Dear Kindred Spirit…
With those three welcoming words, I was drawn into the world of a stranger, someone I would never meet in person, but whose heartfelt words of hope would touch me and anyone else who happened to read the letter she’d left in the Kindred Spirit mailbox on Sunset Beach, North Carolina.
The Kindred Spirit mailbox sits in a secluded spot off of Sunset Beach in the Brunswick Islands, and has been collecting memories for over 35 years. It has become a special place for visitors to sit, read, reflect and share whatever is on their heart, and I can’t think of a better place for it.
You can find the Kindred Spirit mailbox by taking a walk down Sunset Beach, but we took a bike ride on the beach, and it was exhilarating! We picked up our bikes from a place called Julie’s Rentals.
On our way to the beach we stopped to see what’s left of Mad Inlet, the dividing point between Sunset Beach and Bird Island. At one point, the tidal creek could only be crossed at low tide, but the build-up of sand from hurricanes and dune preservation has since turned the two islands into one.
Bird Island remains a coastal preserve with a salt marsh, natural dunes, tidal creeks and sandy beaches which visitors are free to explore as long as the environment and its plant and animal life remains undisturbed.
After seeing Mad Inlet, we walked our bikes down the boardwalk to Sunset Beach, and began our ride to the mailbox!
The journey to the Kindred Spirit mailbox was so worth it — food for the soul.
I hope you have the chance to escape to this special part of the Brunswick Islands one day . It’s a natural, pristine and quiet place to just breathe.
Comments & Reviews
What an amazing place to visit. I would love to go!
Absolutely gorgeous photos. Everything looks so beautiful and peacefull
Love your graphic what a fantastic place to visit. Love the beach when it’s not overcrowded…looks like you had a wonderful time.
Me, too, but l live off of Cape Cod, so all our beaches are packed in the summer time 🙁
Oh my gosh, this just moved to a very high spot on the list of places I want to visit. I want to check out that kindred spirit mailbox so bad!
The kindred spirit mailbox seems like such a lovely idea! I’d love to see it in person one day. Hopefully I can visit the Brunswick Islands one day soon <3
This looks like an amazing place to visit and I love the idea of a Kindred Spirit box and being able to write on it and read through other entries as well. Wish we had something like that here 🙂
That looks like it was a lovely day riding to the mailbox – it’s beautiful there!
How beautiful. I would love to spend some quality time on a beach taking in that view and riding bikes. Fun, fun, fun.
I, too, hope I get the chance to escape to this special part of the Brunswick Islands one day. I’d do enjoy it.
How amazing, I know nothing about this part of the world but it looks amazing!
What a beautiful and inspirational idea. I will have to pin this for the future. I’d love to see that mailbox
What a gorgeous place. I love having the ocean and the marshy area all together like that. It really is beautiful.
i love this post, you are making me want a holiday! The pictures look like they are from a film, so lovely
This sounds like such a warmhearted place!
You make me want to go there! I need a little peace in my life right now! This place looks so peaceful! How fun!
Wow, what a wonderfully beautiful and peaceful looking place! I would love to take a weekend and look inside my own mind while relaxing on the beach. It’s Breathtaking!
What a beautiful mailbox idea, I absolutely love it! The island looks so pretty – I used to live in the triangle (on the Durham/Chapel Hill border) and we would go to the sea every once in a while, but I never got a chance to visit Bird Island, I’ll just have to go back, right?
What an awesome idea the kindred spirit Mailbox is, and the island and area all looks beautiful x
The mailbox sounds like a great idea.
The pictures made me excited for the summer to go to the beach near us
Wow what a cool idea!!! I would love to visit and check out that mailbox!
oh wow what an amazing thing to be able to do it just looks so amazing and I love the idea of the mailbox
I had never heard of this place but I love the idea of the mailbox. I must see this place someday, it looks beautiful and so relaxing too.
It looks so beautiful. I bet you had a great time.
That is actually a really good idea! Why not share your kindred spirit with others that will be there! I think thoughts flow better when you are on the beach.
