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Listen to the podcast here:

The Crystal Coast of North Carolina has got it going on! Long known for it’s beautiful, white sand beaches, the area is also loaded with history from before the colonial era. Visit each of the charming fishing villages along the coastline: Beaufort, Morehead City, Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, Swansboro and even the colonial capital, New Bern. Rich with both Civil War, Revolutionary War and even WWII (German U-boats were off the coast trying to bomb our merchant vessels), this area is a history buffs dream.

Hiking the Crystal Coast Trails

None of these hikes are particularly challenging as the coast of NC is pretty flat. Plus the soil is sandy so it’s easy on the joints!  Here are a few of my favorite local hikes:

Hike The Beach on Bogue Banks

You can walk over TWENTY MILES each way along the gorgeous Bogue Banks barrier island.  Just be sure to pay attention to the tides as it is a LOT harder to walk at high tide in the sofe sand.  Much better to walk near low tide!  Here is the local tide table.  There are two bridges to get to the island: one at each end at Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle on Hwy 24/70.  Great year ’round (but dress warmly in winter).

Hike Fort Macon by the Beach

One of my favorite hikes is the 3.2 mile Elliot Coues Nature Trail located at Fort Macon State Park, at the east end of Bogue Banks by the inlet.  The Fort is worth a visit on it’s own, but also take advantage of the beautiful trail that winds through the Maritime Forest (a super cool ecosystem in and of itself) and ends along the ocean before bringing you back to the Fort.  Check out the Events page and try to time your visit with a Nature Hike with a Park Ranger!  Nice year ’round.

Hike Patsy Pond Trail in the Croatan Forest

Take a peaceful walk on the Patsy Pond Trail through the pine forest and bogs offers an opportunity to see carniverous plants such as Venus Fly Trap and Pitcher plants in the low, boggy areas.  This forest is hunted in Oct-Dec so be sure to wear bright orange during these months.  Avoid the summer due to mosquitos.  Best Fall-Spring.

Hike the Coastal Cedar Point Trail

One of my favorite hikes is the Cedar Point Trail, while also in the Croatan forest, is along the White Oak River where the river meets the sea for HUGE water views!  On this short (1.4 mile) but fun trail, you walk over some bridges and boardwalks over the tidal marsh as well as through the forest.  Be on the lookout for egrets and great blue herons!  

At low tide, the abundant fiddler crabs will race to their mud holes as you approach -always comical.  There is also a boat launch (or kayak launch) here, as well as a campground.  There is an island just a quick paddle away that is a great spot for a picnic (and I even took a yoga class there once!). Best Fall-Spring, but if windy, summer may be ok (mosquitos may be present).

Hike the Neusiok Trail by the Neuse River

A great trail by the massive Neuse River.  On the Neusiok Trail you can camp here for FREE!  I would recommend a hammock to sleep as the land is not very level. If you don’t want to hike the entire 20+ miles, you can park a few miles (or even AT the river) and hike as much as you’d like.  There are also three shelters along the trail.  Best Fall-Spring (on the river itself you MAY escape the mosquitos, but no promises:)

This is the trail that I almost killed my Mom by using poor judgement (she was 90 and it was HOT and we entered the woods without water, food, etc. and ended up being out there SEVEN hours!  You can here the saga on the podcast player above).  Anyhow, as promised in the podcast, here is what I bring when I enter ANY woods, no matter HOW INNOCENT LOOKING:

1. Water
2. Power bar or bag of nuts

3. Whistle

4. FIre Starter (I like vaseline (TM) mixed with dryer lint in a plastic zip bag plus a small cigarette lighter

5. Heat blanket – they weigh little and take up little more room than a deck of cards

6. Sunscreen and a hat

7.  If there is any chance of cold, a thermal and a rain jacket

Hike Flanner’s Beach Trail

Short but nice is the Flander’s Beach trail, where you’ll also find a nice campground (paid).  This trail is located between New Bern and Havelock, so if you’ve just arrived and want to stretch your legs before heading to the beach area, take a quick detour off of Hwy 70!

Bike the Crystal Coast

Bring or rent a fat tired bike to ride the trails above.  There are more and more dedicated bike paths throughout the Crystal Coast, especially in Emerald Isle.  In the winter time, I like to ride the length of Bogue Banks along Hwy 58 as there isn’t much traffic.  If you ride your bike along the beach, be sure to rinse it thouroughy to remove the salt and sand(make sure your rental company allows beach riding)!  Also be sure to watch the tide table as riding on soft sand during High Tide wis really tough.  Here’s the local tide table.  Low tide occurs twice a day, so a window of a couple of hours before and after the Low Tide is optimal.

Paddle the Crystal Coast

Hammocks Beach State Park

Kayak or SUP along the marshes, creeks and sound of the Crystal Coast!  There are three blazed Kayak Trails at the beautiful Hammocks Beach State Park.  You can even kayak over to Bear Island and reserve a camp site on either the sound or the ocean!  

