Myrtle Beach to Nags Head - suggestions (Jacksonville, Washington: rent, hotels)

[mkurley]

We will be leaving Myrtle Beach on Friday morning and driving to Nags Head for a check in on Saturday morning. We will be stopping for the night somewhere on the way to Nags head. We are looking for suggestions on a route to take and possible side trips or site seeing tips.

My idea is to drive through the souther beach towns of Ocean Isle, Holden Beach, and Oak Island. We want to check them out for a possible future vacation. Then continue onto they way to Nags head spending the night in Washington NC.

Any suggestions on site seeing along this route?
How about a different route?
Also any suggestions on a good place to stop for BBQ?

[dsobotta]

Originally Posted by mkurley

We will be leaving Myrtle Beach on Friday morning and driving to Nags Head for a check in on Saturday morning. We will be stopping for the night somewhere on the way to Nags head. We are looking for suggestions on a route to take and possible side trips or site seeing tips.

My idea is to drive through the souther beach towns of Ocean Isle, Holden Beach, and Oak Island. We want to check them out for a possible future vacation. Then continue onto they way to Nags head spending the night in Washington NC.

Any suggestions on site seeing along this route?
How about a different route?
Also any suggestions on a good place to stop for BBQ?

Another suggestion might be to head to Beaufort, then take the ferry from Cedar Isle to Ocracoke. Then drive up Ocracoke and take the ferry to Hatteras. Then take an easy cruise up Route 12 to Nags head.

We just drove from Myrtle Beach last week. It took us a little under three hours to Cape Carteret so the time to Beaufort should be about 3.5 hours or less. It should be about an hour from Beaufort to Cedar Isle.

This is the ferry schedule (http://www.ncdot.org/transit/ferry/routes/schedule/route005.html - broken link).

The ferry takes 2.5 hours

I checked and the bridge work is done on Ocracoke.

This is my Beaufort Travel Guide (http://coastalnc.org/beaufortnctravelguide - broken link). I recommend the Beaufort Inn. You can walk to all the shops and restaurants in Beaufort so it is a good place to relax after a car trip.

This is Google Maps route to Cedar Island.

Directions are very simple, take Route 31 to Route 9 to Route 17.

Stay on 17 until you hit Route 24 in Jacksonville, follow it until it hits Route 70 in Morehead City. Follow 70 until you hit the ferry.

Once you get to Ocracoke, it is about 13 miles to the other end of the island and another ferry (http://www.ncdot.org/transit/ferry/routes/schedule/route003.html - broken link) which is free and takes about 40 minutes. It runs every hour.

Once you are in Hatteras, the drive to Nags Head is a little under 60 miles and takes a little over an hour.

This is the google map for that.

Here are some pictures of the "Down East" area from Beaufort to Cedar Island.

Here are some Ocracoke pictures which include some shots from the short Ferry.

You are headed to a different world than Myrtle Beach. It took me a number of hikes along the marshes to forget the high rises.

[dsobotta]

I can recommend the Holly Ridge Smokehouse for the barbecue on your trip. It should be a little over 2 hours into your journey up Route 17.

[mkurley]

dsobotta Thanks for the information. I might be leaning towards your recommendation. Now I just have to decide where to spend the night either in Ocracoke or Beaufort. And I have to factor in the ferry schedule.

[dsobotta]

Beaufort has a little more of a wide open feeling on Front Street, whereas Ocracoke has smaller narrower streets and can be a little crowded in the summer.

Beaufort caters a lot to the big boats coming down to the Intracoastal and has a historic district with strict guidelines. Ocracoke would be a little more laid back.

Aside from beaches and shops in the town down by the ferry terminal, there is not much in Ocracoke. Beaufort has museums, tours, and boat rides which provide some entertainment.

This time of year, everything is open in Beaufort. I am not positive when everything opens in Ocracoke so someone else will have to speak up on that. I am sure the folks at one of the motels or B&Bs can tell you if all the shops are open.

I suspect you will be happy with whichever spot you choose. That are both a lot of fun.

I do not know the hotels well on Ocracoke so I cannot be much help there.

Have fun.

[mkurley]

I will be spending the night on Friday July 18th. It looks like staying in Ocracoke is out because I can't find a hotel that will rent for one night.

Now the options are ...

(1) Stay in Beaufort. Then the next day (saturday) take the ferry to Ocracoke and continue onto Nags Head. With catching two ferries it looks like this trip could take 6 to 7 hours.

(2) Stay in Beaufort. Then on Saturday take 17 north -- 264 -- 32 -- 64 to Nags head. Looks like that will take just under 4 hours.

(3) Stay in another town like "Washington, NC" and have a two hour trip into nags head.

Any suggestions on how I should break my trip up from Myrtle Beach to Nags head? I am leaving MB on Friday morning and check into a house in Nags head on Saturday at 3:00.
What is Washington NC like?
How is the traffic going into Nags Head on 64 on a Saturday in the peek season.
Any information would be great.
Thanks

[mkurley]

Anyone have any comments / suggestions on my last posting?