I don’t think I have ever heard of anything like this before. What an amazing idea! I need to visit the Kindred Spirit Mailbox.
This is such a neat idea and it looks like a great place to visit. I would love to spend a couple of days at the beach.
What a beautiful place. I love the Kindred Spirit mailbox. How unique and fun that is.
It is SUCH a neat idea. I have never heard of anything like it before.
I love this idea and it is true I always find it easier to think when I am outside of my home! Such beautiful images too
These pictures look so beautiful and serene. I’d love to be on the beach right now! And that mailbox idea is really so neat!!
That is so neat! I love that mailbox and how people can write down their thoughts. It really looks like a beautiful place to relax or explore!
How cool, how original and fabulous. I have saved for future use because I intend to visit. Thanks for sharing
This is the neatest thing I have ever seen! And I’ve lived by the beach my whole life! Now I think I need to establish a Kindred Spirit Mailbox by MY beach LOL
I remember the first time I heard you mention this place… I googled it and fell in love. I want to go so bad..
ONE DAY.. ONE DAY
Looks like you had a lot of fun.
I like the idea of riding bikes at the beach.
I love that mailbox idea and it make me really want to go and visit to experience that alone (and then everything else too of course!) x
I wish I had gotten a chance to visit here when I lived in NC. I may have to go back sooner rather than later.
Looks like a wonderful to just chill.
Looks like you had a great time! Someday, I want to bike near the beach.. you pictures look lovely!
Oh wow! This is so magical, I would love to visit here!!!
I really like the idea of a kindred spirit mailbox. If I am ever back in NC and down on Sunset Beach, I will definitely have to swing by and leave a little note in the mailbox 😀
What?! I want to go here!!! What a fabulous place and I absolutely adore the kindrid spirit notes. We are planning to possibly go to NC this summer. I may make this a stop.:)
Looks like you had a great time! The beach would be an awesome getaway from all the cold weather. Thanks for sharing your experience!
What a beautiful experience. How I wish I could go to the beach right now.
I could use a relaxing beach trip right about now. This looks like the perfect place. I’d grab a bike and take a ride on the shore. Great pics
This is just so breathtaking! I really want to go here now, and the kindred spirit mailbox is awesome!
How beautiful! I need to go on a vacation to NC!
What a beautiful beach. I am so happy to see some sun shine. Now, if it would just make its way up here.
The Brunswick Islands look like an amazing place to go for a beautiful vacation. I would love to take bike ride on the beach.
I would love to check out the Kindred Spirit mailbox. This looks like a beautiful vacation spot.
What a fantastic idea. Such a beautiful place for such an awesome mailbox. I wish they had these all over the place!
What a beautiful vacation spot! We are driving south this summer- I would love to stop here.
Beautiful pristine looking beach! This looks like a wonderful place to sit down and just breathe.
I love the spirit mailbox thing! What a great way to feel in touch with the world on a level that you can’t really get any other way. The bike ride sounds amazing and the beach looks beautiful.
the kindred spirit mailbox sounds so cool. it reminds me of the letters to juilet wall in verona, italy. i would love to read some of the messages
I would really enjoy biking at the beach. The place looks really refreshing and would be a great summer getaway.
Biking at the beach is so much fun. What a wonderful place to visit.
This is a fab holiday destination. Bookmarking this post.
This is absolutely a lot of fun. I love biking to the beaches with my friends
What a wonderful thing to do! The mailbox is a lovely idea, and I would love to visit one day, read and leave my thoughts!
What a great place just to relax and unwind. Really awesome view.
What an amazing and peaceful place! Those pictures make me wanna go there.
What a peaceful place. I love the idea of the kindred spirit mailbox. That’s lovely.
That is one place I know I would love and probably not want to leave–it looks so peaceful. I could probably sit on that bench for hours at a time.
In addition to the natural beauty of the place, that mailbox is truly amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this, it brought a big smile to my heart.
That mailbox is darling. What a beautiful place and I’m loving all of the water. I wish I was on a warm sunny beach right now.
very nice to see things like this that lifts our hearts and just made us feel good. photos are stunning!
What an absolutely and utterly enchanting idea! I have to visit this place!!
