Last weekend, we decided to go see the ocean. It was too expensive to stay at Wrightsville so we booked a hotel at Southport, somewhere we’d never been before. I was excited to check it out because Safe Haven, the movie based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel, was filmed there.
We drove the three hour drive starting at 7:30am, arriving at the Southport Pier and Waterfront Park. This is a cute area with benches and swings along the waterfront, and fishermen fishing off the pier. There is no shade at all in this area. We walked along it, and continued east along East Bay Street, then walked west to Yacht Basin Drive to eat lunch at Frying Pan. Here you are high up with great views, shielded from the wind by huge windows. We had ok food. Then we walked over to Flava’s for an ice cream. The waffle cone was stale, which was a shame. At this point we had run out of things to do already! So we drove over to Dutchman Creek Playground on the other side of the Intracoastal Waterway. This is an adorable spot, a curved waterfront area with a huge lawn and a large awesome playground. You can watch the little speed boats go by. Idyllic. We drove past South Harbour Village Marina, with boats and modern buildings. We continued on to Oak Island Beach, at Yaupon Fishing Pier. The beach was blown out, chilly (I guess end of April is not the best time for the beach), and the sand was streaked with icky black oil. I’m not sure what this is about, but there seems to be yucky black streaks in the sand on most beaches south of the Cape Fear River. I have noticed this at Myrtle Beach, the beaches near Charleston, and all the way south at Jekyll Island in Georgia. The only beach where I didn’t notice this was on Hilton Head Island- do they bring nice white sand in to Hilton Head Island because of the resorts? North of Cape Fear, such as at Kure Beach, the sand is coarse and golden brown, much prettier. Anyway, we were not impressed at all with the beach at Oak Island, and decided to head to our hotel, HIE Southport, ten minutes away. It was in the middle of nowhere which turned out to be not the best plan. This meant we drove a lot, and we missed nice things like the sunrise or sunset over the water. It was the kind of hotel where you have no balcony and can’t open the window so we couldn’t enjoy the cool spring air. But it was more affordable than a hotel with balcony, so that was the tradeoff.

Our hotel room wasn’t ready, at 1:30pm, so we waited in the lobby, then rested in the room. At 3:45 we headed back into Southport to check out the maritime museum, but found that it was incredibly musty. One step in and we turned around and headed back out the door. We walked around the town a little, past antique shops. A surf shop, Ocean Outfitters, turned out to be more of a souvenir store with tacky tshirts, not cool surf brands. We headed over to Fort Johnson,  the adorable area we had walked on East Bay Street earlier in the day. Cruising on the blue adirondack chairs, we enjoyed the sea wind, but there was no shade. Next, we walked around looking for a place to have dinner. The seating at Dry Street Pizza didn’t look that nice. Two Thai restaurants had a really weird bathroom smell when you walked in. Gee, hard to find a restaurant! So we walked back to Yacht Basin Dr, where we’d had lunch, and ate at Fishy Fishy, on the water. The view of the salt marsh was gorgeous. The food was ok, greasy, but tasted good. Expensive. My husband noticed a walkway on the salt marsh so we checked it out and discovered the most beautiful part of the whole trip, the absolutely gorgeous area along Brunswick Street, with the sweetest houses from the 1870s, looking out on the salt marsh. We walked along the boardwalk called Marsh Walk checking out amazing birds and the fantastic views of the cute buildings along Yacht Basin Dr, where’d we’d eaten lunch and dinner. I wanted to wait to see the sunset over the salt marsh but this was pretty tricky since the sunset wasn’t for another hour. Waiting around proved to be a bad idea- lesson learned about booking hotel in the middle of the action, not way out in the middle of nowhere.

