Good news?

I received the following in an email today:

Dr. Beach (Stephen Leatherman) will be on Ocracoke in June to announce the beach that has made Number 1 on his annual list of top 10 beaches. While I am not saying that Ocracoke will be named Number 1, I am told that Dr. Beach always makes his announcement from the beach that he has chosen to be Number 1 that year!

This will be a big media event with satellite feeds around the world. The North Carolina Division of Travel and Tourism is working with the National Park Service and others in Hyde County to make this a successful event. As it unfolds, I will try to keep you posted, but mark your calendars for June 8 and if you can’t be on the island with us that morning, turn your television on for the morning news!

This could be good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it. Of course, we don't know for sure that it is news at all, and we won't know until Dr. Beach makes his official announcement.

But let's say that Ocracoke is picked as the number 1 beach this year. Many people would say, "that's great!" - it's free publicity for the island, which will lead to more visitors and therefore more business for the many family owned and run establishments here. Some would say "oh, darn" - it's free publicity for the island, which will lead to more visitors and therefore more busy-ness.

And then there's the fine print: once a beach is selected as #1 on Dr. Beach's list, it is retired from the list for several years. That would make the "that's great!" people sad, and the "oh, darn" people happy.

Everyone here knows, of course that Ocracoke has the best beaches. It's just a question of perspective in determining whether we want everyone else to know or not!