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March 25, 2007
Getting out of town for the weekend
One of the things I like to do shortly after I get a vehicle is to take it on some kind of shakedown cruise. In other words, take off down the road for a few days and make sure I've got everything setup the way I want and there aren't any flaws that need fixing. A shakedown cruise is a great way get comfortable with the vehicle (on which side is the gas cap? are the side mirrors positioned correctly?) and let the vehicle get comfortable with you.
I've just gotten back from the Bronco's shakedown cruise, a run out to Cedar Island, NC — right were they stopped building bridges and still rely on ferries.
Now, most folks like to say that they are pretty good drivers — not me. No one is going to ask me to drive in the Indy 500 and I hate congested traffic on the highways — especially when I'm lost. But like a lot of folks, I do like to head out on the open road every once and a while, even if I don't hit a perfect line in the curves. According to Google Maps, the round trip should have been 260 miles, but with side trips and going in to Beaufort to eat, I clocked in about 370 miles and burned about $55 worth of gasoline.
So am I a gas guzzling idiot or a rational, fun-loving American?. Well, both ... duh.
Goldsboro to Havelock was pretty routine and the traffic wasn't too bad for a pre-season Saturday afternoon — although the traffic got heavier as I neared Havelock. The Bronco did well with the highway driving, although the tire noise was a little noticeable. For music, I had my iPod connected through a cassette tape adaptor, and that worked well.
Around Havelock I disregarded Google's advice and continued on US 70 instead of turning off on NC 101. So I had to bumble along with the traffic through Havelock and Morehead City and Beaufort. Slog, slog, slog past ugly strip development and boxes of ticky tacky.
What finally made the trip worthwhile was finally getting out of the Beaufort area and heading North through coastal US 70.
US 70 turns into an old-style two lane highway that twists and turns as it follows the coastline. You get stretches of pine-walled nothing-but-road broken up by picturesque vistas of the sound and small villages that have yet to be ravened by modern coastal building trends.
The scenery continued as I turned off 70 onto NC 12, which leads up to Cedar Island. There are some great straight sections that cut through the marshes and some nice curves — including a curving bridge. Some times along the marshes there will be a few exotic looking (to a suburban kid like me, anyway) fishing birds. The scenery was a welcome change and I had to fight the urge to play tourist.
At the end of the road (almost literally) the hotel, the Driftwood Motel (embedded music, sorry), was very much the authentic old-style NC coastal experience (this is kind of hard to describe, but you know you are at the beach and not some city somewhere).
The staff was pleasant and the rooms were clean and comfortable in an old-fashioned way. To make up for not having the restaurant open, the manager gave me a basket with some bagels, muffins, coffee filters and a can of orange juice. Then he moved a microwave into the room so I would be able to heat the bagels.
I went to the ferry's office to see if I could get over to Ocracoke and then back again that day, but of course found that time and tide wait for no man. There was a ferry leaving in a few hours, but it wouldn't be back until the next day.
Which left open the question -- where to go for dinner?
I really should have just found a pizza place or something by the side of the road, but I hated to get so close to Beaufort's Front Street and not stop by. So after a walk around the area and a short rest, I climbed back into the Bronco and headed for Beaufort.
Beaufort is an interesting blend of part actual city, part tourist trap and part functional port. Front Street is the heart of that mix. Boats from all over either anchor in the water off Front Street or tie up at the marina, so you have an interesting blend of locals, inland tourists (me!), and recreational boaters from all over. An added attraction is the older homes (some now bed and breakfast inns), some dating from the 1700s.
I ended up at the Spouter Inn for dinner, which has its own bakery and a manager that looks and sounds a bit like former President Clinton.
They also have a decent beer and wine selection and great dinner rolls. I had a bowl of clam chowder and a seafood pasta dish with alfredo sauce, both of which were executed very well. Neither were exactly what I expected, but the surprises were pleasant.
After dinner I drove back up to Cedar Island, retired early and woke early. I did indeed heat one of the bagels, left the key in the room as instructed, and headed back home.
On the return trip I did take NC 101 and that was a much better experience, bypassing Beaufort, Morehead City and most of Havelock.
If you are interested in reading more about North Carolina's highways (rural and otherwise), check out NCRoads.com and North Carolina Highway Begins/Ends.