A Week at the Beach
I know. I live at the beach. Please don't point out the obvious. Humor me. On our trip many people responded as follows when we told them where we were from: "Norfolk? Huh. Why don't you go to Virginia Beach?" That's a subject for a 'nuther post.
Atlantic Beach was blissful as usual. If I could figure out that Photo Bucket thing I'd post some pics. (Mental note: Ask VA's boy to show me how to use that Photo Bucket thing.) New discoveries included the Shark Shack, a walk-up eatery that features grouper bites. Yum! The gelato place is still there, though it moved because they tore down it's former location for condos. Don't get me started. And the Clam Digger hotel pool bar was convenient as ever.
We stay at a condo called The Breakers. It's oceanfront on an uncrowded stretch of beach where great effort has been made to preserve the environmental integrity of the island. You can hardly see the residences from the road and have to drive beneath a Yaupon forest to get to the condo. Third floor walk-up status is the only downside. In spite of the environmentally friendly atmosphere, right next door is the 6 story concrete hotel called the Clam Digger. It's sort of misplaced there but I don't mind at all. This 60's era hotel has a kitschy restaurant, gameroom and pool bar which we make use of regularly. There's even a gate connecting the condo and hotel parking lots for early morning newspaper runs. You can walk up off the beach and order lunch and drinks and shag to beach music on the free juke box while you wait. And they run a soaker hose from the hotel across the hot sand to save your tootsies!
Lots of nature involved in this year's trip. The first few days the seashells were amazing! I've never seen this many nice ones on a NC beach before. I think it was due to some stormy weather before we arrived. On day one we found a purple and orange sea star freshly washed up on the beach and still kicking. We named him Sheldon, took him to the NC Aquarium and to my astonishment they accepted him and gave him a home! Later in the week the surf subsided, the shell count diminished and the tides routinely left behind great pool wherein the girls caught minnows.
On the way home we spent a night in New Bern, a town which would like to be a tourist destination but maybe not. I think they're conflicted. There seem to be some interesting things to see and do there, but getting the information you need to see and do those things is rather difficult. For instance, there's Tryon Palace. Their flyer and advertising do not include hours, tour information or ticket prices. You have to call. And then we asked somebody where they'd suggest we eat dinner and they pointed us to a general area of downtown. Hmmm. We should have suspected something when we left the highway to find "Bridge under construction. Traffic diverted to Pembroke Rd." Great, except I don't know where Pembroke Road is. No detour signs or anything, so we just wandered aimlessly (through some pretty scary places) until we stumbled upon our hotel. So if you visit New Bern, prepare to stumble.
Atlantic Beach was blissful as usual. If I could figure out that Photo Bucket thing I'd post some pics. (Mental note: Ask VA's boy to show me how to use that Photo Bucket thing.) New discoveries included the Shark Shack, a walk-up eatery that features grouper bites. Yum! The gelato place is still there, though it moved because they tore down it's former location for condos. Don't get me started. And the Clam Digger hotel pool bar was convenient as ever.
We stay at a condo called The Breakers. It's oceanfront on an uncrowded stretch of beach where great effort has been made to preserve the environmental integrity of the island. You can hardly see the residences from the road and have to drive beneath a Yaupon forest to get to the condo. Third floor walk-up status is the only downside. In spite of the environmentally friendly atmosphere, right next door is the 6 story concrete hotel called the Clam Digger. It's sort of misplaced there but I don't mind at all. This 60's era hotel has a kitschy restaurant, gameroom and pool bar which we make use of regularly. There's even a gate connecting the condo and hotel parking lots for early morning newspaper runs. You can walk up off the beach and order lunch and drinks and shag to beach music on the free juke box while you wait. And they run a soaker hose from the hotel across the hot sand to save your tootsies!
Lots of nature involved in this year's trip. The first few days the seashells were amazing! I've never seen this many nice ones on a NC beach before. I think it was due to some stormy weather before we arrived. On day one we found a purple and orange sea star freshly washed up on the beach and still kicking. We named him Sheldon, took him to the NC Aquarium and to my astonishment they accepted him and gave him a home! Later in the week the surf subsided, the shell count diminished and the tides routinely left behind great pool wherein the girls caught minnows.
On the way home we spent a night in New Bern, a town which would like to be a tourist destination but maybe not. I think they're conflicted. There seem to be some interesting things to see and do there, but getting the information you need to see and do those things is rather difficult. For instance, there's Tryon Palace. Their flyer and advertising do not include hours, tour information or ticket prices. You have to call. And then we asked somebody where they'd suggest we eat dinner and they pointed us to a general area of downtown. Hmmm. We should have suspected something when we left the highway to find "Bridge under construction. Traffic diverted to Pembroke Rd." Great, except I don't know where Pembroke Road is. No detour signs or anything, so we just wandered aimlessly (through some pretty scary places) until we stumbled upon our hotel. So if you visit New Bern, prepare to stumble.