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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I may be misunderstanding the question or perhaps the answers, or maybe my definition of commercialized is different than others', but where is Wrightsville commercialized? I'm being serious, not snarky. I've been there a few times, staying at the Holiday Inn on the beach. There is not really much around. There is a small strip of restaurants and t-shirt stores that is maybe two blocks long, and the street heading out of town, but is there something else I'm missing?
I enjoyed Wrightsville when we go, but it seems pretty dead to me. Most of the commercial stuff seems to be between Wrightsville and Wilmington, on the road to Wilmington. Perhaps I'm just used to the Jersey Shore with miles of arcades, amusement parks, and souvenir shops on a boardwalk? THAT is commercialized. Virginia Beach is commercialized. Myrtle Beach is commercialized. I wouldn't call Wrightsville Beach commercialized at all, unless I somehow missed it all.
I may be misunderstanding the question or perhaps the answers, or maybe my definition of commercialized is different than others', but where is Wrightsville commercialized? I'm being serious, not snarky. I've been there a few times, staying at the Holiday Inn on the beach. There is not really much around. There is a small strip of restaurants and t-shirt stores that is maybe two blocks long, and the street heading out of town, but is there something else I'm missing?
I enjoyed Wrightsville when we go, but it seems pretty dead to me. Most of the commercial stuff seems to be between Wrightsville and Wilmington, on the road to Wilmington. Perhaps I'm just used to the Jersey Shore with miles of arcades, amusement parks, and souvenir shops on a boardwalk? THAT is commercialized. Virginia Beach is commercialized. Myrtle Beach is commercialized. I wouldn't call Wrightsville Beach commercialized at all, unless I somehow missed it all.
Well the question was "most commercialized in NC". I'm not an expert but most NC beaches I have seen are not very commercial and so the "most" bar isn't very high. Notice the beaches you named are all in other states.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,777 posts, read 15,785,332 times
Reputation: 10886
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTenGuyInNC
Well the question was "most commercialized in NC". I'm not an expert but most NC beaches I have seen are not very commercial and so the "most" bar isn't very high. Notice the beaches you named are all in other states.
I may be misunderstanding the question or perhaps the answers, or maybe my definition of commercialized is different than others', but where is Wrightsville commercialized? I'm being serious, not snarky. I've been there a few times, staying at the Holiday Inn on the beach. There is not really much around. There is a small strip of restaurants and t-shirt stores that is maybe two blocks long, and the street heading out of town, but is there something else I'm missing?
I enjoyed Wrightsville when we go, but it seems pretty dead to me. Most of the commercial stuff seems to be between Wrightsville and Wilmington, on the road to Wilmington. Perhaps I'm just used to the Jersey Shore with miles of arcades, amusement parks, and souvenir shops on a boardwalk? THAT is commercialized. Virginia Beach is commercialized. Myrtle Beach is commercialized. I wouldn't call Wrightsville Beach commercialized at all, unless I somehow missed it all.
I wouldn't call it very commercialized either. Developed, more like. NC doesn't have truly 'commercial' beaches. The islands shift too much. I think it's probably dangerous to start building up like they did on Jersey Shore... a multimillion dollar investment like a hotel casino could find itself sitting in the middle of an inlet after a big hurricane.
The damage to the communities on the Outer Banks from Irene cost the state a tremendous amount to fix. And Fran did a lot of damage to Topsail and Wrightsville beach when it landed. NC's islands constantly move, inlets close and open randomly; it's just too wild to build on beyond small communities.
Most of the commercial stuff seems to be between Wrightsville and Wilmington, on the road to Wilmington. Perhaps I'm just used to the Jersey Shore with miles of arcades, amusement parks, and souvenir shops on a boardwalk? THAT is commercialized. Virginia Beach is commercialized. Myrtle Beach is commercialized. I wouldn't call Wrightsville Beach commercialized at all, unless I somehow missed it all.
OK, I was referring the stores on Wrightsville Avenue. I don't think North Carolina has anything on the scale of New Jersey or Virginia Beach. I am very grateful for that.
Honestly, I thought your priority was convenience to the Triangle. Wrightsville is certainly closer than the Outer Banks. But the commercialization around Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk is probably larger than Wrightsville. For me, that is a negative. But whatever floats your boat.....
The damage to the communities on the Outer Banks from Irene cost the state a tremendous amount to fix. And Fran did a lot of damage to Topsail and Wrightsville beach when it landed. NC's islands constantly move, inlets close and open randomly; it's just too wild to build on beyond small communities.
And New Jersey and New York did well after Sandy last year?
Land masses shift regardless of where they are located. Certainly the ends of the barrier islands, generally the northern ones, shift south. I'd suggested that most of the North Carolina communities are better prepared for hurricanes, especially with newer construction, than northern beach communities. I'm very impressed by the Town of Topsail Beach for their proactive beach restoration efforts, dune stabilization work, building code changes, and other efforts to mitigate storm losses.
Hyper-developed places like the Ocean City, MD and the Jersey Shore beaches lose their attraction when I was past my mid-20s.....
Back to the original question, Wrightsville Beach probably fits the bill for the Southeastern NC coast. We stayed there at rental houses and the Blockade Runner in past years before buying a house in Topsail Beach. You can walk to some places in Wrightsville Beach.
Wilmington/Wrightsville are fairly developed, as well as Nags Head/Kill Devil Hills. When I lived in ENC, I used to visit Atlantic Beach quite often because it wasn't as touristy.
Now that Jungle Land and the Circle is gone Atlantic Beach is even less touristy today an it was in decades past. The only touristy draws outside of the beach or educational in nature (i.e. Fort Macon and the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium)
Not really looking to get away from it all, just a nice beach in North Carolina with great hotel and surrounding restaurant choices...any suggestions? Don't really want to leave the state this trip; i.e. not Myrtle Beach...
Ocean Isle Beach in Brunswick County. It has the "get away" location you seek and Calabash has plenty of restaurants.
You can still go to Little River or North Myrtle Beach, only 20 minutes away, for more restaurant choices.
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