Since leaving Florida it felt as if we were passing through the states on a record setting pace. We zoomed through the small southeastern tip of Georgia, up the coast of South Carolina and now were about to enter into North Carolina. We were going to spend a bit more time in this state and were happy to slow it down a bit.
First stop in the state was their largest coastal city of Wilmington. We were not quite sure what to expect from this city as neither Julie nor I had ever been there or known anyone to live there so we were eager to check out what it had to offer. We made our way to the historic downtown area, which runs along the Cape Fear river. (One of my favorite river names of all time). We walked along the boardwalk taking in all of the historic buildings as well as being able to see the Battleship North Carolina located on the other side of the river. From the river we walked further into town stopping for a drink at Pour Taproom. This was pretty neat as it was situated inside an old bank. How it worked is that instead of a bartender, you poured your own drinks from the taps located on the walls. You were given a card, which you swiped at your chosen tap. You could then pour as much or as little as you wanted and paid per ounce of the beer. It was a really neat way to try all sorts of different beers without getting a full pint of any of them.
After sampling a few of the beers at Pour Taproom and resting our legs we walked around the rest of the historic section of downtown. We walked in an out of a few of the tourist shops before climbing back into Bubbles and heading to the Wilmington KOA campground for the night.
The next day we woke up ready to continue seeing the beaches of the east coast. Today we would be heading to Carolina and Kure beaches just outside of Wilmington. We parked the van just outside of Carolina beach and started walking south. It was a great day to walk and we enjoyed feeling the waves on our feet and seeing all of the people hanging out on vacation. We walked 3 miles to Kure beach where we got a bit hungry and found a restaurant called Jack Mackerel’s. I ended up getting crab while Julie opted for Grouper. Both were delicious! From the restaurant we made our way back down the beach. The walk back was a bit different however. What was a beautiful day with no clouds in the sky was turning into a bad summer storm. Dark clouds were coming in and we could see rain in the distance. We quickened our pace and made it back to the van just as the lifeguards were yelling at people to get off the beach. It was pretty exciting. Once back in the van we headed back to the campground for the night.
The next day we woke up ready to go for a traveling day. Today we were headed to North Carolina’s easternmost area at the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks are a chain of islands off the coast of North Carolina that run for roughly 200 miles. During the summer people travel there to take in their relative isolation and magnificent beaches. This is exactly why we were going as well. As there isn’t much of a direct route to the Nags Head area from Wilmington the drive took all day. This isn’t something that we minded at all as the back roads of America are always more interesting than the highways. We passed through small town after small town only stopping in Jacksonville, NC to eat and mail a few items from their local post office. Toward the end of the day we finally made it to the bridges leading out to the islands and to our campground Cape Hatteras KOA in Rodanthe, NC. After arriving and checking in we were pleased to find out that we were given a spot as close to the beach as you could possibly get. The next few days was going to be awesome we thought!
The next day we woke up ready for a day of relaxation. Its rare that when we park Bubbles at a campground that she stays parked for more than a night. Usually a campground for us is just a spot to rest for the night, then go explore the next morning. This time however the campground was the destination for the day. After waking up and having a leisurely breakfast I set up a world cup viewing area for myself on my phone watching the Iceland vs. Argentina game while Julie chatted with our website developer. This was good for the both of us as we got a few new ideas for website improvement while Iceland did not lose to Argentina (it was a tie game at 1-1). From there we had lunch and decided it was time to hit the beach.
After setting up our chairs and taking a walk we decided to take a dip in the ocean. This is where the day took a turn for us. As we were playing in the waves two kids told us to be careful as there were jellyfish in the area. We didn’t take them too seriously as there were plenty of people in the water and they were ten year olds. This turned out to be a mistake for us. After playing around for a few more minutes both of us felt something strange. For me it was on my right arm and for Julie her right leg. It felt like something had grabbed us for a moment then let go and there was a small burning sensation where it had grabbed on. We walked back to our chairs and just by chance the kids and their family was next to us. We told them that they were right that we got stung. We didn’t know it before but the antidote for the sting was vinegar then sitting in hot water. The family had vinegar in a spray bottle which they let us use then told us to go sit in the hot tub at the campground for a while and the sting would go away. We took their advice, packed up and headed to the campground hot tub. After about 30 min the sting for the most part went away. We then headed back to the van for dinner and the night.
The next day we woke up almost sting free from the jellyfish. Today we would be traveling a little north of our campground to Kitty Hawk, NC the site of the Wright Brothers monument. It was about an hour drive north but as the drive was amazingly pretty with the ocean on our right side at all times the drive flew by. Once we reached the monument our first stop was the sight of the first four flights in history. They weren’t too long by today’s standards (the longest was 852 feet) but as they were the first in history they were of extreme importance. From here we walked up the large hill that they used to launch themselves down checking out the monument on the top as well as taking in the views that allowed you to see for miles around. We then walked a little further to where a replica statue was built of the plane. It was really neat to be standing next to a life size replica of the plane (and of the brothers and crew themselves).
After getting our fill of the Wright Brothers memorial we drove to Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo. We were told by our good friend Ryan to check this town out and it did not disappoint. The town’s buildings were in an English Tudor style. Roanoke Island is where the lost colony came from so we thought that the town was in an English style as homage to that time period. As it was a Sunday not every store was open but we were able to visit a candy shop as well as a winery called Vineyards on the Scuppernong. After doing a small tasting we bought a bottle of their Peach wine, which was excellent. We then visited Lost Colony Brewing where we split a flight and an appetizer. We then drove back to the campground and as it was our last night on the beach we wanted to go out for some seafood. As the town of Rodanthe is tiny there was only one restaurant to go to, Good Winds Restaurant. As this was the case there was quite the wait but as we had nowhere else to be we waited. Once we were seated we both opted for the Mahi-Mahi, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
The next day we woke up, packed up and headed inland. It was a bit sad to see the beach disappear in our rear view mirror but we had a ton of fun the last few months. We had seen the beach from Mississippi to Alabama, Florida to Georgia and throughout both Carolina’s. We will surely miss it.
Next up…..back to the mountains. We check out the BBQ scene in eastern North Carolina and head west to Asheville!
