anywhere from 2 to 5 PM.

·      Go back to the cottage, shower and get cleaned up for dinner.  We go out about every other night, or take turns cooking at the cottage.

·      After dinner it’s time for more visiting with cousins, wandering from house to house, and a few nightcaps.

Afternoon Chat Circle

 

Body Surfing

Although the weather can be stifling hot in July, there is always a wonderful breeze on the beach that makes it tolerable.  The asphalt on the street may scald your bare feet, but as soon as you top the sand dune on the way to the beach, the miraculous ocean breeze refreshes you.  Another good thing about our spot on south Topsail is that there are no cottages that front on the beach (they have all been washed away in previous hurricanes).  So you walk directly from the street over a small dune and down to the beach.  Perfect!

Mornings at the beach are time for the kids to build sand castles, and the older kids to swim or surf on boogie boards.  Walks down the beach while hunting for shells and fossilized shark teeth are popular.  The afternoons are time for beer drinking and more social activities such as beach baseball, bocci ball, or sitting in circles in the shallow pools just off the beach at low tide.

Topsail Roller Rink - unchanged in 50 years

 

Kids love sand

This year there are about 80 of the Watkins clan here, along with another 40 family friends who have joined us.  We were fortunate to have two large gatherings of the clan – one night with the 14 remaining first cousins and their spouses, and one night with the whole fam-dam-ily to celebrate a 50^th wedding anniversary of one cousin and his wife.  These times are very special, and it’s quite amazing that everyone can get along cordially even though our politics and other beliefs are widely different.  No arguments or hard feelings that I saw anyway.

1994 Group Photo - we are much larger now!

The week came to an end sooner than we wanted, but we left with an inner glow of warm family love.  Our insight for this week is that there is nothing more important than family relationships.  You may not see each other very often, but the deep ties are always there, and when you need support it can be quickly found in family.

Sunset over the Sound