If you want to explore the many small islands and grassy marsh lands off the trails, be sure to waterproof your GPS so you can easily find your way back.  All that marsh grass can get confusing!  You can pick up an inexpensive wet bag for your phone.  You can rent kayaks from the Park Service.  There is also a lovely Visitor’s Center with tons of cool displays of the coastal area (FREE – donations gladly accepted).

Beaufort : Carrot Island, Shackelford Banks and The Rachael Carson Reserve

One of my favorite areas to explore by kayak is Taylor’s Creek and the Beaufort area waterways.  You can launch from historic downtown Beaufort and go on a hunt for the wild ponies across the way at Carrot Island.  Explore the beautiful Rachael Carson Reserve, made famous by the book, SIlent Spring, which kick started the environmental movement.  There are several cool little islands, including Carrot Island, to explore.  Bottlenose dolphins are a common sight, as well herons, egrets and other water fowl.

Bring a picnic and head over to Shackelford Banks – always a favorite.  You can even camp here (for FREE) – best Fall – Spring to avoid mosquitos.  Here you’ll see dozens of wild ponies, descendant from old ship wrecked Spanish ships and beautiful beaches.

You can rent kayaks and SUPs at Beaufort Paddle.  

Atlantic Beach 

If you prefer paddling on the beach side, whether for sound or ocean kayaking, check out AB Watersports for your rentals.  They offer not just kayaks and SUPs, but they can also rent you JetSkis, boats (including my favorite, a Pontoon Boat) or you can book with them to go Parasailing!

The “Running Root Estate” video clip shows “The Point” at Emerald Isle. The other is footage of the ocean by Atlantic Beach, shot by my friend Marc Connolly.

Historic New Bern – Gateway to the Crystal Coast

I didn’t discuss New Bern on the podcast, but if you have the time, allow at least one night in this historic area. It has a charming downtown where the Neuse River meets the Trent River. If you stay in the historic district, you can walk to everything.

Whether you are flying in to Raleigh (RDU) or New Bern(EWN), you will need a car to get around, so consider driving if it’s not too far from home.

On your way to the Crystal Coast on Hwy 70, you’ll go through the little town of Havelock, also home of the Cherry Point Marine Corp Air Station. There’s a small visitor exhibit at the Convention Center that is worth a quick stop. And if you are a history buff, before you even get to Havelock there is a Civil War Battlefield exhibit on Hwy 70 on your way out of New Bern.

THINGS TO DO IN NEW BERN

• Visitor’s Center: pick up free self-guided walking tours

The walking tours:  Historic Homes, Revolutionary War, African American Heritage, Churches and Cemeteries, A Walk to Remember (author Nicholas Sparks lives here and often sets his novels in Eastern NC)
• Union Park and walk around downtown, the old churches and cemeteries
• Historic downtown trolley tour
• Tryon Palace – NC’s colonial capital and former Governor’s mansion (rebuilt 150 years after a fire)
• Fireman’s Museum 1922 Fire burned down 1/3 of the city (NC’s largest urban fires)
• New Bern Academy Museum (free) Old Civil War hospital
• Ghosts of New Bern tour (evenings in season)
• New Bern Battlefield Park (site of the battle where the Union took the area in 1862)- Free if self-guided (guided tours available).  This is on the way to the coast, just outside of a development called Taberna.  Site where General Burnsides and his 60 ships and 15,000 troops overtook the local milita and then occupied the area for the remainder of the Civil War.

CRYSTAL COAST : BEAUFORT

Beaufort is a quirky, vibrant former fishing village located on Taylor’s Creek and across from the Beaufort Inlet, which made it an important safe harbor for ships from the colonial days on. It is also on the intra-coastal waterway, so especially during the spring and fall, the yachts come through as they make their way to their summer or winter homes.  Budget Magazine named Beaufort “Coolest Small Town in America” and Travel and Leisure puts it in the Top 20.  Be on the lookout for wild ponies on Carrot Island across the creek, or bottle nosed dolphins and sea turtles in the waterway.

The town has over 300 homes over 100 years old, many from the 1700’s and 1800’s. Look for the historical plaques beside the front doors.

Not only famous for fishing and boat building, but it is also where the feared pirate Blackbeard wrecked his flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. The shipwreck was finally discovered in 1996. You can get the history and see relics at the Maritime Museum (free with suggested donation). The museum is also home of Echo, a sperm whale that beached in the area. His complete skeleton is hanging from the ceiling and his heart was preserved. If a volunteer is around, they will let you touch the heart and smell Echo’s unusual oil (for which they were often hunted). Across the street you can watch wooden ships be repaired or built.

Stop by the Visitor’s Center to visit six fascinating old buildings on site, pick up a map of the Old Burying Ground, or to schedule a historic trolley tour. Be sure to check out the human hair art in the Bell House!  Want something a little more wacky?  Take one of the quirky, historic or culinary bike tours at Hungry Town Tours.

