Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in 2018.
There isn’t a day that goes by that Mike Barden doesn’t think about surfing. A Wilmington native, he’s been on a board for 35 years, and as the owner of Wrightsville Beach’s iconic Surf City Surf Shop since 2003, Barden has been influential in supporting the area’s surfing community. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the industry needed something a little different.
So in 2013, he opened Annex Surf Supply. “I wanted it to have the same feel as Surf City, but with brands the community hadn’t seen, and in a place that brought people together,” Barden says.
At Annex, you’ll find locally made leather wallets and turquoise jewelry, T-shirts and beachy dresses, surfboards and iced coffee, plus a comfy space to talk about weather and wave conditions.
“Annex’s DNA is in surf culture,” Barden says. And so is Barden’s. “It’s innate,” he says. “Whenever the waves are good, I make time to surf.”
Annex Surf Supply
530 Causeway Drive
Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
(910) 256-2265
annexsurfsupply.com
When it comes to spreading holiday cheer, the residents of this Chatham County town start early.
Our editor in chief shares a few treasured memories from her childhood home, a Christmas Eve night being one of the very first.
We took some, ahem, creative liberties when we combed through Our State’s archives to find a few favorite stories that carry the tune of a Christmas classic.
From decades-old family recipes to a centuries-old Carolina cookie, we’re filling our holiday tables with dishes that have stood the test of time.
