On to North Carolina

After breakfast we again drove north on Hwy 17 and headed north to Carolina Beach State Park. We turned off towards Southport so we could take the ferry across the Fear River and over to the beaches east of Wilmington. Southport is a touristy little town in some ways similar to FB - located off of the main highway, on a river and a Historic Downtown and a small waterfront park, which we don't have yet. We talked to some locals and tourists trying to figure out why anyone would want to live or visit here especially since, unlike FB, there is no beach. All we could figure is that it's for the fishing and because the town is less than an hour commute from Wilmington, if you took the 17. The ferry left at 2:30 and then we were on our way to the terminal at Ft. Henry. From there it was a just a short drive to Carolina Beach SP.

There is a museum and welcome center overlooking the river and this is in the park in front of the building. It's a replica of the original Bald Head lighthouse which was erected in 1794.  The present tower "Old Baldy" was built in 1817 and used until 1935. It stands 3 miles south of town.

On the porch sharing a Rueben

Shadow checking out the Woodie for a tour      
around town

                                                                      

Now wouldn't you think that with a name like Carolina Beach SP the park would be on the oceanfront? I did, but no it's not on the oceanfront, it's on the Intracoastal Waterway with an absolutely beautiful Marina - docks and boat launch. The campsites were nice too but different - the sites were level around two loops with a bathhouse in the center of each loop. No electric hookups and potable water spigots scattered around each loop. Basically what we call dry camping and as expected, most of the campers were in tents. Oh yes, no internet or phone service. Zero bars.

The next day our goal was to get to the Cedar Point terminal to catch the ferry to Ocracoke on the Outer Banks. On the way we drove out to Topsail Island and that was a mistake.  With Spring Break and  Easter weekend coming up the traffic was unbelievable on the two lane roads. We did get a kick out of driving though the town called Surf City.

We arrived at the Cedar Point terminal at 4 PM which was 30 minutes after the last ferry of the day left the docks. We weren't the only ones - there another RV and two cars which were late, too. Unfortunately for the people in he cars the motel and restaurant had been closed for about a year - I'm not sure where they spent the night. Fortunately for us, we brought our bed and dinner and spent the night camping in the unreserved parking lot. We would definitely be on time for the 7 AM ferry. And again no internet or phone service.