Advertisement
Published: April 29th 2007
Edit Blog Post
The Outer Banks and The Eastern Shore
PierceMy last day at Fort Fisher and Kure Beach was full of excitement. I finally was able to get into the library in Carolina Beach to use the internet because the day before was invaded by wild school kids. The Shirt Shack in Kure Beach was finally open for business and I made a custom t-shirt order. I spelled out my bike tour mission in big red letters on the back. "Key West to Canada" I ate a delicious crab cake sandwich at the Old Pier House Restaurant and relaxed on the beach while waiting for my shirt to be finished. Later that evening Todd and I went out to the Sea Witch for late food and brew.
The next morning we went to the Pier House again for breakfast and I loaded up the bike for the ride up north to Topsail Beach. I was sad to leave the place I had so much fun in the last few years but I was very happy to have spent a good long break here visiting all the great places that I spent so many good times in before. As I left, I enjoyed passing the bright colored beach houses on
the way out of town and into the suburbs of Wilmington. I had my new shirt on and enjoyed the motivating comments from cars passing by. Shouts of encouragement, good luck, and clapping hands powered me down the road. I made one last stop a PT's Grill for lunch. Another old standard for summer beach adventures. The food is always super delicious and talked to some nice folks about my long bike trip. North of Wilmington, the road was busy and I was glad to finally turn off of highway 17 for the last time. I rode into Surf City and stayed on North Topsail Beach for the night.
In the morning I woke up early, before the sunrise, because the place I stayed was not exactly legal. I hurried out of there but stopped down the road to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean. I had a great day riding through the quiet roads of Camp LeJeune and had a good laugh with the gate guard as I showed my military ID and explained my full beard and long hair. I Rode along some more beautiful beaches in Emerald Isle. More bright colored beach houses and
the water was so bright blue. I relaxed on the beach for a few hours and took a dip in the chilly Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic Beach then rode on into Beaufort for the night. I stayed at the Beaufort Inn right on the waterfront where I watched the sunset across the bay from my third floor balcony and soaked in the hot tub before going to sleep.
My free breakfast was pretty good but I was just glad that it was free. I continued on towards the ferry to the Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island through small fishing communities, and forests opening up to vast expanses of coastal wetland marshes. The ferry ride was long and I had a good time relaxing and talking to people. I talked to an older couple who were riding a tandem bike around the Outer Banks and another guy who was an ultra cyclist. He rode a hundred miles to get to the ferry and will ride another hundred miles to get back home the next day. The ultra cyclist and I shared a campsite for the night in Ocracoke and had a great time boozing at Howards Pub.
Roy, the
ultracyclist left early in the morning and he left me his little one man tent. He said it was too little for him but I'm sure he wanted to cut weight for his long ride back home as well. Not only did he pay for the campsite but he also gave me a free tent to use on the the rest of my journey. Thanks so much for your generosity and friendship! The wind was strong at my back today so I rode far and quick through the skinny strip of sand dunes of the Outer Banks. I thought about the idea of riding a century ride with the strong wind at my back and a long straight road ahead of me. It was easy to motivate myself to go for it. I even had time to make a few tourist stops and food breaks. I passed the long open expanses of beach, sea grass, and scrubby bushes. I saw several groups of kite surfers and wind surfers enjoying the wind day and the smooth water. I powered all the way into Kill Devil Hills to look for a campsite that I could not find and finally checked into a
motel. This extra looking around added up to my final mileage of 103 miles for the day. I did not celebrate too much but I did drink some great beer at the Outer Banks Brewing Station and slept in to rest my tired legs.
The next two days, I rode longer and harder than planned to get to Virginia's Eastern Shore early. I wanted to take a long break and get out of the rain. I passed through the last parts of rural northern North Carolina and the southeastern rural part of Virginia into Virginia Beach. I camped out at a KOA using my new tent. I was glad I had it too because the wind and the clouds and the cool weather crept in that night. The weather report for the next few days, cool and rainy, not good. I peddled down the Virginia Beach Boardwalk quickly and stopped for waffles n things at a restaurant with the same name, Waffles n Things. The best 24 hour service and best breakfast on the beach. I rode into the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel police station and waited for my ride. It was an easy process, much easier than I had
thought it was going to be. It was cloudy and misty so I could not see much of anything and that made the 17 miles of bridge and tunnel go pretty quickly. My driver pulled into the police station on the other side and let me off and that was it, I started riding again. I rode along a narrow farm road through pastoral farmland, extravagant old farmhouses, and tiny farm communities with so much rural character. The mist increased in some areas enough to collect and drip off the front of my helmet so I stopped for lunch and scarfed down a big plate of spaghetti and meat balls and bread sticks. Later I stopped for happy hour Guinness at the Blarney Stone in Onancock where I met up with Shannon for dinner. We drank and ate, more delicious blue crab cakes. Shannon tried to get a ride for me and my bike the rest of the way up to Parksley but her friends at the bar were too drunk or maybe just not nice enough. Finally the bartender let us use her truck to make the move. How nice, a total stranger giving us her truck to use
for a while and trusting us with bringing it back. She said that is just how she is, a very generous southern girl. Parksley reminded me of any small town in Nebraska, grain elevators, farm equipment, and railroad tracks.
I ended up staying for three days resting my tired legs and soaking in the fun of the eastern shore and friendship of my beautiful friends Shannon and Serena. We hit up all the best places up and down the eastern shore, margaritas at El Maguey, the Trawler, wine at Bizottos, and the comfy couches at Stellas upstairs. We had great company and conversation with Mr. Bizotto, first at Bizottos and later at Stellas. He was an older Italian man, a cyclist, a hippy, a philosopher, and a world traveler. My friends and I had fun all weekend, we went to see the ponies on Assateague Island, made pizza, played with Serena's rambunctious little rat terrier puppy Oliver, and went to the Dollar General store next door. I am so glad to have such great friends to spend time with on my adventure across the east coast. Thanks for the fantastic memories.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.173s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Shannon
non-member comment
Good times...
So glad your journey brought you through the Eastern Shore, it was much fun hanging out last weekend. Keep going, you are awesome! See you soon, maybe we will both be homeless and staying at Serena's house at the same time!