In the morning, we left early to get the Southport Ferry to Fort Fisher, across the Cape Fear River! We arrived fifteen minutes early and then boarded the 8:30am ferry, which you drive your car onto. It was great fun! We enjoyed passing the little sand islands, watching the choppy water, and feeling the warm salty air. The ride is 35 minutes long. Once at Fort Fisher, we drove to the 1921 Fort Fisher Monument, where there are great views of the blue-green water over coquina rocks. If you walk north from there you come to an amazing maritime forest of twisty trees. What atmosphere! A lady was having photos taken of her in belly dancing attire. Across the street you come to Fort Fisher Historic Site, which you can walk around even if it’s closed. This was one of the nicest parts of our trip. We checked out the unusual mounds that look like the set of Teletubbies! We walked to the top of some stairs and checked out the gun. The views here are amazing- so expansive. It reminded me of growing up at Curl Curl Beach in Sydney, where land stretched out endlessly, covered in wildflowers. This was pure joy! After, we drove to Kure Beach which I was excited to see since it had delighted me last year in May. The colorful houses looked as cute as ever. I love them! We parked near the pier and set up a beach umbrella but the middle of the day wasn’t the best time to come since we were so sunburned from yesterday, red as beets. So sadly, we left the beach without me getting my ocean fix. We headed to Fort Fisher Aquarium, and checked out the tanks. It was quite shocking by now how many morbidly obese people we had seen on this trip, almost half the population. We ate lunch at Sea Witch at Carolina Beach, which turned out not to have sea views. It was typical bar food, which we were pretty sick of by now, and were starting to realize why everyone was overweight here, with only greasy choices for meals. We walked along the Carolina Beach boardwalk which reminded us of Myrtle Beach. Under a gazebo, we looked down at the beach which looked way prettier than Oak Island Beach, with blue-green water and nice sand. It was quite a festive scene down there with lots of people enjoying the sun, but we were too sunburned. It would have been better to stay near the beach and come down to the shoreline at sunset or sunrise, to avoid the midday sun. I wanted to visit the cute ice cream shop, Squiggley’s, again so we went there even though we had way maxed out our fat intake for the week. Kure Beach and Carolina Beach have the sweetest colorful architecture. We had run out of things to do at this stage, since we were too sunburned to do outdoor, shadeless activities, so we drove home.

We went on a four night road trip during Spring Break to try to get some warm weather and enjoy a swim! Our final destination was Madison Blue Spring, one of our favorite places to swim! It’s 8.5 hours away, but we drove more than that, since we stopped along the way to sightsee. In total we drove 1,300 miles in five days!

The first day, we drove five hours to Hilton Head Island. We ate at the Crazy Crab Jarvis Creek for lunch, enjoying pretty views over the salt marsh. They even had a playground for kids! Then we walked around the grounds of the Coastal Discovery Museum, which I’m so glad we did! The grounds were just gorgeous, with big oak trees strung with Spanish moss. It definitely made us feel like we were in the South! We walked out on three boardwalks over the salt marsh and saw cannonball jellyfish and tiny crabs. We even saw a part of an orbit test vehicle space ship that was found on the beach! There was something for everyone, including a beautiful camellia garden and a horse by a cute stable.

We were happy to find that our hotel, Holiday Inn Express Hilton Head, with a pool-facing room, was very nice. It really felt like we were on vacation! After resting, we walked the gorgeous bike path that is lined with azalea flowers to Coligny Beach Park.  It was a nicer beach than I expected, since the beach had seemed so grody at Myrtle Beach a month earlier, but we couldn’t stay because my daughter was hungry. So we ate at a Greek restaurant nearby, a cute place with photos of Greece all over the walls. There are quite a lot of retired people in Hilton Head, and there were also some young people at the beach,  enjoying Spring Break, plus a rowdy crowd at the Tiki Hut.

On the second day, we had breakfast at the hotel and then rented bikes at Forest Beach Surf and Cycle. Their bikes are nicely maintained and they tried hard to make sure we had the right size. I wanted to go back to the beautiful bike path along South Forest Drive so we biked it and then tried to bike to Harbour Town. We discovered that Sea Pines Development (which includes Harbour Town) won’t let you bike in, only drive in! So weird. For an island that is supposed to be wonderful for bike riding, this was a weird rule. So, disappointed, we biked back. We passed some cute things on our ride: turtles in a swamp under a boardwalk that we biked over, azalea flowers, cute cafes, and a pond with a fountain.

The rest of the family didn’t want to reward Sea Pines for their meanness, but I did want to see it, so we drove to Harbour Town for lunch. Since Crazy Crab had been great the day before, we ate at Crazy Crab Harbour Town. Yum! We had a nice view out the window of the harbour and a tree with rocking chairs under it. We checked out Calibogue Sound from the pier- pretty! And we climbed the small lighthouse, which was a great activity. Inside there are exhibits that you can check out as you climb the wide stairs. This makes for a whine-free climb with kids! Very smart! The views of the water from the top were lovely!