• Visitor’s Center and Historical Buildings tour
♣ Bell House: Mourning Wall: Prof mourners, hair art, certificate, screen
♣ Old Jail: Windows, bankrupt
♣ Oldest Standing wooden courthouse
♣ Faux painting at Manson house
• Old Burying Ground cemetery
• Maritime Museum and Watercraft Museum – Free, donations suggested
o PIRATE INVASION : 2018 marked the 300 year celebration since Blackbeard’s flag ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, sank off the coast of Beaufort, NC:  a celebratory ‘Invasion’ festival held annually.  Remember their motto:  “It takes a village to pillage” .  Re-enactments and LOTS of pirates wandering around.  In fact, it’s not unusual to see a pirate walking around Beaufort any time of the year:).  Maybe you want to go on a pirate ship yourself?  Take a interactive and scenic boat tour and get stormed by an invading pirate ship!  Get details here.
• Beaufort Ghost Walk tour at night, seasonally Beautiful old cemeteries
• Take a scenic cruise. Sunset and Pirate Sunset cruises available
• Take the ferry to Cape Lookout and climb the lighthouse or relax on the beach
• Take the ferry to Shackelford Banks to look for wild horse and explore this natural area
• Rent a kayak or SUP to explore Rachel Carson Reserve (Carrot Island and the wild ponies Doctor 10 =>30)
• Enjoy the harbor front benches, boats, boutiques and restaurants
• Explore Harker’s Island, the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum
• Horseback ride in the ocean waves near the Cedar island ferry
• Take Cedar Island ferry to Ocracoke for a day trip

‘Hoi Toiders’ the Wonderful High TIders of NC

There are a few pockets of North Carolinians who speak a dialect that we locals refer to as “Hoi Toiders (High Tiders)”. Because the Hoi Toider’s descendants lived isolated lives away from the general public, their accents retain much of the original Olde English which over time has morphed into something that often Brits and Americans have difficulty understanding. In the podcast, I tell a humourous story about a misunderstanding with the Hoi Toiders and the Coast Guard during WWII. Watch this YouTube to hear the accent for yourself.  If you visit Harker’s Island, you might just meet a Hoi Toider!

CRYSTAL COAST : MOREHEAD CITY

Where Beaufort has the yachts, Morehead has more of the actual fishing boats. Along the dock, you’ll see the many charter fishing boats alongside the many fine restaurants, art galleries and boutiques.

Morehead City History

Stop in the Visitor’s Center located in the old train depot to pick up self-guided walking maps of the historic Promise’ Land neighborhood located between 10th-15th St. Many of these homes were floated over by barge from a nearby island after the residents got fed up with hurricanes.

Visit the History Museum to learn about coastal life.  Time it right, and you can do a Lunch with a Dash of History, where you hear our local treasure, Rodney Kemp, spin tales of Carteret County days gone by as you enjoy a tasy lunch – a locals favorite!

Morehead City Art Scene

Also pick up the Fish Art walking tour map. The artist hid a little something on each piece. See if you can find it!  Morehead have even had local artists paint thebulky stainless steel boxes that hide the street light contraptions, turning an eyesore into a work of art worth exploring!  Morehead is becoming both a foodie and art destination!

Morehead City Fishing and Waterfront

Often on Friday nights during the summer, there will be free outdoor concerts, Alive at Five, at the park near the Big Rock Weighing Station. Morehead City is home to one of the largest fishing tournament purses: the Big Rock Tournament.

Scuba Diving off the Crystal Coast

Ranked as #1 in North America and in the Top 20 worldwide, the shores of the Crystal Coast offer fantastic scuba diving opportunities off the coast. Called the “Graveyard of the Sea”, there are dozens of shipwrecks to explore in the clear, warm waters with colorful fish. Stop in the Oympus Dive Center to see relics of a Nazi German U Boat that was sunk off the coast.  In Beaufort, check out Discovery Diving.

Time your visit for the fall if you want to check out the huge NC Seafood Festival.  In fact, there’s usually something fun going on.  Check this link to find out what’s happeneing during your visit!

THE BEACHES OF THE CRYSTAL COAST

Stunning, in a word. Nice, clean white sandy beaches that are big and wide in most places. On this part of NC, the land faces south which means you get both sunrises and sunsets over the Atlantic!

Bogue Banks

The inlets at the two ends of Bogue Banks, a barrier island, are particularly beautiful (but you don’t swim there as the current is too strong). On the east end is Fort Macon, an important fort protecting the Beaufort Harbor since the 1800’s up to and including WWII, when German U-boats were patrolling the shore in hopes of sinking the merchant fleet (they damaged or sunk over 100 of our ships).

Fort Macon

Fort Macon has a lovely exhibit which explores the interesting history of the fort, plus you can also walk around it. Bring a picnic to enjoy the scenic point where the Atlantic meets Bogue Sound at the inlet! Walk off lunch by hiking the beautiful path through the maritime forest which eventually leads to the ocean and then loops back to the fort.

Ocean Piers

There are two piers on the ocean: Oceana and Bogue Inlet Fishing piers (visitors can get a temporary license). You can also just walk out to enjoy a drink or snack and watch the waves and fishermen to see what they are catching. Fall is particularly popular for fishing both on the piers and ocean banks.

