Gallivanting Grandma

Road Trip – Day 4: Thursday, March 31^st

It was drizzling in the morning when we woke up. The wind had decreased, but it was gray, overcast, and foggy. I looked out at the raging sea and was glad that we weren’t camping near the beach. We checked out of the hotel and drove south along the Outer Banks roadway along miles of beach front houses. We were on our way to see “Kitty Hawk” which was the popular name for the place that Orville and Wilbur Wright made their famous first flight in 1903.

Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitors Center

We turned onto the air field which is now the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Inside the visitors center are two replicas of the famous bi-planes and displays showing the tools and explaining how the Wright Brothers accomplished their historical flights. Orville made the first powered airplane flight in the world and officially started the quest to fly further, higher and faster.

Kitty Hawk Field

It had stopped raining and huge gray clouds were blowing by. Out on the grassy field there was a large stone marking the spot where the first four flights were launched from an iron rail. To the right of the stone were four smaller stones marking the spots where the flights landed. The first stone was a mere 120 feet away, but marked one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind.

Commemorative Plaque

At the far end of the field was a huge stone monument to the Wright Brothers. It was built on top of Kil Devil Hill in the shape of a giant wing. The display made the point that the Wright Brothers made their accomplishments, not by luck or mere chance, but by systematic scientific experimentation. The view from the top of the hill was good, but would have been better on a clear day. At least it wasn’t raining!

Monument on Kil Devil Hill

We walked back to the car and drove to a large sculptural scene commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight in bronze. It was whimsical and a good visual display of the first 20 seconds of flight.

Metal Commemorative Statue

It was after noon when we left Kitty Hawk and since we had skipped breakfast, we looked for a place to have lunch. We could not pass up the brightly painted yellow house advertising genuine “Southern Cuisine”. I passed up the hush puppies, collard greens, and “cheesy grits” and had a good salad for lunch. Jeff had the house special meatloaf with boiled potatoes and lemonade.

Firefly Restaurant Sign

Fortified, we continued south on Highway 158 toward Nags Head. This town got its name from the practice of Outer Banks pirates who tied lanterns around the heads of their horses to simulate boats bobbing at anchor. The lanterns lured passing ships onto shore, where they ran aground on the offshore sandbars.

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

Just south of Nags Head, we turned off the road, onto Highway 64, toward Manteo. The historic port of Manteo on Roanoke Island was named after the Native American Indian who helped the early colonists survive on the island. We were going to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island.

Excavation on Roanoke Island

This was the place where the first colony from England was established in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh. The colony was not a success and the survivors returned to England. In 1587 another group of 110 colonists arrived at Fort Raleigh. They lost contact with England and, three years later, they all unfortunately disappeared without a trace. No one knows what became of this group of early colonists.

Ancient Tree

Today there is a water-front theater which presents a dramatization of the events of the ill-fated settlement. Down the road, at the Roanoke Island Festival Park, there is a full-sized square-rigged replica of the Elizabeth II, which is the type of ship that carried colonists here from England 400 years ago.

Theater by the Sea

After visiting Roanoke Island, we returned to Route 12 and continued driving south. Cape Hatteras National Seashore stretches for 75 miles along the Atlantic Ocean and the three main islands: Bodie, Hatteras, and Ocracoke are nature preserves which are protected from development.

The road is almost perfectly straight with sand dunes and water on both sides of the highway. There are also three historic lighthouses along the coast.

At about the middle of Hatteras Island, just past the town of Avon, we stopped off at the visitors center of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The black and white striped lighthouse was built in 1870 and, at 208 feet tall, it is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States. When it was built, it was about a quarter mile from the water, but by 1995, it was only 120 feet from the ocean because of erosion. In 1999, the National Park Service lifted the 3,000 ton lighthouse onto rails and moved it a quarter mile inland, where it rests today.

