It was one of those Saturdays.
There were no must see attractions for us near Stella, North Carolina although there were a few "that'd be fun."
Settling for a day of exploration with no set plan and few "if we make it to them great, if not, oh well" ideas, we were off.
We crossed Emerald Isle, making our way towards Harkers Island.
It was surprising to find out with as incredibly narrow as Emerald Isle is, you only catch occasional glimpses of the ocean as you drive through it. This is due to the numerous (and tall) beach houses, the majority of which seem to be rentals, and the rather large trees lining part of the drive.
At the very eastern end of Emerald Isle is Fort Macon, a pre-civil war fort that is in the best condition of any such structure we've seen so far. The small museum inside is a well done tribute to fort life of the era and local ecology.
I could have taken pictures of any of the attractions but I love old style bottles and their labels.
Being kid friendly, there were a couple of places to have your picture taken. I'm certain they knew adults couldn't pass these up either.
One of the great things about traveling along the coastline is the seafood restaurants sitting along the beachside. I mean, what a view from the table!
We continued towards the Harkers Island lighthouse after lunch. If it wasn't open by the time we reached it, we figured it would still be a beautiful drive.
Fortunately, we arrived about 20 minutes before the last ferry going out to the island left.
So, here's a piece of fascinating trivia. It was a 20 minute ferry ride from the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitor Center to the Cape Lookout Lighthouse on one of the nearby barrier islands through the Back Sound waterway. The waterway is only three feet deep! But I wouldn't recommend trying to wade to any of the islands, it would be a long walk.
We were the only ones on the boat so the ferry assistant was quite happy to talk to us through the trip providing all sorts of interesting facts.
The lighthouse is 163' tall. Sadly it's not open to the public for the moment due to some structural issues but is on the list for repair work in the future.
After supporting the National Parks system at the visitors center we walked through the lighthouse keeper's humble abode and took an up close look at the lighthouse exterior.
This is such a lovely, calm island...probably because it's out of season and end of day.
After a long day of meandering we needed...ice cream. Beaufort, a charming town on the intercoastal waterway, was perfect. The marina sits right off a lovely walking street allowing you to pull your boat up, resupply, enjoy a nice dinner and stretch your legs.
Sweets acquired and consumed, we were tired and ready to go home but there was one more place we absolutely had to stop at.
Dragons!
These are sitting outside the gate to someone's home. Still, you can't put out something this fabulous and not expect people to stop for a quick photo.
Our last Saturday in North Carolina did not disappoint.
Comments