NC SC area

[ness5353]

Thanks AZBuck!!!

I had completely forgotten about that list of states!! It will help me with the planning.

Rod

[Foy]

Thanks Foy!!

That was some good info...we're definitely going to have make the beginning of our trip a little different. Any other good tourist sites in eastern NC or SC? Maybe we'll go down to Key West, we both like the Overseas Hwy....


Rod

Well, Rod, maybe a handful-

To start with, there is a slew of good, Eastern NC style barbeque joints between Raleigh and Nags Head. Local places, not the chain Smithfields which I think was mentioned earlier (sorry to bash another's opinions, but the places with a real charcoal pit out back, huge stacks of hickory firewood, and elderly men who cook all night and sleep all afternoon constitutes the Real Thing to me). Once at Nags Head, you can see Jockey's Ridge, the highest sand dune on the East Coast, and also the Wright Brothers Park, where the first flight took place. There is the Lifesaving Service building and museum somewhere around Waves or Salvo, below the Oregon Inlet Bridge. The wildlife viewing areas (board walkways and platforms) at the wildlife refuge between the bridge and Rodanthe provide bird viewing spots galore. You'll have to stop at Buxton to see the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and then the lighthouse at Ocracoke. If you're going to hug the coast from Cedar Island down towards Charleston, you can consider visiting Fort Macon (Civil War Confederate fort guarding Beaufort Inlet) at Atlantic Beach, NC, and Wilmington for a tour of the USS North Carolina (WWII battleship). From there, you can venture just a few miles down to Fort Fisher, the Civil War Confederate fort which guarded the mouth of the Cape Fear River, the loss of which cost the South their last seaport and more fully sealed the fate. From Fort Fisher, you can take the ferry across the Cape Fear on down to Southport, thence on down through Myrtle Beach, SC enroute to Charleston. Along the way there, Calabash, NC serves up lots of deep-fried seafood and there's a one-lane swinging bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to Sunset Beach, NC. Don't get me started on Myrtle Beach or SC "barbeque". The former is the province of French-speaking tourists from Canada wearing shorts, black socks, and sandals all winter and the latter is some sort of abomination including mustard in the sauce. Opinionated, aren't I?

There are a number of guidebooks to NC barbeque joints, none of which are at my fingertips at present, but I imagine some routine searching would find some. There's a very good one just about within rock-throwing distance from the RDU airport, if you'd care for some info on that.

Enjoy!

Foy

[ness5353]

thats some more good info there Foy....

By the time we leave Duluth on Feb. 2nd, we should have plenty of stuff to do. I dont really like ''planning'' trips like this, but when the trip has a set date on both ends, it really helps make the most of our time. One thing we DON'T do is make motel reservations....never had to sleep in the car yet. We also try to stay in small family operated motels. MOST of the time they're fine.

Rod

[Foy]

Rod-
I was just perusing some online newspapers during lunch and was reminded of a major highway building project just under way on Ocracoke Island. The NCDOT is replacing a number of small bridges over wetlands and tidal creeks on Ocracoke. The result is that traffic coming on to the island from the north--the Hatteras Inlet ferry, must detour and drive on the beach for some 3 miles. A towing contractor is present and will tow any vehicles which get stuck and a wide-tired trailer is available to transfer vehicles for the entire distance if need be.

The Outer Banks can be some fairly knarly 4WD driving, Rod. The NCDOT requests non-4WD vehicles access Ocracoke only via the Cedar Island or Swanquarter ferries.

The project is expected to keep the highway closed and the on-the-beach detours in place through March 15, 2008.

Details may be found at www.ocracokebridges.com.

FYI, you can run US 264 all the way from just east of Raleigh, through Wilson, Greenville, and Washington, where it becomes a rather curvy 2 lane highway through some beautiful farm country with views of the Pungo River, Intracoastal Waterway, and Rose Bay. If you go just past Swan Quarter, you can visit Lake Mattamuskeet, where there can be seen the large steam-powered pumphouse building which was a part of an ill-fated effort to drain the lake and farm the lake bottom. From there, you can take the ferry to Ocracoke, thence the other ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island. This means no Nags Head, Buxton, etc, unless you simply prefer to take the free tow or trailer ride down the beach from Hatteras Inlet. Or, of course, you could rent a 4WD SUV in Raleigh and just wing it youself!

