Sailing

Have you ever been on a sailboat? It is one of the most exciting and liberating experiences. You feel one with the sea as you roll across the waves. With only the wind for power, you can hear all the sounds the ocean has to offer.

About a week ago, I was able to go sailing with my family. We were able to see familiar sites from a completely different perspective.

Southport

Oak Island Lighthouse

Bald Head Island

A Ship Coming In

Fishing

A Dolphin swam around our boat for a little bit.

It's nice to see sights that I normally can't view from land. 

~A.E. Keener

A Summer Safe Haven

Oak Island and Southport have become a "safe haven" in more ways than one. It had three movies film there this summer. From parachuters performing stunts for Iron Man to Mary and Martha and Safe Haven being filmed a block from each other, Oak Island and Southport have been filled with excitement.  It seems I'm not the only one who has realized how special Southport and Oak Island are.

I had the opportunity to see the set of Safe Haven. It is amazing the amount of detail crew members have put in to make this Nicholas Sparks' book come to life.

Ryan's Port Market

This is the place where Alex, the love interest, works.

Another angle of Ryan's Port Market

Ivan's. 

The place where Katie, the main character, works.

It was really cool to see these sets. They actually built Ryan's Port Market just for the movie. It's a shame that they're going to tear it down once the filming is done.

Seeing this filming, it's makes me love screenwriting even more. If one day my characters could come to life on the screen like Nicholas Spark's characters, I'd be a happy writer.

If you'd like to know more about Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks, here's a link to a summary written by amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Haven-Nicholas-Sparks/dp/044654759X 

It's a little different than his other books, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

~A.E. Keener