How cool is this? Just southwest of the resort town and island of 
Sunset Beach, NC, there is a mailbox on the beach. This creative and artistic relic, called A Kindred Spirit, has been there for almost thirty years now and was started as a tribute to the beauty of Bird Island, where walkers (the beach kind, not the Walking Dead variety) could post reflective thoughts.
This landmark was much harder to get to prior to a storm in 1997 that filled in Mad Inlet, creating a contiguous island with Sunset Beach, just northeast of Little River Inlet.
The mailbox is located a little over a mile from the last beach access point on the southwestern edge of Sunset Beach. The walk down this beach may just be one of the most beautiful you will ever experience – if you love natural, undeveloped beaches.
Once you arrive at the mailbox, tucked into the dune, you will find pen and paper ready for your use. There have been letters written to lost loved ones, funny stories, poems, testaments to the solitude and beauty of the place and wistful thoughts of times gone by. Wouldn’t it be ironic if you had to wait in line to sit on the bench to write your letter about this remote and beautiful place?
So, if you are looking for something out of the ordinary to do while vacationing in or near Sunset Beach, NC, consider a morning walk down the beach to share your thoughts with…well…no one (on this earth anyway). Kind of reminds me of the lyrics to a Moody Blues song – “Letters I’ve written, never meaning to send.”
The questions in my mind are how many letters, poems and introspective thoughts been recorded? Will the contents make it into a book one day? If the walk were 100 yards instead of a mile, would the content of the letters be less poetic?
If you have seen the Kindred Spirit Mailbox and have a story about it, please share. If you are the keeper of the letters and happen to read this post, can you tell us if there is a plan? A blog, with anonymous samples, perhaps?
For more information, here are couple of links:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kindred-spirit-mailbox-in-north-carolina-collects-secrets-from-around-the-nation/
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/crp/bird-island
Mike
