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Not only are they beautiful, but the historic things you can do & see is totally worth the vacation!
Just whatever you do....don't get suckered in to one of the time share deals no matter WHAT they offer you..."Only an hour presentation"...you will be stuck there for 4-5 hours. No joke!
They are EVERYWHERE. In restaurants, in hotel lobbys...ugh.
But yeah, my vote is on the Outer Banks. Take a boat tour/cruise, do some dolphin sight seeing, loads of fun for the whole family.
I hear you on the Outer Banks....but that seems like it would require more time than a quick day trip. I was talking about some of the areas right along the coast......Emerisle Island, Beaufort, Oriental, etc....where it seems like you could leave Raleigh in the AM and be home in the PM. The cities that I named may not even be beach areas, per se. I just went to MAPQUEST.COM and saw them listed within reasonable promiximity to route 70, so I figured I'd ask.
Oh okay, that narrows it down a bit.
Beaufort is nice, touristy, very pretty. Not sure about the beaches, I went on a cruise/sightseeing tour which was fun, didnt see any dolphins though so I was disappointed.
I liked Emerald Isle. I went camping there about a year ago, it was alot of fun. There's quite a few things for kids to do as well, if you have children.
Atlantic Beach is good, Wrightsville is fun too, Wilmington has alot of places to eat/shop and some touristy things as well. For my day trips to the beach, I always hit up Wrightsville & Kure Beach (as previously mentioned).
If you are looking for a weekend excursion, definately hit up Myrtle Beach. There are enough hotels there that are competitive in price, you can find a really good hotel deal. I highly recommend Long Bay Resort.
Kids love it!
Not only are they beautiful, but the historic things you can do & see is totally worth the vacation!
Just whatever you do....don't get suckered in to one of the time share deals no matter WHAT they offer you..."Only an hour presentation"...you will be stuck there for 4-5 hours. No joke!
They are EVERYWHERE. In restaurants, in hotel lobbys...ugh.
But yeah, my vote is on the Outer Banks. Take a boat tour/cruise, do some dolphin sight seeing, loads of fun for the whole family.
The Outer Banks are beautiful, and not crowded. But it's a 4 hours drive to get there
I hear you on the Outer Banks....but that seems like it would require more time than a quick day trip. I was talking about some of the areas right along the coast......Emerisle Island, Beaufort, Oriental, etc....where it seems like you could leave Raleigh in the AM and be home in the PM. The cities that I named may not even be beach areas, per se. I just went to MAPQUEST.COM and saw them listed within reasonable promiximity to route 70, so I figured I'd ask.
I hear you on the Outer Banks....but that seems like it would require more time than a quick day trip. I was talking about some of the areas right along the coast......Emerisle Island, Beaufort, Oriental, etc....where it seems like you could leave Raleigh in the AM and be home in the PM. The cities that I named may not even be beach areas, per se. I just went to MAPQUEST.COM and saw them listed within reasonable promiximity to route 70, so I figured I'd ask.
Your best bet would be take 70 e into Morehead then go to atlantic beach take a left and head to Fort Macon national Seashore. They have puplic access and rest rooms and showers, you can also check out the fort. choice of sitting by the rock jetty or on sound and inlet side of the water. nice dunes and well kept area, No alcoholic beverages allowed from Cary its three hour ride. Only place at coast closer is Wrightsville and thats for been built up and to crowded full of posers. you can get there in a little over two hours down I40.. also Oriental is not really a beach it is a sailing community on the lower Neuse River its well inland just down from Newbern.
The 40 traffic is quite variable. It can be a breeze the entire way sometimes, and sometimes leaving Raleigh/entering Wilmington is a nightmare. I'm a Wilmingtonian and personally I've never found Raleigh traffic too bad. Wilmington traffic is a nightmare on the other hand. You have crazy drivers that go fast and wreck that cause congestion, the people and tourists that decide to go 5 miles per hour and create a giant traffic jam, college students, and all in between. People can say it's not bad but it's bad. Especially since the Wilmington Area is growing, and the tourists that come increase the population significantly. Also, it's a car city. Almost everyone drives. Just the other day at 11:30 the traffic coming onto Wrightsville Beach from Wilmington was bumper to bumper for at least 4 miles. It wasnt a holiday, nor summer yet. The 4 mile car train was created in around 5 minutes. Wrecks cause traffic too. If you live in Wilmington car insurance rates are higher because of the frequency of them. So yes, Wilmington traffic is bad no matter what anyone tells you.
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