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OAK ISLAND , NC
The girls who were at the beach for short periods of time, such as weekends, wanted to cram as much excitement as they could into a short span of time. These girls were just as anxious to meet someone special for a night or two as the guys were, although most of them were much subtler about it than the guys.
At that age, very rarely did anyone, male or female, use a direct approach in meeting people for dates. Instead, very complex mating rituals were performed.
The simplest of the methods was to strike up a conversation with a girl during the day, on the beach, about any topic from weather to sunburn. The guy would then let it be known that he would be at the dance floor or pier that night. If the girls were interested, they would usually show up there that night. If they didn�t show up, no worries mate, method number two would instantly go into effect.
Method number two was similar to today�s cruising in cars, except, ours was done entirely on foot. The girls, who were seemingly always in pairs, would walk a route from the dance floor, past the ice-cream shop, then turn left on the sidewalk and continue until they reached the skating rink. Here they would briefly go inside to see if any males who might be to their liking were following them. If not, then it was back to the dance floor to start the whole thing over. If they were being followed, then they would exit the skating rink and proceed to the pier house to make certain that they were still being followed. If the guys were still around, the girls would then exit the pierhouse and walk out about halfway on the pier and stop at the railing in hope of a conversation being initiated by the interested males. If not, the entire process would start over again at the dance floor.
This procedure went on every night, sometimes for hours. Over the next several years, I wore out the soles of many pairs of shoes on the wide, sandy, concrete sidewalks, in pursuit of my goals.
Once contact was made with a girl, the conversation was usually rather conservative. The questions that were asked were, �What is your name?�, �Where are you from?�, and �How long are you down here for?� These questions were then followed by any topic of conversation to get the girls to go back to the dance floor to dance and to talk further about any potential plans for the evening.
Plans for the evening could take several directions. One option was to just hang out around the dance floor and listen to music and dance, or to play a few rounds of miniature golf at the course next to the dance floor. Either way we got to know the girls better, hopefully leading to option number two.
Option number two was, after dancing, to walk out toward the end of the pier and sit and talk for awhile. Watching the stars, seeing the moon�s reflection on the water, while feeling the warm south wind on our skin and listening to the sound of the surf, was a very romantic atmosphere that very easily promoted the holding of hands, or the slipping of arms around each other. Usually this would then lead to a kiss, and then to kisses and just enough touching to turn a person�s brain to mush.
This ritual, known as, �Making Out�, was very widely practiced, and I was a very willing participant in this procedure unknown numbers of times over the next few years.
Of course, �Making Out�, many times would lead to other desires which were not conducive to being around other people or to being in a pier environment. If both persons were in agreement, they would walk up the beach about one half of a mile or so, well out of range of the lights of the pier complex and settle down just off of the beach in a secluded area. Since there was no ocean front property on the West Side of the pier for miles, there were plenty of spots to choose. It was however, usually a spot where the guy had hidden a blanket during the day, well off of the beaten path. After reaching the spot, the couple had only the night, and a few curious Ghost Crabs for company. This was known by the local terminology as, �watching The Submarine Races�, otherwise known as, option number three.