Next we drove to Jacksonville Beach. When planning the trip, I was going to have us stay in a hotel along the freeway in Jacksonville but I’m so glad I had a brainwave and decided to stay at the beach instead! It added half an hour of driving there and back but it was SO worth it! For this night, we splurged and stayed in the Courtyard Marriott Oceanfront Jacksonville Beach which ended up being a delight! It was so nice to just walk down to the sand whenever we felt like it. When we arrived we spent some time playing on the beach. It was wonderful to be back at the ocean. Then we ordered a pizza and relaxed in the room, still hearing the ocean! When it got dark, we went back down to the beach and looked at the stars. It was magical!

The next morning, we watched the sun rise over the water from our room! We had breakfast at a really cute area of cafes in Neptune Beach, at Southern Grounds Coffee Shop. I’m so glad we found this spot because it was lovely, with a patio where everyone was hanging out enjoying the day. Oh the lifestyle in Florida! They had a great selection of things to eat for breakfast too, pleasing everyone.

After breakfast, we walked along the shore at the beach- bliss. Next we drove to Jacksonville Zoo, a tropical wonderland of plants, flowers, trees, and animals. It was fun walking the different themed loop trails checking out the animals. Some of the areas, like the Lost Temple, reminded us of being at the Disney Theme Parks.

We drove north slightly to have lunch at Panera Bread at River City Marketplace, a nice modern development. It was very pleasant!

Then we drove on to Madison. Our hotel, Super 8, was very cheap, making up for the expensive hotel the night before. After checking in, we got changed, blew up our float, and went for a swim at the wonderful Madison Blue Spring!

This spring is quite an odd thing because it is literally in the middle of nowhere. There is only farmland and a very small town nearby. We drove past the farmland, remembering our past two visits to this amazing place.

I was worried the water might not be clear since it is spring and there is always rain in spring. We had previously visited one October, and in the middle of summer 2016. But to my delight, the water was just as gorgeous as always, and there weren’t any bits of slime in it like you sometimes find at springs. The only problem we did encounter was that it was much deeper than usual, and the beach where we previously played was buried in water! There was a strong current pushing you from the headspring to the river, and without being able to stand, it was quite hard to get out without being pushed into the river where the alligators are! So it wasn’t a very relaxing swim. But by the end we did find a spot to stand, out of the current, and a way to climb back over the rocks to the headspring starting spot. It’s quite fun to catch the current down from the headspring, though it was a little more complex this time around.

Nonetheless we were elated to be in this tropical paradise, after being surrounded by sticks jutting from the ground (deciduous trees in winter) in the research triangle all winter. We took lots of photos and then headed back to the hotel.

The water in the spring is very cold so we were happy to have hot showers at the hotel. We headed to dinner at Rancho Grande Restaurant in Madison. This town is odd because there is a very grand Circuit Court building but the rest of the town is quite rundown. The restaurant was nice- colorful decor and good food, so that was a relief. We headed back to our hotel for a horrible night of being woken literally every minute by the AC going on and off. I couldn’t think what to do about it, but in the morning I realized that  I could have tried just putting it on fan mode without the AC. Next time we won’t stay in a hotel with a wall unit. Surprisingly, even in March, it was too hot in the room to leave the window open (I had chosen the hotel because it had windows that open, since I love fresh air). I guess with no cross breeze it just can’t cool down. The hotel had nice new floors (no carpet, which is a wonderful modern thing) and was renovated, so it’s a shame the AC unit was so ridiculous.

In the morning we went in to town to check out Sunrise Coffee which had great reviews. Wow. What a shock. When you opened the door, a rush of intense dust smell hit you. It was like an antique store, full to the brim with furniture and doodads. And it was very musty. So we left, disappointed. This was the only part of the trip that didn’t go well, the night and morning in Madison, so that’s not too bad for a five day trip!