Hatteras Lighthouse

Since I am a Weather Channel fanatic, this was a very exciting place to be! All across the southeastern United States, hurricane season begins in June and lasts through November. More dangerous than the high winds of a hurricane is a storm surge – a dome of ocean water that can be 20 feet high and 50 to 100 miles wide. I could understand why most of the houses on Cape Hatteras were built on tall stilts.

We reached the end of Hatteras Island and the end of Route 12. In order to continue south, we had to take the free state-run ferry across the bay to Ocracoke Island. The ferry runs every half hour from 5 AM to midnight and shuttles cars and people across the inlet of Pamlico Sound. The temperature was about 50 degrees but overcast and windy. Large gray clouds rolled by overhead.

It was getting late and we debated staying overnight in the small town of Hatteras on the south end of the island.

The Town of Hatteras, North Carolina

We checked our cell-phones and the accommodations sounded better on Ocracoke, so we boarded the next ferry for the 40 minute ride.

The View From the Ferry

We arrived in Ocracoke at 4:30 in the afternoon. The Hatteras ferry terminal on Ocracoke is located at the north end of the island and it is a long 18 mile drive through this part of the National Seashore to the town.

Almost immediately, as we drove off the ferry boat, we noticed no connection on our cell phones. We had been tracking the journey on our iPhones and, for the first time on this trip, we read “no signal” on the top of the screen. Could there really be NO cell-phone coverage on Ocracoke Island?!! It was inconceivable to us!

We had used our cell phones and their Internet capabilities for everything from finding restaurants and hotels to tracking our journey and using the GPS map to follow the right roads. Also we communicated with our family via phone and e-mail. How could we survive without our phones?!  I had promised my brother that I would check-in with him in the evening.  How could I call him with NO Service?!

Ocracoke Island Harbor

Fortunately, we had researched (via the iPhone) Ocracoke hotels while we waited for the ferry, so we knew which hotels were the best and which were still available. We drove to the town and found the Captain’s Landing.

We checked in and made ourselves at home. Our accommodations were a good-sized one bedroom suite with full kitchen and 1 and ½ bathrooms. The living room and the bedroom had large picture windows overlooking the lovely harbor. They normally rented by the week, but during the off-season they rented their apartments nightly. We decided that this would be a perfect place to stay for a week to rest and relax, far away and cut off from the rest of the world.

The View From The Captain’s Landing

Several menus from local restaurants were left in the kitchen for guests to choose from. We picked Howard’s Pub and drove there for dinner. It was drizzling when we arrived at the restaurant. Howard’s was a fun place which was decorated with neon beer signs, college pennants, and license plates and stickers from all over the U.S.  Bouncy Caribbean music was playing loudly. The menu stated that they served 200 different kinds of beer.  I had North Carolina crab cakes and pear cider.  Yum!

Interior of Howard’s Pub

It was foggy and raining lightly when we left Howard’s Pub and we made it back to the Captain’s Landing just before the heavy rains started. I cranked up the thermostat to 74 degrees and we watched satellite television. There was still “no service” on our computers and phones.  We were on a remote stormy island, cut off from the rest of the world.  It poured most of the night, but it was so peaceful and quiet that I slept for 10 straight hours.

Road Trip – Day 3 Wednesday, March 30th

We enjoyed a pleasant night in Virginia Beach and wondered if the resort was over-crowded in the summer. We enjoyed the Residence Inn’s free breakfast and checked out about 10:30. It was a pleasant drive south along Atlantic Avenue and then west across the bridge on Route 149. The weather forecast predicted rain for the next two days, so we debated the options. The Outer Banks and Cape Hatteras were exposed to the elements and were really outdoor places to visit. Neither of us wanted to “bail out” now, so we proceeded with our original plan to follow the coastal route south. We decided to go to the Outer Banks despite the gentle rain that was falling on the windshield. There was a more “interesting” route on the map, but it involved another ferry ride and we decided it would not be much fun in the rain.

Sunrise Over the Atlantic

Our journey continued on Princess Anne Road which went through a suburban area for about half an hour all the way to Route 168 South. We crossed into North Carolina just north of a village called Moyock. There was a Welcome Center at the side of the road and we stopped for a map of North Carolina. Armed with maps, printed information, and freebies, we continued south to Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We drove across the narrow bridge over the wide Intercoastal Waterway and onto the barrier island.