Foy

[ness5353]

Now THAT might throw a monkey wrench in our plans.....we might just have to backtrack all the way back up to Kitty Hawk if we can't get around the detour.

Thanks for that VERY important information.

Rod

[Foy]

Now THAT might throw a monkey wrench in our plans.....we might just have to backtrack all the way back up to Kitty Hawk if we can't get around the detour.

Thanks for that VERY important information.

Rod

Yes, there are but two ways off of Hatteras Island (the body of land which starts at the south side of the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet and continues through Rodanthe, Avon, Buxton, and Hatteras Village): The Bonner Bridge on the north end, and the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry on the south end. If you do not get off via the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry, the only option is to come back at least as far as Nags Head, cross the sound over to Manteo, thence to Mann's Harbor, on US 64, and proceed inland from there. From Mann's Harbor, you can continue due W on US 64 or wind your way down a VERY LONG empty stretch of highway to Swan Quarter (Stumpy Point, NC: It's not at the end of the world, but you can see it from there). When you say "to Kitty Hawk" it makes me think you might think that getting away from Nags Head-Kill Devil Hills-Kitty Hawk-Southern Shores is only possible via US 158 and the Wright Brother's bridge, and that's not correct. If you left the area that way, you'd be on the north side of Albemarle Sound and WAY out of the way from your goal of Charleston, much farther than even backtracking to Mann's Harbor, etc.

From what I read about the detour on the linked site, I don't get the impression that they'd turn you around at the ferry if you don't have 4WD, but that's probably worth phoning ahead about. As noted, they've got a wrecker and a trailer on standby during the detour weeks, so perhaps you can just get there and "aw, shucks" the whole thing (and not have to backtrack).

Good luck,

Foy

[ness5353]

I see what you mean about Kitty Hawk. I guess we'll hit Manns Harbor then south on 264 through Scranton, cross the water somewhere and end up down in the Morehead city area. THEN we can continue down the coast. We'll still get to the Hatteras Light and have only an hour or so of backtracking....not so bad I guess.

And FOY, if you have any questions about the Natl. Forest system, guess who my wife works for??

Thanks again


Rod

[Foy]

Rod-
In a previous career as a mineral exploration geologist, I explored for diamonds in the UP and Michigan so I have fond memories of summertimes up there. Winters, not so much. The wife and I want to go back up there some time, perhaps to take in the Lake Superior Rally, which I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon and see a stage of back in November 1980, at Houghton, MI. In 1981 and 1982, we had crews all over from about Iron Mountain, MI, on past Ironwood and Hurley and down into the lake country below that. I'll be pleased to request info from your spouse when the time comes.

As you go back west on US 264 out of Mann's Harbor, the first place to drive across the Pamlico River is at Washington, on US 17. Before you get to Washington, near Bayview, there's another NC ferry that crosses the Pamlico and lands on the south side at a point north of Aurora. In Aurora is a fossil museum with samples from the nearby phophate mine. You can continue down NC 306 through Arapahoe to Minnesott Beach, where yet another NC ferry crosses the Neuse River. From there, you can take NC 101 east to Beaufort and Morehead City, then cross the bridge to Atlantic Beach and Fort Macon. So, even if the construction on Ocracoke messes you up, you can still see some nice coastal countryside, and ride some river ferries.

Enjoy your trip. Post up with any additional questions you may have.

Foy

[ness5353]

Foy, Thanks for all your help. It's really nice to find out about stuff like this BEFORE you get someplace aint it......

p.s. theres probably more agates around here than diamonds!

Rod

[Foy]

Foy, Thanks for all your help. It's really nice to find out about stuff like this BEFORE you get someplace aint it......

p.s. theres probably more agates around here than diamonds!

Rod

......but the South African mining company that hired our field services firm found several kimberlite pipes and found at least some diamonds. Not enough in terms of quantity and of industrial grade rather than gem grade, so no attempt to mine was initiated. We worked Pierce County down at River Falls, WI for several months, too, in mid 1980, and didn't find anything but a heckuva lot of dairy cow poop. Enjoyed being along the Mississippi, though, and I still have my Red Wing boots which I purchased from the factory outlet store on the MN side of the bridge. We were finalists bidding on a contract to find another copper-lead-zinc deposit near Crandon, WI, but got beat out by another similar firm in 1983 or so.

Go get 'em,

Foy