We were happy to leave the boonies and head out for the day. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then drove to Jekyll Island in Georgia. My husband thought this place was a bit of a tourist trap, like Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island, but it did have its pleasant aspects. Its late 19th century architecture- an incredible club house with a three-storey turret, plus mansions called “cottages”- was a delight to see. We strolled around. We skipped the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, which was expensive, crowded, loud, and did seem like a bit of a tourist trap. We ate lunch at The Wharf, which had wonderful views of the salt marsh. In the past I’ve always chosen counter service, quick places for lunch, but for this trip I chose places with views of the water, since I was missing the water very much. And I think this is a good idea. You do have to wait longer, but now that our daughter is older, we can do this. And if you don’t want to have two sit-down (waiter service) meals in a day, you can always get takeout in the hotel room that night.

After, we drove to Great Dunes Beach Park. The dunes were fabulous, large and white, but the beach itself was a real dud. The water was very icky-looking and the sand dark and hard-packed.

We continued on. I’d like to return someday to do the bike paths on this island because they look great, but I don’t know if I’d need to stay the night ever since there isn’t much to do. It makes for a good stop on a road trip, to break up the car ride.

We continued on to Savannah, stopping at Savannah Botanical Gardens and Wormsloe Plantation along the way. It’s kind of funny that the garden is called “gardens” because it’s very small, basically a long garden behind someone’s house. It wasn’t really worth driving through endless traffic lights to get to. Wormsloe Plantation was also a bit of a dud, though it does have an impressive driveway and front gate. To go inside and walk around the ruins is too expensive, and they also charge you just to drive down the driveway, so we just looked from the entrance gate.

Another new thing I’ve been trying is staying in a hotel where you can walk to nice things, rather than a motel along the freeway. This ends up costing more money, and you also usually have to pay for parking since you’re in the city, but it has its benefits. The good thing about it is that when you’re way too tired to drive and find a place to go or eat, you end up just walking near the hotel and seeing nice things, instead of having to eat at McDonalds or some other roadside place. So I’d conclude that I like this new trend! We had a great time! Our hotel was Fairfield Inn Savannah Downtown, and it was a perfect combination of being slightly out of the main touristy area but close enough to walk to everything. The windows didn’t open, but luckily there wasn’t a strong cleaning solution smell. It was raining and cold when we arrived. We ran through the rain to Pie Society. We passed the City Market, a pedestrian area, which looked really cute. Pie Society, a British pie cafe, was a disappointment. We brought the pies back to our room since the cafe was closing. We were so excited because we love a good meat pie, but the pies were overly salty and not very yummy. Too bad.

The next day we ate breakfast at the hotel and then walked around Savannah. We had been here before, in July 2015, when it was so stinking hot and full of gnats that we couldn’t enjoy it. This time it was incredibly cold, so also quite hard to enjoy. It seems that anywhere north of Florida and south of New Jersey it is either very hot or very cold, with only a week or two of good weather in between. I had thought the end of March would be a good time to visit Georgia but it was too cold to really enjoy a stroll around town.

The best part of the morning was a visit to Jepson Center, a part of Telfair Museums. The entrance fee was very expensive, $20, but the building is so incredible, a modern glass wonder. And the activities for kids inside were great, as was the art. So we enjoyed ourselves, topping a great outing off with lunch at Le Cafe Gourmet, which was also a pure delight! The lady spoke French and we enjoyed delicious baguette sandwiches like in France. This was a great end to our trip!

We then started the long five hour drive home, which was absolutely loaded with huge tractor trailers. Every truck we passed made my nerves on edge as they often crossed over the line to be within inches of my car door. This is a problem with road trips from North Carolina. Because North Carolina is in a central location, it is loaded with truck traffic. It is on two central truck routes, Highway 40 going east to west, and Highway 95 going north to south. And anywhere you want to go, besides drives on country roads, entails a very scary drive past hundreds of trucks. Road tripping in California was better, since the trucks take Highway 5 in central California rather than Highway 101 along the coast. And in Florida it was pretty good too since it is the end of the truck route, not the center of it, so there aren’t as many trucks left. Also, you can pay to go on the Turnpike which has very few trucks. This aspect of life in North Carolina was something I hadn’t anticipated, along with the insane spring allergies. And so lies the lesson that when you move somewhere there are things you could never have thought of that you will discover, some good and some bad.

It took a lot of driving to get down to some good weather, but it was a great trip!