NC Aquarium

Visit the NC Aquarium located within the maritime forest land donated by Teddy Roosevelt and his wife in Pine Knoll Shores. Learn about coastal waters and the water’s journey from the source in the NC mountains, to the sea. See a 3/4 replica of a German U Boat that we sank during WWII off our shores and check out the most popular star of the aquarium, Nimbus, a rare white loggerhead turtle who hatched on the Crystal Coast in 2007. There’s also a nice walk through the maritme forest.

The Point at Emerald Isle

Bogue Banks is a 21 mile barrier island. On the other end of the island is Emerald Isle, which I consider the prettiest beach on the island. If you like to walk the beach, a gorgeous but long walk is from the Emerald Isle Beach Parking lot all the way to the Point, the inlet where the White Oak River meets the ocean. Head out a couple of hours before low tide so you have time to get out there and back before high tide. IT IS WORTH THE HIKE! Between Labor Day and Memorial Day, if you have four wheel drive, you can buy a permit to drive on the beach, so that’s another way to get there. Mountain bikes at low tide work well, but are rough on the bikes and the local bike rental companies won’t let you do that.

CRYSTAL COAST : SWANSBORO

Another cute fishing village is the historic town of Swansboro. You can get there from Emerald Isle, by going over the bridge back to the mainland and heading west on Hwy 24, or from Morehead City, take Hwy 70W to Hwy 24W.

Historic Downtown Swansboro

Swansboro has a charming historic downtown to explore and is home of the Mullet Festival, which is always fun. There is a tunnel under the highway that gets you over to the Riverfront Park on the White Oak River. A lovely place for a picnic!

Hammocks Beach State Park

Swansboro is also home of Hammocks Beach State Park. Here you can enjoy the Visitor’s Center, rent or bring a kayak to paddle on one of the paddling trails, go over and spend the day or night at Bear Island – a beautiful beach. You can also take a ferry over to Bear Island, which is fun.  The kayak trails are blazed, but I think its a good idea to bring your phone with GPS so you don’t get confused in the salt marshes.  You’ll want to take photos anyway of the gorgeous waterway filled with herons and other shore birds.

Amateur Traveler Podcast

I was interviewed on Episode 612 of the Amateur Traveler Podcast with Chris Christenson. In this episode, I speak more about the history and other non-adventure activities that you can do here on the Crystal Coast. It makes a nice companion episode to my adventure podcast on the Active Travel Adventure podcast, Episode 037 (you can listen on the podcast player at the top of this web page). I think you’ll enjoy both!  You can play my Amateur Traveler interview below:

Crystal Coast NC Adventures

I’m going to get personal. I am going to tell you a story about how I almost got my mother killed on Mother’s Day and the important lesson I learned from that day. I am going to tell you about one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It’s pretty where I want my ashes scattered. I am going to tell you all the secret places on my own neck of the woods. A place where tens of thousands of people save up all year to visit. Welcome to the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. I can’t wait to share it with you.

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My mission is to bring you epic but doable adventures from around the world. If you’re like me, you don’t want to live an ordinary life, you want to live a kick-ass life. One way to do so is to add adventure travel to your life. I find adventure travel brings out the best in me. It challenges me, it encourages me, it enlightens me and it inspires me to lead a bigger life. You’re going to learn amazing adventures around the world plus get the tools and information you need to do these adventures with confidence. You’ll come home feeling empowered and with amazing memories and stories that you can relive forever. Don’t worry, the bar is set that my relatively fit 58-year-old body, particularly with some training, can do these adventures and you can too.

Crystal Coast Adventures: Looking at the forests at first glance can be boring because it’s just a bunch of pine trees, but if you look closely, you also see that there’s a unique ecosystem.

Let’s get started with the adventure in my own neck of the woods on the Coast of North Carolina, south of the outer banks and north of Wilmington, an area we refer to as the Crystal Coast. Since I headed off to college at the age of seventeen, I’ve been a gypsy. I’ve lost track of times maybe 30 times I would say and I lived in eight different states, but I keep coming back to North Carolina. It’s like a boomerang. I’ll go to someplace for a couple of years and back I come. There’s something in Eastern North Carolina that draws me like a magnet. I’ve own four homes here over the years. My current house, I am only a few miles from the ocean. It has so much to offer. The people are good-natured, fun-loving, traditional American values and good soul of the Earth people that work hard and play hard and there are so many ways to play around here. It’s one reason why we become more and more popular and now that we have better roads, people are discovering us. I want you to learn this unique area before it gets too crowded.

While I mentioned in the intro that people save all year to come here, this is an area that you can tailor your adventure to your budget. I am going to tell you about some ways that you can have free camping opportunities even waterfront opportunities, and if you want to go for luxury, we’ve got that too. We’ve got some monster luxury homes with ten bedrooms you can rent if you want a whole family compound get-together. Unlike most of the adventures that we cover on this podcast where you often meet people from around the world or other fellow adventurers, this is a place you come to with the people you love, whether it’s your family, friends, significant other, etc. The activities here are generally done with the people you love. You might join a tour group and meet some people there. Generally speaking, when people come on vacation in this area, they’ve come with loved ones and not solo.

