Carolina Beach -- what a fun place ...

Last week, Pam and I went to the Carolina Beach for three days.These kinds of trips are fun and since we had been there before, we knew where things were and weren't wasting time looking for shops or food places that either weren't open on certain days or weren't any good anyhow. We did eat at Freddies again this time and had a wonderful meal.  After that we drove down to the Ft. Fisher point to watch the boats (big ones) come in for the night.

This trip was a little different because we really only had two whole days to be there.  So we spent one of them on the beach.  It was hotter than a match that day so we/I spent much more time under the beach umbrella or actually sitting in a chair out in the ocean.  

The second whole day, however, was spent exploring a town called Southport.  It is a really cool oceanfront town, very quaint and best accessed by the ferry that runs from Ft. Fisher.  It takes about 1/2 hour to get from one side of the Cape Fear to the other. 

 

 

Cars were packed pretty tightly on the ferry.  I was not able to open my door without dinging the car next to me, so I rode all the way over sitting in the Jeep listening to the radio, hoping the ride back would be better.

 

Once we got over to the other side, we did some shopping, went to the maritime museum and the welcome center and then went on our way.  On that day, they were having an open air market which was set in a park, under a couple of acres of live oaks.  It was really a picture of old southern living.

After a bit of shopping, we walked down by the water front and sat at a open air bar where they filmed a movie called Safe Haven. It was really nice there, sunny, breezy and we got to talk with some other people there - just chillin' out.

While we were there, we saw a shrimp boat that sure looked like the one used in Forrest Gump.  It was really pretty cool.

I think this little town might be a great place for a couple of days.  We saw some condos that could be daily rents and they were right on the pier area.  I'm sure they are pretty expensive though.  We'll see.  It might happen for some special occasion.

So it was getting close to time to head back to the ferry landing and get in line to get on the ship.  Pam generally wants to squeeze every possible second out of these visits, so getting her to head back to the ferry pier a bit early was a task.  However, when we got there, she was glad we did because there was already a line of cars waiting to load, and this was the next to last ferry trip of the night. I think there is a way to drive around the area and eventually get back to the beach, but after looking at the map, I knew that wouldn't be a great option and would have really eaten up time and gas (you remember gas - $4.99.9 on this island !!).  Anyway, it was another pleasant ride on the ferry.

Had to hold on to your hats while on the water.

So, that wraps up another short visit to the beach.  As I have said before, we really enjoy these trips and living where we do, we are perfectly situated  -- 3-4 hours to any beach on the Atlantic, and 3-4 hours to the mountains in the western part of the state. Nice !!

"The sea cures all ailments of man." (Plato)

Hooah