As we head north along the coast, it is not yet spring, so temperatures have been a bit cooler, especially along the coast where we have been staying. Recently we have had a lot of windy, chilly beach walks, but no ocean swims. Here are the five places we stayed in South and North Carolina:
Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina
Alligators in the swampy areas, a nice empty broad beach. There were lots of birdwatchers out because the large wetlands are home to hundreds of species of migratory birds. There is an odd Moorish-influenced estate on the property called Atalaya, built in the 1930s as the home of Huntingtons, who once owned the land.
Carolina Beach State Park, North Carolina
The campground brochure claims that venus fly traps only grow on the edge of certain kinds of marshes in a 70 mile radius from this park. Being late winter/early fall, none of the plants were in bloom, but it was nice to walk around the park and see the intracostal waterway.
Goose Creek RV park, North Carolina
We spent three gray, windy drizzly cold days here. Being an RV park, the spaces are much closer, though we didn’t have anybody right next to us since we were in the transient section. I think we saw maybe three other residents during our time there, as nobody else seemed to come out and walk through the park. It was good to have full hookups so we could do laundry. We did visit Fort Macon, a Civil War era fort
Pettigrew State Park, North Carolina
This State park is located along the edge of Lake Phelps, a relatively large but shallow lake in eastern North Carolina. The campground was wet and soggy from recent rain. The camping spots were narrow, so we made some pretty deep ruts while trying to get the trailer lined up within the few inches of margin we had to be on firmer ground and level. This forest along the edge of the lake is a virgin forest, with trails through it, so it was great to experience relatively untouched wetlands. The park also includes Somerset Place, one of the largest former plantations in North Carolina. There are some original buildings, including the main house and slave hospital, and three reproductions of slave quarters. The original row of slave quarters stretched into the current campground area.
Oregon Inlet State Park on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
It’s easy to see why the Wright Brothers chose this area to experiment on flights. The Outer Banks is a long thin island just off the coast, with lots of wind and sand. The highlight was visiting Kitty Hawk, the site of the first manned flight in a powered airplane. The chiseled stone marks the location where the flight took off, and the smaller whitish stones show the landing spot for the first through fourth flights.
The outer banks is also a famous ship graveyard with over 600 ships that have sunk along this coastline. One of the most recent is a fishing trawler that is embedded in the beach right by our campground.
Next stop: Pocatello, Idaho to say hello to our newest family addition: Jenna and Adam’s new son born March 26th! The truck and trailer are stored in the parking lot of an airport hotel adjacent to Richmond Virginia and we are flying to Poky to spend a couple weeks with Jenna, Adam and Charlie (and other friends in the region), then it’s back to Richmond and the continuation of our trip!
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