Crystal Coast Adventures: The inlands are dangerous to swim in but quite beautiful to look at. It’s a great place for a picnic.

I want to mention too that this area is not just great for adventure, but also wonderful for history buffs. I was interviewed in the Amateur Traveler Episode 612, which I covered more with Chris the different kinds of historical activities and more of the places to go, things to see that are not adventure-oriented. You can read both of these to get a full spectrum quickly particularly if you are coming with family members that may not be as adventurous as you are. It does offer something for the rest of the family. One nice thing about visiting this area is you get to have a base camp so you’re not moving every single night and unpacking and packing, although sometimes it is necessary, it can be a pain.

Here you pick a base camp whether it’s a campsite, a rental home, an Airbnb, an oceanfront hotel or a motel on the mainland. We’ve got whatever kind of accommodation in the budget that you need, we’ve got that thing going on for you. You pick part of the town based on activities that you want to do and everything is close by and you will need a car because we do not have good public transport here. You have to either rent a car if you’re flying in or drive here. Everything is within a reasonably short drive to get to do the many different things that we’re going to talk about.

Crystal Coast Adventures: The islands are dangerous to swim in, but quite beautiful to look at. It’s great place for a picnic.

Hiking

I am going to breakdown the different activities individually and go to different kinds of things you can do. I am going to start with my first love, which is hiking. The hiking here is completely different than what I consider as normal mountain hikes because our landscape is utterly different. We don’t have hills here that we speak off. It is pretty flat and we have a nice sandy soil, which makes it easier on the joints. What I love about this area is we have several cool ecosystems you can explore on foot. The beach itself of which we have Bogue Banks, which is a 26-mile island that you can walk the entire length if you’d like. We also have maritime forest walks which you are in these old live oak and yaupon holly where you’re covered and the trees have been carved by the wind. Underneath is this magical little ecosystem that’s cool. I’ll tell you about some of those trails, but we also have forests. Our forests here aren’t filled with oak trees in such as you might often think when you think of forests. Ours are pine forests that are harvested for lumber, pulp for the local paper mill and wood chips for overseas.

Because of our abundance of waterways and the great soil for the pine trees, this in the past our area was huge in the turpentine tar pitch and the lumber business because we had the waterways to get the lumber out. After the whole economy collapsed during the civil war, the locals had to figure out something to do because nobody wanted the lumber anymore so they turned to moonshine. It turned out that they had the most popular moonshine up and down the East Coast. In this area, we are subsistence farming, fishing and moonshining until World War II broke out. The Marine Corps decided to establish the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air station in Havelock where the war was imminent. They broke ground at the base seventeen days before Pearl Harbor and they went full steam ahead to complete it. I lived there as a child until I was eight years old playing in the Neuse River that I’ll be talking about completely oblivious to the war going on overseas in Southeast Asia, but I digressed. Let’s get back to hiking in the forest.

If you want to live a kick-ass life, one way to do so is to add adventure travel to your life.

If you want to live a kick-ass life, one way to do so is to add adventure travel to your life. Share on X

In these forests which at first glance to me is boring because it’s just a bunch of pine trees. If you look closely, you also see that there’s this unique ecosystem. A lot of the areas might be boggy and you’ll see Venus flytraps and pitcher plants. You get to see up close and personal unique plants that can only be found to the best of my knowledge in Eastern North Carolina. It’s not at all unusual to see one of those Woody Woodpecker Pileated Woodpeckers flying around. They’re cool with their big, oversized red-crested head and all that. I love when I see those. In fact, I have some living in my backyard. You might even be lucky enough to see a black bear. Don’t worry, they’re hunted here, so as soon as they see you they’re going to bolt. Along the rivers, you’re likely to see an osprey. Along the Neuse River, there is a breeding pair that’s on the river along the trail that I am going to send you on. I can say that you’re going to see the osprey with confidence because the osprey keeps the same nest each year and keep making it bigger and bigger.

Every time I take the Neuse Trail, I’ve seen the mom, dad and two chicks in the nest. If you’re lucky you’ll see a bald eagle. It’s also not unusual to see a whitetail deer and although I have never seen them, it is possible to see a small alligator. Also, be alert we do have snakes here. You’re likely to only see a black racer going across the trail if any at all. I don’t believe I have ever seen one in the trails around here, but we do have a couple of poisonous ones, so never put your hand and feet where you can’t see. Again, they’re going to be scared of you. Bites generally occur when they put their hands and feet where they can’t see and there is a snake there resting and it’s going to bite you because it got scared. It’s a rare occurrence. If you’re careful, it’s not going to be an issue. Just stay on the trail. For the record, I’ve never met anyone who has been bitten.

Crystal Coast Adventures: No matter how innocent you think the hike is, when you go into the wilds even if it is this innocent little woods trail, bring water, a whistle, and a snack bar or something.