What a beautiful spot with a neat feature! This would make for a perfect afternoon.
This is such a lovely idea! I don’t think it would work in the UK.
Wow this is pretty awesome. Almost movie like. It looks like an amazing place and this Kindred Spirit mailbox is pretty genius! I love the idea.
I love the idea of a mailbox for everyone to visit. Definitely a kindred spirit kind of place
This sounds fab-so do you leave a message there for a stranger to read, then?
Oh my gosh! I am so putting this on my list of places to visit. It would be so cool to do this. It looks like this trip was so much fun.
What s wonderful mailbox find. I love the idea. Just perfect.
Oh wow, I really want to visit bird island after watching a documentary about it, so I am so jealous x
Wow what an amazing idea. And what a beautiful place, you have got some fantastic photos here!
Oh wow, what a beautiful place to visit!
I love the idea of the kindred spirit mailbox, it sounds like a more convenient message in a bottle. Your pictures look lovely.
What a fun adventure. I never try this adventure but i wanted if i have a chance
What a cool place. I love that idea of people writing in a notebook and leaving it in a mailbox.
This is so amazing! I would love to experience something like this. It would be so cool to read other people’s entries.
Wow this looks like a really great place to take a vacation! I love the Kindred Spirits mailbox idea 🙂
I always love your posts! This seems like a super fun vacation
It looks like a wonderful place. I love the idea of the mailbox.
Bird Island looks so captivating. And the idea of riding a cycle all across it gave an exciting touch to the journey. Loved it.
I absolutely love that idea of kindred spirit mailbox. Brilliant! That note just warm my heart too from seeing the picture. I can imagine how lovely it would be in real life. Looks like you had a lovely relaxing vacation. 🙂 Love the photos!
I wish I could live there! If possible, I’d like to be away from all the hustle and bustle of city life. I think it is just about time for me to have a more relaxed and peaceful life.
What a beautiful place! I feel more calm just looking at the photos. I love the idea of the kindred spirit mailbox!
This place is gorgeous! You visit so many fantastic places. The Kindred Spirit mailbox gives me chills!
What sweet idea to put mailbox to inspire and collect thoughts! It’s great reminder to slow down and appreciate what we have. Thanks for sharing.
I have never heard of such a place. I love it though, and I’d make the bike ride on the beach to get there too. 🙂
Such a beautiful place to visit with my husband & kids on a weekend. The bike ride at the beach would be so much fun & I just love that idea of the kindred spirit mailbox as well.
I have never heard of this place before but it sounds like a beautiful place to visit! Thanks for your reviews!
What a beautiful place! I’d love to visit some day! I love the picture with the American Flag! So beautiful!
Oh my gosh this is the kind of adventure you only read about in books! It’s so beautiful and the mailbox is just amazing. I’m so blown away by how wonderful it looks!
Such a wonderful beach! I’ve never been to NC, maybe soon
This looks like an amazing place to visit! I like the sound of bird Island. The place looks beautiful and reminds me of a place I went once in the middle of the pacific ocean! Angela
This looks like wonderful place to visit! The Kindred Spirits mailbox is an awesome idea! There are really some cool people in the world. 🙂
What an awesome idea. It sounds like something out of a movie.
Omg wish I was there right now! I would trade a nice beach to walk on than all this snow here in NY!
What a cool place to visit. I love the kindred spirit mailbox idea. So cool
such stunning views
I love the Carolinas!
stunning view! beautiful place to just forget about everything and just be peaceful and happy. I wish I can find a place like this near my place. I especially love the letter, it’s so genuine…
I love your photos, really enjoyed reading this post!
Just beautiful photos!! That beach looks amazing, and really like the sound of that mail box
That truly sounds like an amazing place to visit! I would definitely love to visit there someday.
What an awesome idea! I had to look back and see if you were talking about Brunswick MAINE, because I would definitely have suggested a visit to my hubby. I see it’s in SC, but if we ever get a chance to travel there, I’d love to visit that beach. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos and story!
This is a place I would love to visit on getaway with my husband. Beautiful.