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Well, the day had come
to head for home. I felt much better this morning than I had the previous
night and wanted to get on the road. Daytona had been great, but I had
things to do back in Brooklyn. This did not mean, of course, that I
had to hurry home; just had to head that way.
I planned
as coastal a route as I could.
After leaving Florida the way I came in, I headed once more up highway 17. The riding was much easier, now, with a lot less traffic. I had called ahead and made a reservation at a Comfort Inn in North Myrtle Beach, so I didn't have too far to go.
All in all, just a nice, easy ride, although I found out that North Myrtle Beach is WELL north of Myrtle Beach!
The next day, though, Tuesday, was quite different. I set out to take as coastal a route as I could manage. It was a really lovely drive up the coast of North Carolina. During the morning, after passing Wilmington, I swung off route 17 and onto 210 between Surf City and North Topsail Beach. This was an eery stretch of beach road, as the only human life was a handful of builders working on some new beach homes. At Sneads Ferry, I met a couple on scooters. They were enjoying the fine weather as much as I.
From there, I took 172 through Camp Lejeune, a USMC base. My father was based there many years ago. 172 doesn't offer much opportunity for looking around, but I did get the pleasure of watching a convoy of tanks cross the road. I was going to snap some pictures, but thought better of it. After all, if I'm not allowed to take pictures of bridges and tunnels in NY, what makes me think the USMC would take kindly to me snapping pictures of modern vehicles of war?
I swung east on 24 to 58, which I followed from Cape Carteret to Atlantic Beach; another fine drive with some beautiful views. Soon I was on US 70, which I took northeast to its actual end -- a dead end -- in Atlantic, NC. I turned around and followed 12 up to Cedar Island.
Here I was presented with a dilemna. As I drove up to the ferry tollbooth there, the attendant said that I couldn't get any farther than Hatteras, due to 12 being washed out up that way. When does the last ferry leave for the day? I sasked. 4:00 she said. What time is it now? 3:30. I had half an hour to decide whether I wanted to turn around and take 70 and 17 all the way around, or to board the ferry.
The ferry from Cedar Island goes to Okracoke; another ferry from there would take me to Swan Quarter, it looked like. I asked about that ferry. Next one didn't leave 'til 7 a.m. the next morning from Okracoke. Did Okracoke have any lodges or motels? Oh, yes! A bunch, as it turns out. Quite the tourist hotspot, I'm sure.
So I purchased my ticket and boarded the ferry to Okracoke. The ferry guys advised me to stay with my bike, especially if the swells rose, but it was nice enough out that it was better to sit on my bike than to go inside the little passenger lounge.
The crossing is 2 1/2 hours to Okracoke and is quite pleasant. The ship has some vending machines and pay-as-you-can coffee. I was plenty impressed with the ocean, the birds, the boat, and the sunset. Definitely something I'll do again!
Click thumbnail for slideshow.
An interesting effect of the ship's radar was that my radio would ping every couple of seconds. It's easy to tune out. I tried to capture it (with sound) here.
Once on Okracoke, I quickly found Joyce's hotel, which I'd called just before I left. I presume I spoke to Joyce on the phone, though I never met her. I was greated by a sign in the window telling me my room and wishing me a pleasant stay. It was an exceedingly nice place and given the off-season, quite reasonable in price.
Once settled in, I took off to go find a place to eat and found a place about half a mile up the road that had about a thousand different kinds of beer, a good selection of wine, but no mixed drinks. Their county doesn't allow bars to stock hard liquor! You can, however, purchase some for yourself at the package stores...more strange liquor laws.
Well, most of the folks in this place were locals hanging out or the workers who were rebuilding the washed out highway. I had a nice shrimp salad, which you can see in the pictures. The "salad" part is to the side -- that crisp shell is FULL of shrimp!
Click thumbnail for slideshow.