A lot of times people ask me, “Kit, is this the outer banks?†No, technically we are not the outer banks. I’ve sometimes heard us referred to not as the Crystal Coast, but as the lower banks. We are far less developed. It wasn’t the last decade that we had decent roads to get here. We were much less populated in that area plus we didn’t have that population density of DC and Virginia Beach that would go to Nag’s head for the weekend and for the holidays. We were this little hidden gem that was difficult to get to so a lot of people didn’t. Most of the buildings here are not more than two stories high, so our beaches are not filled with those mega condos that go to the moon. When you drive by, you can actually see the beach in many cases unlike the beachfront properties along up and down the East Coast. There are limited public accesses, so if you do want to go to the beach, you need to go to the public access parking lots, these state park parking lots or rent one of the homes on the island where you’ll have beach access, which is a nice thing too though it’s a pain. If you don’t have a beach rental home, it keeps to be nice and private.

There is little crowding outside the public beach accesses. The beach itself in Bogue Banks, it’s a barrier island that runs over twenty-miles, so you can walk to your heart’s content. It is important to pay attention to the tides. If you haven’t walked on the beach at high tide, it’s difficult. It’s a great work out because you’re lifting those feet up each time. You try to do your walks around low tide, which happens twice a day. Our beaches themselves are gorgeous. I’ve been to some beaches where they are shelly, rocky and uncomfortable to walk on. Ours are pristine wide white sand beaches and just beautiful to walk on. Another cool thing is because of the way that North Carolina is shaped in this section of the state, our beaches run east to west. You get to see the sunrise and the sunset, unlike most of the eastern shore beaches which run north to south some face east, so you see the sunrise there. Here most of the time, you get to see the sunrise and the sunset. It makes it cool and we get some amazing sunrises and sunsets. I highly encourage you to get up early in the morning to see those and head back to the water for sunset. It’s quite pretty.

Crystal Coast Adventures: The coastline off North Carolina is called The Graveyard of the Sea because of the dozens, if not hundreds, of shipwrecks off the coast.

One of the best beach accesses and you get free parking is at Fort Macon State Park. This fort has been in existence for about 300 years. It has been used extensively throughout the different wars from the Civil War, where I have a cute story I have to tell you about, also in World War II, the U-boats were out of the shore and my mom grew up here in a town called Beaufort. She remembers seeing when they would get one of our marine ships and shoot it down and see the fires out at sea at night and remembers when they had the blackouts. If you were driving at night, you had to tape up your headlights so the enemy could not see us.

At Fort Macon, before I tell you a little bit about the beach, there is a cute story there. During the Civil War, Fort Macon changed hands three times and there is war debris left behind from the different battles. When it has been unearthed, the people that are working at the fort would put the relics in one room. During World War II, this is an active coastline because we had the German U-boats off the coast. Some troops from Brooklyn were assigned to Fort Macon and they were cold into this drafty fort. One of the guys had this great idea to use the old shells that they found in the relic room as andirons to lift up the logs and build a fire to keep themselves warm. One of the shells was still alive and it blew up. Although one guy got hurt, probably the guy that put the thing in, but nobody was seriously hurt because the guy that got shot with the shell was a Yank from Brooklyn and the shell was a confederate shell back from the Civil War even though 70 years had passed and are now World War II, according to Ripley’s Believe it or Not?, that shot was considered the last shot of the Civil War. You can’t make this stuff up.

Crystal Coast Adventures: North Carolina is truly a year-round destination depending on the kinds of things you want to do.

That same Brooklyn Coast guard troop, their job was to make sure that no German came to shore. One night, when they were in patrol they saw a boat trying to sneak up to the shore. They got their guns and they surrounded the people as they exit the boat. They’re all excited and the people on the boat are all excited. They are both talking to each other they can’t understand each other. They grabbed their prisoners and they brought them back to the fort. Fortunately, someone at the fort was a local and they realize that the men that they had captured were local fishermen from further down the shore. It turns out that because we’ve been isolated over the centuries, that there were pockets of old English that never interacted with the rest of the country. They maintained their old British dialect which over the years has morphed into something that is hardly recognizable as either American or British English.

These Brooklyn guys couldn’t understand what the local people called Hoi Toiders. They’ve got this accent and this brogue that is difficult even for locals to understand. Can you imagine the surprise when they found out that these fishermen were actually on the same side? There is a lot of cool history in this area. Fort Macon does a great exhibit which is absolutely free donations, of course, are gladly accepted, but it makes a wonderful afternoon particularly if you have a rainy afternoon. If the weather is nice, definitely take the maritime walk. It’s a little over three miles fairly easy, all the walking around here is easy because most of everything is leveled. It has interpretive signs along the way you’re going to the maritime forest.

Adventure travel brings out the best in you. It challenges, encourages, enlightens, and inspires you to lead a bigger life. Share on X

Maritime forests are where the vegetation that can handle the wind and the salt spray from the ocean, the live oaks and yaupon holly and all that which create this dense canopy and the wind shapes the trees there is this arc over them. Underneath the trees, you have this cool little ecosystem that is protected from the harsh beach winds and salt spray. It’s a magical little walk. Sometimes there are boardwalks in our areas. Sometimes we have these boggy areas that you might see a little boardwalk, but mostly it is a sandy passage that is easy on the knees and feet. You are also welcome to mountain biking too if you’d like, although I have not seen do it. It is advertised that you are able to do it. That would be a fun, not a particularly challenging track, but it would be a beautiful track.

