Our Life - Travel Guides & Photography » Coastal NC

Cape Fear Coast, North Carolina

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:29:40 +0000

A Cape is a piece or point of land, extending beyond the adjacent coast into the sea or a lake. If you see the map of Wilmington, North Carolina, you would notice how a piece of land extends into the Atlantic Ocean. This head land is called Cape Fear and it consists mainly of barrier islands along the coast of NC. Cape Fear River is a black water river which empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear.

Cape Fear Coast

New Hanover Beaches of North Carolina include the following coastal cities and beaches :-

Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Figure Eight Island, Top Sail Beach and Surf City.

The region around Cape Fear Coast of North Carolina consists of the following beaches – Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches and the historic town of Wilmington.

Pleasure Island is a small barrier island on the Cape Fear coast of NC, south of Wilmington. It is home to Kure Beach, Carolina Beach and Historic Fort Fisher.

If you are planning to visit this part of North Carolina, you can choose to visit few of the following attractions. Our trip to Coastal NC was only for 3 days and we covered a few interesting places. Click on the links to view photos from our trip.

Kure Beach/Fort Fisher is home to the following attractions:-

NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher
Fort Fisher State Historic Site
Fort Fisher/SouthPort Ferry – Enjoy the beautiful scenic cruise between Fort Fisher and South Port.
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area – Swimming is permitted and there are life guards on duty. There are public changing rooms and showers.
Fort Fisher Civil War Fort and Museum

Wilmington is home to the following attractions:-

Battleship North Carolina Memorial
Airlie Gardens
Cape Fear Museum of History and Science
Cape Fear Serpentarium
Bellamy Mansion Museum and Gardens
Henrieta III/ Cape Fear River Boats, Inc
Greenfield Park and Gardens
Poplar Grove Historic Plantation

Carolina Beach

Carolina Beach State Park
Boardwalk Carolina Beach and Amusement Park
Carolina Beach Lake Park and Paddle Boats
Freeman Park

Wrightsville Beach

It remains crowded until October since it is close to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Wrightsville Beach Museum of History
Wrightsville beach Scenic Tours
Shell Island Bird Walk

SouthPort

North Carolina Maritime Museum – A must see according to reviews but we didn’t get time to cover it.
South Port to Fort Fisher Ferry

Useful Websites

Brunswick Plantation and Golf resort

admin — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:15:25 +0000

During our visit to North Carolina beaches, we stayed at a wonderful resort called Brunswick Plantation and Golf Resort in Calabash, North Carolina. Calabash is a small town situated on North Carolina and South Carolina border. It is known as the SeaFood Capital of the World. Brunswick County is well known for it’s Golf Courses. In fact, the amount of top-quality courses has earned the Cape Fear Coast and Brunswick Islands the name “Golf Coast”.

We were searching for some good resort near Myrtle Beach or Kure Beach. That’s when I found this hidden gem of a place. The rates were too good to be true. The resort photos looked beautiful and the reviews were excellent. The resort has 3 types of rooms:- Efficiency (1 bedroom with kitchenette), 1 bedroom condos and 2 bedroom condos. We went ahead and booked a one bedroom with kitchenette through Orbitz. We got it for an amazing rate of $65/night. The room was perfect with 2 Queen Beds, a jacuzzi, a kitchenette equipped with necessary cookware and a nice bathroom.

This resort is just 20 minutes from North Myrtle Beach, SC and around 45 minutes to SouthPort, NC. We visited all the nearby places and had a wonderful stay. Sunset beach is very close to the resort. So don’t miss the Sunset when you are staying here. The seafood restaurants at Calabash are also a must try.

Click here to visit the website for Brunswick Villas.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos.

North Carolina Beaches

admin — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:46:27 +0000

North Carolina’s beautiful coast stretches from northern Outer Banks to Brunswick Beaches of the south and includes some of the finest beaches on the Eastern Coast.

Brunswick County Beaches of North Carolina include the following:-

Bald Head Island, South Port, Caswell Beach, Oak Island, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach and Calabash.

New Hanover Beaches of North Carolina include:-

Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Figure Eight Island, Top Sail Beach and Surf City.

Cape Fear Coast of North Carolina consists of the following beaches – Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches and the historic town of Wilmington.

Pleasure Island is a small barrier island on the coast of NC, south of Wilmington. It is home to Kure Beach, Carolina Beach and Historic Fort Fisher.

We decided to visit the southern coast of North Carolina bordering South Carolina. We covered a few places from New Hanover Beaches and Brunswick Beaches during our trip.