Desolate Beach Community

Here was another “beach community” but not like the other colonies we saw in New Jersey, Delaware, or Maryland. The houses were smaller and all of them were on stilts. They were not freshly painted, but were covered by dark “weathered” brown boards. The houses along the Atlantic Ocean side were nestled in the sand and seemed to be part of the sand bars, like driftwood cast along the high-water line on the beach. We wondered how the houses survived the constant winds and storms and hurricanes of this region.

A Beach House Overlooking the Atlantic

After another web-search of local hotels, we settled on a Hilton Garden Inn just north of Kitty Hawk. It was a clean and comfortable high-rise hotel located on the beach. Our room had a side-ways view of the sand and surf.

The weather deteriorated as the day progressed. By the time we were ready for lunch, rain was falling heavily. Jeff found a North Carolina bar-b-que restaurant across the street from the hotel and we drove there in the pouring rain. The lunch special at High Cotton was $5.99 for a meat entrée (pork or chicken), hush puppies, and two sides. The most interesting choices of sides were: chicken & pastry, collard greens, and Brunswick stew. Jeff quickly looked up the stew on his iPhone so we knew what it was.

North Virginia Dare Trail

According to Wikipedia, Brunswick stew is a traditional southeastern dish made up of a variety of vegetables (okra, corn, lima beans, tomatoes, etc) and meat: squirrel, rabbit, chicken, etc. I ordered it anyway. It was a veggie stew with a few chunks of meat. I didn’t ask what kind of meat! I thought since there weren’t many trees in the Outer Banks there probably weren’t too many squirrels. Jeff said it tasted like ‘possum. But what does he know? He’s a city boy from NY.

Life Saving Station

After lunch, I suggested that we take a ride north to Duck, North Carolina. It was raining very hard by this time and it was quite windy. The temperature had reached 44 degrees, so it was still cold. We drove for a little while, but then decided to return to the hotel to stay dry and warm. We hunkered down for the night, listening to the rain and wind, and were glad that we weren’t camping.

Road Trip – Day 2: Tuesday March 29th

Our room in Cape May was warm and toasty, so it was shocking to step out to a windy, cold morning. The day was bright and sunny. The car thermometer told us it was 39 degrees outside.

Cape May Houses Overlooking the Beach

I had wanted to walk around Cape May to look at the beautifully restored Victorian houses, but it was too cold. One exciting note: the forsythias were in full bloom here in southern New Jersey! This was our first sign of spring.

Cape May Victorian Houses

We drove through a few streets and admired the architecture of the houses, most of which had been converted to B&Bs. Then we stopped at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House on Ocean Avenue for breakfast and coffee.

Pancake House – Few Customers

The plan was to take the Cape May – Lewes Ferry at 11:00 AM. We had an extra half hour for exploration so we drove to the end of the Cape to see the famous lighthouse.

The ferry, which has regularly scheduled trips year-round, travels from Cape May, New Jersey to Lewes, Delaware across the mouth of Delaware Bay.

Cape May – Lewes Ferries

The trip takes 90 minutes and costs about $30.00 for a car and two people. It was too cold to stand outside while the ship moved through the white-capped waves, so we sat inside. The trip was uneventful, which Jeff said is a positive comment for any boat ride.

On Board the Ferry

On the other side of the bay is Lewes, Delaware which is a sport-fishing center today. Historically, Lewes was a whaling port, settled in 1631 by the Dutch West India Company. We easily found highway Route 1 and followed it eastward to Dewey Beach. There were rows of well-maintained summer houses and summer colonies along the road. We could see the high sand dunes at the end of the short streets. We continued south past Delaware Seashore State Park which stretches south to the Maryland border.