In the Fort Macon area over the years, they have recorded over 300 species of birds. You’ll particularly see a lot of the water fell as you pass through the marshlands on the sound side. It also spends a little time on the ocean itself. When you’re on the ocean walks, you want to make sure you are paying attention to the tide tables. Walking in the sand at high tide is difficult because you have to lift your feet. It’s a great work out, no harm in doing it but it makes it a lot harder than you’re walking on the hard, low tide sand. Always watch the tide tables. On the inland of Fort Macon, you can see the sound and the ocean meet and also the river too. You have very erratic cool waterways. You can swim in the sound and the ocean but not the inlands. The inlands are dangerous to swim in, but quite beautiful to look at. It’s a great place for a picnic.

In addition to Fort Macon, you can also hike or bike if you have fat tires the entire length of the beach. The beach itself is about 26 miles coast to coast and a stunningly beautiful beach that’s not overgrown at all. Most buildings are not more than two or three stories high, almost all homes. You see a few businesses because real estate is expensive in the ocean. Even if this is a year-round destination, people tend to only come here in the summer, so it is hard for a restaurant to stay afloat only getting business two to three months in a year. There are a couple of jewels.

If you want to stop by and have a quick one at the TackleBox, it’s right at the Atlantic Beach Circle. It’s inexpensive and I think there’s beer and wine. That’s what they sell there and it’s cash only. It’s a great little local hangout. Atlantic Beach Circle is one of the few areas that you can see the ocean from your restaurant seat. A little further on down, we’ve got piers. You can also stop in there and take a little bit of a break. The ocean is a delight for the nice family and not over-commercialized at all. We have a few beach stores but not a lot. It’s mainly people coming down having a nice vacation with their family. If you have kids, there are a lot of activities for them too, including water slides, go-karts and putt-putt Golf, etc.

If you want to get back down to the trees again, we have the Croatan Forest nearby. This is a national forest mainly of pine trees. If you go in the Croatan, be on the lookout when you’re at the boggy areas. You’ll often see Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, the carnivorous plants that eat the flies. In the Croatan Forest, we’ve got several trails. The one that is in Highway 24 goes through the Patsy Pond Trail. That’s also a hunting area as all of our forests are. In hunting season, which is October to December, make sure you’re wearing bright orange, so you’re not mistaken for a deer. You also want to go to the forest from October to May. Once the mosquitos come out, you don’t want to be in the forest. Despite the fact that most of our visitors come in the summertime for their summer vacation, the best times are the fall and the spring. If I had to pick one, I’d say fall because the weather is more stable. You do have the risk of hurricanes. If you do come in the fall, make sure to get travel insurance so you’re reimbursed any expensive cost you might have to get here or should you have to cancel for a hurricane.

Further down the road a little bit, you’ve got the beautiful Cedar Point Trail. That takes you not just through the pine, but also on boardwalks and little bridges through the coastal marsh. It’s a unique ecosystem in and of itself. You often see the herons and egrets out there fishing. If you’re there at low tide, you’ll smell that pungent low tide boggy smell and see all the fiddler crabs running away when they see you coming. It’s a nice peaceful walk. It is easy, only a few miles, maybe take you twenty minutes to do the big loop there but it’s quite beautiful.

There is also a campground there that you can reserve spots to stay either with an RV or a tent. It’s a beautiful area and a lounge site too. I know I’m going to talk about kayaking in a little bit. There is a launch site for boats and kayaks. You can take your kayak to an island that’s not too far away and out into the White Oak River. I remember taking a yoga class out on this island. You’re out in the middle of this beautiful underneath all this live oak looking at this panoramic water view. It’s absolutely free. It’s a great recreational area.

Mother’s Day Hike

Continuing over towards the Fort Macon area and going up the Neuse River, which dumps into the ocean, there we have two nice hiking areas. My parents always call it the Neusiok. The Neusiok Trail runs about twenty miles. My parents were always active and one of their favorite trails in this area is the Neusiok Trail. When I first moved back to the area on Mother’s Day, I asked, “Mom, what do you want to do for Mother’s Day?†At that time, my 90-year-old mother granted she was in great shape for a 90 years old, but she said, “I’d like to have a picnic in the Neuse River and take a little hike along the Neusiok Trail.†“That’s great. I love hiking.â€

North Carolina is not just great for adventure but also wonderful for history buffs.