Historic town of Wilmington - home to World War II Battleship NC
SeaSide Village of South Port – famous for it’s Ferry to Fort Fisher
Calabash town - Seafood capital of the world
Kure Beach - home to NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and Fort Fisher Recreation Area
Carolina Beach
Sunset Beach - white powder beach well known for it’s red and gold sunset

We stayed at a beautiful Golf Resort in Calabash named Brunswick Plantation and Golf Resort. If you are visiting NC Brunswick County or Myrtle Beach, SC area, you can stay at this beautiful resort. It is conveniently located between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. On the first day of our trip, we visited the town of Wilmington and Battleship North Carolina. On the second day, we went to South Port and took the ferry to Fort Fisher – southern most part of Pleasure Island. We visited NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and then headed of to Carolina Beach and had lunch from Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar – a casual restaurant serving the best local sea food. In the afternoon, we went to Fort Fisher Recreation Area and enjoyed swimming. The Recreation Area has free changing rooms and showers and there are Life Guards on duty. During late evening, we went to Sunset Beach to capture a glimpse of the Sunset. Sunset Beach is less crowded and the sand is white and very fine. We enjoyed walking on the Board Walk after paying $1/person.

Here are some photos of Kure Beach, Carolina Beach and Sunset Beach.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos.

NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:36:13 +0000

During our Trip to Coastal Carolinas, we visited NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher. Fort Fisher is a part of North Carolina’s barrier island called Pleasure Island on Cape Fear Coast. This was our second visit to an aquarium after visiting the enormous Georgia aquarium earlier this year.

This aquarium is a small and well organized place. It is not as big as Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta but it has many interesting exhibits such as the Albino Aligator, Amazon Milk Frogs, Pacific Nettles and so on. Kids will definitely love this aquarium. Be sure to plan for atleast 2-3 hours in this aquarium.

Just next to the aquarium is Fort Fisher State Recreation Area where you can go for swimming.

Please visit the offical website of NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

Here are some photos from our trip.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos.

South Port Fort Fisher Ferry

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:20:42 +0000

On our visit to Coastal North Carolina, we happened to visit the small town of SouthPort. Just off the coast of North Carolina is a barrier island called Pleasure Island on Cape Fear Coast. Fort Fisher is a part of Pleasure Island and is home to NC Aquarium, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area and many more attractions.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) operates a vehicle and passenger ferry between Southport and Fort Fisher. This is a year round ferry and costs only $5/vehicles, $1/pedestrians and $2/bicycle riders. The ferry leaves SouthPort almost every hour. The Ferry Visitors Center offers shaded picnic areas and rest rooms. Aboard the ferry, there is an air conditioned lounge or you can just walk around and enjoy the cool breeze as you speed through the waters. Kids will love the wild sea gulls and you can feed them if you wish.

We enjoyed the ferry ride from SouthPort to Fort Fisher thoroughly. It was our first ferry ride with our vehicle.

So if you happen to visit Pleasure Island or SouthPort, be sure to take this 35 minutes ferry ride.

Visit NCDOT website for more details regarding the schedules and rates.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos. Click on the thumbnails to view larger Images.

Battleship North Carolina – Wilmington

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:51:36 +0000

If you happen to visit historic Wilmington, a coastal city of North Carolina, make sure to check out USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. North Carolina has so much to offer for its visitors and residents. Wilmington is around 4 hours drive from Charlotte, NC. There are lot of beaches around the Coastal City of Wilmington.

You will definitely enjoy the time spent at the Battleship. You will travel back in time as you learn more about the World War II Battleship. Be prepared for climbing up and down narrow staircases. All tours are self guided and is well marked. We spent 3 hours over there. It is recommended to allow atleast 2.5 hours to view the entire Memorial at your own pace but you can easily spend half a day there.

The tour begins with an Orientation Film at the Visitors Center. On board, portions of nine decks are open where you can enter gun turrets, inspect the bridge, view officer’s and crew’s quarters, sick bay, engine room, and much more. Visitors discover the life aboard the ship with hotel facilities, diners, movie theater, church, post office, laundry, ice cream shop, soda fountain, newspaper, barber shops and repair shops.

It is open all days of the year, including all holidays.

Summer Hours – 8am to 8pm
Winter Hours – 8am to 5pm

The tickets are $12 for adults.

Please visit the official website of Battleship North Carolina here.

Here are some photos from our trip to the beautiful city of Wilmington.

Here is the Gallery View of all Photos.