Part 4: Down to the Low Country

• Next stop was the Outer Banks of North Carolina where we stayed for a week. I had been there nearly 20 years ago, but Rhonda was seeing it all for the first time. While campground prices in the Outer Banks can be pricey, the weekly rate at the OBX Campground in Kill Devil Hills was only $200 (http://www.obxcampground.com/). With huge lots with elbow room between your neighbors, a view of the water with a dock and well-maintained bathrooms this was one of the best campgrounds we have stayed at. I also have to plug Billy's Seafood less than half a mile away where we stopped several times to pick up some the freshest and suprisingly inexpensive locally caught fish for dinner on the grill (http://www.billysseafoodobx.com/).

• There was plenty in the Outer Banks to keep us busy for a week. Since it is on a barrier island the chain has its share of lighthouses and we went to four of them; Currituck Lighthouse, Bodie Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Ocracoke Lighthouse. We went all the way down to the south end where a ferry takes you across to Ocracoke Island and just happened to stumble across the Blackbeard Pirate Festival in Ocracoke where this mock ship battle was going on.  

Currituck Lighthouse

Bodie Lighthouse

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Ocracoke Lighthouse

Blackbeard Festival in Ocracoke

• On Roanoke Island between the Outer Banks and the mainland, we went to the quaint little town of Manteo and then up to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site where an early colony was founded and then mysteriously disappeared when the founder returned from England three years later. We spent a couple hours wandering through the Elizabethan Gardens right next to Fort Raleigh with its manicured grounds and statues.  

Garden statue in the Elizabethan Gardens

Macro photo of flowers in the Elizabethan Gardens

• Back in Kill Devil Hills we wandered all around the memorial where the Wright Brothers made their first manned flights. Now the area is covered in grass and even a few prickly pear cactuses, but back in Wright Brother's days it was only sand dunes and was selected for the consistent winds that blow through the area.
• Recreational activities have been drawing mainlanders to the Outer Banks for years. While fishing is still a very hot activity in the area, water fowl hunting used to be a major draw. The Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve has a free museum where this history is explored and then you can wander the grounds of the Whalehead Club and imagine what it must have been like to be part of the well-to-do crowd coming to the Outer Banks in the early days for recreation. 

Whalehead Club on Currituck Bank

Cactus on Currituck Banks

Turtle Stretching

• Just a little ways north of the Outer Banks in Grandy, NC is the Weeping Radish Farm Restaurant, Brewery and Butchery (http://www.weepingradish.com/index.php). As its name implies, they are a restaurant where many of the items on the menu are from their own farm or local farms, they brew their own beer and make their own sausages. This restaurant is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it was featured in Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. Unlike most breweries in the US, their focus is German style lager beers and their seasonal Oktoberfest is probably my favorite of that variety of beer.
• Our next stop heading south was Myrtle Beach. We again saw my Aunt Jo since she spends the winters down there and my cousin Jann who lives there year round. We did not spend much time in Myrtle Beach, but I have never seen so many elaborate miniature golf courses in my life, complete with waterfalls, and dry-ice fog. We stayed at Myrtle Beach State Park Campground which was suprisingly close to everything. On a tip from Jo and Jann, we went down to Huntington Beach State Park, which was impressive. This time of year there are migratory birds passing through and I got to see a Roseate Spoonbill, which I haven't seen since I used to work in the Everglades. There were also several Wood Storks and supposed to be alligators, but we did not see any while we were there. There is also the Atalaya Castle that was built as a winter home for industrialist Archer Huntington in the 1930's. 

Roseate Spoonbill

Atalaya Castle

• We liked Charleston, SC so much that instead of just passing through on our way south, we decided to stay a few days. I hadn't expected it to feel "tropical" until we got farther south, but with saw palmettos growing everywhere and spanish moss dripping from the huge live oak trees that formed a canopy over the roadways so dense that only filtered sunlight came through, the environment felt very different than just a little farther north. Culturally, Charleston has a lot going for it as well. There is so much history in that part of the country and much of it has been preserved. We did take a carriage ride through the historic district and I am glad we did, since our tour guide was able to provide the significance of the history that we wouldn't have been able to get if walking on our own. For example, much of the spikey ironwork on some of the estates, was not merely for decoration, but was to protect the estates from a potential slave revolt which was a fear in those days. 

Charleston Cemetery

• We also got acquainted with "Low Country Food" which is making a resurgence at some of the finest restaurants in town. Really its just soul food that has been prepared for years that is now becoming avant garde; things like fried okra, collard greens, grits, fried ... anything, shrimp gumbo. Prior to coming to Charleston, our search for good seafood restaurants without breaking the bank was hitting a dry spell as we found even highly recommended places were serving previously frozen and breaded items. Just south of Charleston we found Gilligan's. They had some of the best freshly prepared yet inexpensive seafood around (www.gilligans.net).
• We also enjoyed the trip down Wadmalaw Island south of Charleston to go to the Charleston Tea Garden and take the free tour to find out how tea is grown and prepared along with some tastings (www.charlestonteaplantation.com). Then we stepped up the octane and went to the Firefly Distillery and were pleasantly suprised by their tea-infused vodka and the lemon vodka made with natural lemon (http://www.charlestonwine.com/firefly.php). Rounding out the trip we stopped at Angel Oak to see this impressive 1500 year old tree that is still alive and growing today with its 17,000 square foot canopy. We even saw one of the elusive white squirrels at Angel Oak which are very rare elsewhere. 

Angel Oak

Elusive White Squirrel

• We spent a half day hiking through the Caw Caw Interpretive Center south of Charleston as well. This park is only open Wednesday through Sunday, but is well-worth the trip. In the 1700s and 1800s before cotton became the predominant crop, rice was grown in flooded bogs that were dug by slaves. Today some of the area has returned to woodland and some has returned to marsh but throughout the park the maze of waterways remains and supports all kinds of wildlife. As you can imagine there all kinds of birds that stop here, but this is also excellent habitat for alligators. I didn't realize that alligators can occur as far north as the Alligator River in North Carolina, but as we looked for alligators on our way south, this was the first place that they seemed to be abundant.