Route 1 became Route 528 in Maryland and was bordered on both sides by lovely summer houses and condos. We decided that a lot of people must love the beach! It seemed excessive, to us, to own a beautiful summer house and leave it to the harsh elements of winter for many months. We continued through Ocean City, Maryland. We had been to Ocean City several summers ago and thought it was a gaudy and tacky place. Now, without noisy people and away from the glitzy boardwalk amusements, it seemed peaceful and tame. We drove on….

I had read about Assateague Island National Seashore and had always wanted to visit it, but we decided that it was too cold to hike outdoors. Although it was sunny, the temperature was only 44 degrees. We continued west on Route 50 for about eight miles to Route 113 south. One of our travel guides stated that the road goes through dark cypress swamps along the Pocomoke River.

Main Street into Berlin, Maryland

I suggested that we stop at a small village named Berlin and walk around a little. The town, with a population of about 3,500 people, has 47 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Berlin, Maryland

It is a well-preserved town with many redbrick buildings which are now antique shops. In the center of Berlin is the landmark Atlantic Hotel, built in the 1890s. The row of rocking chairs along the open-air front porch invited us to have lunch in the historic dining room.

In Front of the Atlantic Hotel

This was my last chance to have real, genuine delicious Maryland crab cakes in Maryland! Jeff had wonderful fresh fish tacos and southern iced tea.

Main Street – Berlin, Maryland

After lunch, we continued south on US-13 through eastern Maryland and into the state of Virginia. We by-passed the famous Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge because of the cool temperature. I would love to see the wild ponies, some day in the future. Virginia’s Eastern Shore has been called one of the most isolated regions in the country, and its small towns and villages remain the same as they have been for centuries.

Accomac, Virginia

Although the area is mostly rural and undeveloped, there are numerous historic sites including colonial-era plantations and archaeological remains of Native American tribes. In contrast, along Route 13 there are also huge chicken processing plants and bright yellow-painted road-side stands selling fireworks, peanuts, cigarettes, and ham.

Main Street – Accomac

When we entered Accomac County, I told Jeff that I wanted to see the colonial town of Accomac. Today it has a population of 547 people and is called “one of the most photogenic spots on the Eastern Shore”. There is a site on the Internet with a suggested walking tour complete with warnings not to peek into resident’s windows.

1780s Accomac Debtor’s Prison

I wanted to see Accomac because I have ancestors who were born in Accomac County after their parents arrived in the Virginia Colony from England. I will have to return someday to do more genealogical research and explore this wonderful historic area.

Restored Colonial House in Accomac, VA.

It was getting late and by 5:30 we decided to continue driving south through the Eastern Shore toward the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. This is truly one of the most impressive engineering marvels on the East Coast.

Along the Access Road to the Chesapeake Bridge/Tunnel

It opened in 1964 at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and was expanded in 1997 with twin bridges. It is almost 18 miles long and consists of one high-level bridge, two deep tunnels, four islands, and many miles of raised causeway. It is a lot of fun to drive over and under this bridge/tunnel!

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge

After the toll plaza, we continued east US-60 along Atlantic Avenue passing through the woods of First Landing State Park. Early colonists landed at Virginia Beach on April 26, 1607, before settling upriver at Jamestown.

For the first time on this trip, we ran into traffic on the way into the city of Virginia Beach. According to the Internet, this is Virginia’s most populous and fastest-growing city, and is the one and only beach resort in the state. Ten story hotels line Atlantic Avenue along the ocean. The buildings look new and the city looks prosperous. Jeff and I cruised down the avenue looking for a good hotel for the night. We parked in an outdoor parking lot and searched local hotels on the Web.

Cosy Living Room in the Residence Inn

The Marriott Residence Inn seemed reasonable and was close by.  Our room was on the 7^th floor and turned out to be a large two-room suite with a generous kitchen area. The suite was spotlessly clean and the entire building looked new.  The best features were the huge windows overlooking the beach and the ocean. This hotel would be a great place to stay if the weather was a bit warmer.  There was a small balcony outside the living area, but it was too cold and windy to enjoy it.

