A line of University of North Carolina Wilmington students stretched down Salisbury Street on Tuesday morning, Dec. 1, as they engaged in a yearly ritual for those wanting a chance to live on Wrightsville Beach.
They were waiting to put their name on a rental waiting list for housing at the Bryant Real Estate office on 1001 North Lumina Ave., with some camping out almost a full day for nothing more than a chance to live on the beach.
The more than two dozen students who camped out and waited hours overnight endured a brief rain storm, but were fortunate not to be subjected to the cold that’s possible for late November, as temperatures dropped only to the mid 50s.
Students near the front of the line said competition was fiercer for spots this year. The first group of four students showed up at 10:30 a.m. on Monday to begin waiting. Rachael Gaunce, a UNCW junior, said they were hoping a four-bedroom near the beach would open up, but was ready to consider “anything that they could get.”
Gaunce said that when the rain came in the evening, she and her friends took shelter under the awning shielding the real estate office’s front door. Others said they retreated to their cars or hid under umbrellas.
Wesley Bennin and Jacqui Portu, both UNCW juniors, said they showed up at 11 a.m and were the fourth group waiting.
“Last year, we didn’t show up until 12 at night, but someone texted us this year and said people were already waiting,” Bennin said.
Portu said they were hopeful because of their relatively high place on the waiting list.
“Still, we won’t know until April,” she said.
That’s because it depends on if any rental units become open, which might not happen. That was the situation that junior Josh Young found himself in last year, when he waited in line at Intracoastal Realty, which also opens its rental waiting list only one day a year.
“We were supposed to get first pick, but there weren’t any places that opened up,” said Young, who was among a group that was at the end of the line this time, having gotten there at 4 a.m. for the 9 a.m. office opening.
That group was entertained by Bryce Biello, who brought out a guitar to play. Biello had lived on the beach when she was in Long Island, New York, but was hopeful that she would be able to land a place on Wrightsville Beach in her first time trying.
For Kyle Anthony, who was among the group at the end of the line, he was hoping to return to the beach. Through a family friend, he had lodging on the beach in the fall of 2014 but was forced to move.
“I’m optimistic that I can make it back out,” Anthony said.
email [email protected]
