From Cary to the Beach--Which one? (Raleigh, Wilmington: for sale, house, live)

[jgmarie]

Entertaining out-of-town guests soon............

Would like to go to the beach for a day, never been to the coast of NC. Which beach would you recommend for 7 kids (5-18) and several adults too. Hopefully we can get to a nice beach in 3 hours or less?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

My wife and I love Wrightsville Beach. We drove out there for the day last summer. Drove out around 8 am, got to the beach by 10:30, spent all day at the beach then had an early dinner at the Oceanic restaurant before driving back to Raleigh. The Oceanic has a great view of the beach (It is not an expensive place, we were wearing shorts and sandals). I think it took us between 2 to 2.5 hours from North Raleigh. Hit the Riverfront in Downtown Wilmington if you get the chance. It is awesome!


http://www.oceanicrestaurant.com/oceanic_restaurant.htm

http://www.wilmingtondowntown.com/

**** Edited to show link to Downtown Wilmington North Carolina! Thanks for the heads-up Boatdrinks!

[Boatdrinks]

Originally Posted by North_Raleigh_Guy

Hit the Riverfront in Downtown Wilmington if you get the chance. It is awesome!

http://www.riverfrontwilm.com/about/about.html (broken link)

Did they build a River Front in Wilmington, NC too? The above link is for Wilm, DE., at least according to the first page. Or am I confused? Wouldn't be the first time

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Here are a few picks from our trip to Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach last April. I highly recommend making the trip!

Wrightsville Beach





B&B We stayed at in Downtown Wilmington (It was up for sale back then .... only asking 1 Million!)



Nearby House in Downtown



Part of The River Walk Along the Cape Fear River in Downtown Wilmington



Restaurants Along River Walk





Horses with Bunny Ears (It was Easter Time)

[MrsSteel]

I definitely agree with the suggestion to go to Wilmington & Wrightsville. Indeed, my husband and I are going there this weekend!

If you have any pirate fans in the group, you might also consider going to Beaufort, home of Blackbeard the Pirate. I took my parents there last summer & they loved it. We went on a boat tour that took us past an island where wild horses live (we spotted at least 5 from the boat). The boardwalk area of Beaufort is a lovely place to walk in the evenings. And when it's time to take a swim, just head over the bridge to Atlantic Beach. Lovely.

[jgmarie]

NRG....wish I could step into the first picture of yours!

Wrightsville beach looks like it would be a nice place to visit for our large group. The priate tour does sound fun--not sure if we will have time, but, I'm going to look into it anyways. Thanks for the feedback!

[MAtoNC!]

When you go to the beach from the Triangle do you go for the day or overnight? I don't know if I could handle 4-5 hours of driving in one day!

[Jdatlas]

Does anyone know when the ocean is warm enough to swim or at least wade in?

[MikeJaquish]

MAtoNC,
I do a day trip now and then to Wilmington/Wrightsville. It's a full day, but better than doing without.
If I stay overnight, I like to do two nights, to have one full day that isn't disrupted by travel.
Best of all worlds is to drive to the Outer Banks and stay a week to ten days!

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by Jdatlas

Does anyone know when the ocean is warm enough to swim or at least wade in?

My daughter was wading in it on New Year's Eve...but she's a bit insane. But we normally hit the beach the last week in March (can't this year and I am trying not to be upset about it)....and you see many people splashing about.

We were at Atlantic Beach for the weekend three weeks ago and saw folks in wet suits out surf/wave riding.