View From the Hotel

We took a short walk along Atlantic Avenue in the evening to look around. Earlier, during the drive to Virginia, we saw spring flowers blooming. There were bright daffodils, forsythias, cherry blossoms, and other flowering trees, but the air was still too cold to enjoy a long leisurely walk.  The summer people hadn’t arrived yet and the Avenue was deserted.  I feel like the city is watching and waiting and holding its breath in anticipation of warm weather……

Road Trip: Day 1 – Monday March 28:

We left home at a leisurely pace, stopping first at the post office and a local gas station. We were finally on the road at 11:30 AM. It was 34 degrees and sunny with a cloudless bright blue sky. During the first hour, it was an easy drive south along the traffic-free Garden State Parkway.

The Garden State Parkway – Southbound

We planned to leave New York City and “terra cognito” as quickly as possible before taking the slow coastal route. After a couple of hours we left the parkway at the exit to Asbury Park. The road led through a poor neighborhood and past relics of former glory days to the boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean.

The Boardwalk in Asbury Park

It was our first view of the ocean on this trip.  The outside temperature was 42 degrees and there was a stiff west wind blowing. We drove a short distance along the shore road looking for sheltered park benches. Because it was so cold outside, we parked and ate our picnic lunch in the car.

The Atlantic Ocean

Afterwards we took a short ride to the former casino and took a few photographs of the old derelict buildings and then continued south on Route 9.

Circular Building in Asbury Park, NJ

Once we left Asbury Park, the neighborhoods improved. The houses were large and very well maintained. We drove past many miles of beautiful “beach houses” adorned with bright white 3-story porches. The road continued in and out of lovely summer colony ghost towns. There were very few cars along the streets, no people outside, and mostly closed commercial shops. It was amazing to see hundreds of summer colonies along the Jersey shore abandoned for the winter. Somewhere along the road we crossed a bridge and went westward back to the Garden State Parkway to make up some time. We took the Atlantic City exit and drove eastward toward the ocean again. We noted the ugly commercial billboards and tacky hotels before heading south along Ocean Drive.

Gateway to Atlantic City

After a while, we arrived in Margate, the home of Lucy the Elephant. She is a six-story building in the shape of an elephant! It was built in the 1880s by a real estate developer who wanted to attract customers to the community. There were a couple of people looking down from the cupola on her back. Lucy looked freshly painted and ready for a new season. We took a few photos and continued south.

Lucy In Margate

All day, there were few cars and fewer people along the road. There seemed to be an endless ribbon of bright gray and white beach houses. We drove into North Wildwood and then past Wildwood, NJ. There were more stores, bars, motels, and restaurants which were closed for the season. They seemed to be silently waiting for the warm weather of summer and the flocks of city-people. We decided to continue to Cape May.

We arrived in Cape May about 7:15 PM. The sun was setting and it was still cold and windy. This was our second time in this lovely Victorian village. We drove to the beach, parked the car, and turned to our iPhones to find a place to stay for the night. Trip Advisor recommended The Victorian Motel as its #1 hotel in Cape May, so we drove around the corner to see if it had a room for the night!

The man in the old-fashioned office was friendly and courteous. He said he thought he could accommodate us with a room with two double beds for $50. I think we were his only customers and that was their off-season rate! It was an old fashioned motel-type room, but spotlessly clean. We happily checked in, unloaded our bags, and walked down to Washington Street for dinner.

On the corner was The Ugly Mug Pub and we decided to have “pub grub” for dinner. Their $10.99 special turned out to be delicious and so much food that we couldn’t finish. Jeff had clam chowder followed by a gigantic kielbasa sandwich on Italian hero bread with sauerkraut, coleslaw, and fries. I had chicken soup and a Maryland crab cake with apple sauce and a fresh green salad. Yummm.

It was very cold and windy during the short walk back to the motel. The village was deserted and we were the only people on the quiet dark streets. Like all of us, the village of Cape May was waiting for spring. Perhaps this was the last frigid blast of north winds before a warm sultry summer and the happy buzz of summer vacationers?