Day 23 – Getting colder, 33 degrees this morning, sunny. Having full hook-ups at this campsite made it easier this morning when packing up since we didn’t have to drive over to the dump station before leaving. We discovered the Honda keys were missing, so that was worrisome, but Rob found them on the ground just outside the RV door. Phew! One of us must’ve dropped them. We departed for Carolina Beach, North Carolina at 10:40 a.m.
173miles, (2:35), 33028-33145
We got back on NC Route 17 heading south & east most of the journey. Not too far south of New Bern, we noticed lots of highway repairs going on, then tarps on roofs of buildings, trees down, and then some vacated, damaged homes. As we drove on we saw a sign that said, “We’re Not Scared of Florence. We Are Here to Stay,” Aha! This was one of the places hit by Hurricane Florence last year. From Google: “Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused severe damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding. 53 total fatalities; 137 MPH highest wind speed; $17.9 billion in damage, primarily North & South Carolina and Cape Verde; Category 4 major hurricane.”
Part of the drive bordered Camp Lejuene Marine Corps base & training grounds. As we got closer to the large port city of Wilmington, traffic increased & the highway was lined with shopping centers on both sides. At NC 421, we turned south onto the stretch of land between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. It turned into typical ocean resort territory with rows of pastel-colored homes on stilts, vying for better Ocean views by building additional floors on their homes, stores selling T-shirts & beachwear, Caribbean-themed restaurants, and seafood shacks. A sign for Carolina Beach State Park directed us west on the River side of the peninsula and we drove into the wonderful, peaceful, tree-lined Park.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
We arrived at the State Park at 1:15 p.m. It was 45 degrees and sunny. A sign at the Visitor’s Center said to drive through the campground & campsites that had a green tag on their numbered post were available; sites without a green tag were not available. If you find a site with a green tag & you want to stay there, remove the green tag & take it to the Ranger at the office at the Marina and register. We drove further on the campground road, passing entrances to hiking paths, then entered the campground. One loop was completely closed for the season. The other loop was mostly occupied at the beginning, then there were some sites with a green tag and some without tags. Some of the campsites that had green tags were not very accessible for an RV, either up on a slight hill & not level, or too narrow with trees too close on the sides. Then we passed site #31 and thought maybe we’d fit; we decided to give it a try. I removed the green tag & Rob disconnected the tow car from the RV so he could maneuver the RV better. It was narrow with some roots near the entrance but once we got beyond that, it was a great campsite. We parked the RV and drove in the Honda to the Marina with our green tag in hand, registered for four nights, and headed back to eat lunch. Afterwards we drove to the dump station & got fresh water for the tanks.
We unpacked and settled in. This is a nice campground and our campsite is excellent. The Ranger said they get 800,000 visitors to the Park yearly. This was absolutely the right time for us to come! You can bike the campground roads and boat out of the marina. There are 9 hiking trails, boat launches, and things to do are close by. The Ranger said that the sites that were filled early on in the campground had electric & water hook-ups – that’s why it was more occupied at that end of the loop. There was hardly anyone camping at our end. We like it here.