North Carolina is not just great for adventure but also wonderful for history buffs. Share on X

I’ve never done it despite the fact that I’ve often lived in this area. My 90-year-old mother, my 68-year-old mentally ill brother and I headed off for a picnic in the Neusiok Trail. The plan was we were going to park at this one spot and hike a couple of miles over to the river where we’re going to have the picnic. When we got there, I was going to run back to the road, get the car and the picnic lunch and drive it back up to the picnic site while my brother and mother rested looking at the water. It was a great plan. Off we go into the woods. This trail was a little more complex than I anticipated because we were stepping over roots and perhaps it wasn’t well-maintained as it had been in the past. I am not sure. We had some creek crossings and all that. I was a little concerned this was more aggressive than I should be taking my 90-year-old mother on. She said she was fine and I said okay, and it was her day and off we go. We were going slowly because mom wasn’t the fastest in the world. After a while she said, “I’m getting tired.†I asked, “How much longer do you think it’s going to be before we get to the river, mom?†She said, “I don’t know.â€

We looked a little further and I saw a shelter, “That must be it.†We got up there and it was not it. It was a creek, not the river, the Neuse River is huge. Then and only then when I got the brainy idea to look at my map on my phone and I see, “Mom, we’re not anywhere near the river. We are at a creek that feeds into the river.†Whether or not it had been maybe ten years since my mom had done this trail, they had re-routed the trail or she had forgotten how long it was. It turns out we had walked four miles to the shelter and there was a sign saying it was four miles either way back to the parking lot or back to the river. It was hot. It was about 80-something degrees and humid. In the summertime, our humidity is blistering. It’s another great reason to come in the other three seasons. While that’s fine for me, we had already been hiking close to three hours. We were hungry, we had no lunch, no food, no water, no emergency equipment and all we had was my phone.

I asked my mom, “Do you want me to go find someone with a boat to come up the creek to come to get you?†“No. Don’t leave me here.†“I won’t leave you. What do you want to do?†“I can make it back. We’ll go back to the car.†She’s dehydrated and she doesn’t want me to leave her. After I’d say another 2.5 hours, we’ve been out five and a half hours without water in the heat, hiking and I’m starting to panic because she was getting weak. Finally I said, “Mom, I need to get you some food or water or get some help. Please let me sit you down somewhere and I can run and go get some water and a snack to give you a little energy or get some help.†She agreed and I sat her on a stump. She and my brother stayed there so I can run to the car. I got there, grabbed some water, grabbed some power bars and went running back to mom.

It turns out the stump I sat her on had chiggers. If you don’t know what a chigger is, they itch. She had been bitten by chiggers. I finally got her hydrated again and gave her a little snack and maybe another half an hour, we finally make it to the car. Seven hours we were out on this picnic walk. I was scared that I was going to lose my mom. It wasn’t a fun hike at all. I was scared that I made a horrible misjudgment. The big lesson I learned there is no matter how innocent you think the hike is when you go into the wilds even if it is this innocent little woods trail, bring stuff, you bring water, you bring a whistle, a snack bar or something.

In fact, because of that and because of another incident, I had a friend that died in the woods. I now don’t go in the woods unless I have some basic stuff so I can spend the night if I have to. I don’t bring a tent every time I go in, but I have a heat blanket and all the stuff. I’ll take a picture if I must go into the woods from now on, because it does make me a lot more comfortable if I am on a trail and I get lost, I know I can spend the night out and be fine until help comes or until I can get the strength and daylight to get back home. We laughed a little bit at it, a nervous laugh. That was a life-changing event for me. I changed how I hiked after that disastrous Mother’s Day hike.

The trail itself is quite pretty. When you go there, particularly when you park at the Neuse River end, you are right on the river which is a huge river almost ocean like in its width there. There is an osprey and he’s there every year. You’ll see the osprey parents with two little chicks up in the tree and they’ll be mad when you’re walking by. The trail follows along the river for quite a ways before it turns to the woods and heads back to where we parked the car on the fateful luncheon day.

If you’re ambitious, you can take the trail the whole twenty miles and you can free camp on there, anywhere you want. There are a lot of boggy areas so you have to be careful where you camp. I would suggest because you are right by the river, camp by the river. It’s free. You might want to hammock versus tent camping because a lot of the ground may not be even, but it’s absolutely beautiful and free. At the parking areas, there is a bathroom. Otherwise you’re pretty much free camping. No showers and no facilities there whatsoever. If you do want camping facilities, head a little up the road to Flanners Beach where there are camping facilities and also a nice trail in the Neuse River. It’s also nice. There is a lot of biking opportunities and hiking. It’s not a long trail there, but it’s quite pretty and the Neuse River is beautiful.

It’s a good idea particularly since we do have hurricanes, in fact, we had a nasty hurricane in 2018. After a hurricane, sometimes these trails are closed because trees will have fallen down and it takes a while to clean them up. Generally speaking, we clean up houses and streets before we clean up trails. Do check, particularly if there has been a hurricane anytime recently to make sure the trails are up before you do come down here. Hiking-wise, you’ve got the beach, you get the maritime forest and you’ve got a lot of these local trails in our national forests, the Croatan. It’s different than my normal mountain hiking and it makes a nice change of pace.

Don’t go in the woods unless you have some basic stuff so you can spend the night if you have to.

Don’t go in the woods unless you have some basic stuff so you can spend the night if you have to. Share on X

You want to make sure you’re not hiking in those woods in the summertime because of mosquitos, so you want to do that in the cusp. You want to do that mainly in the spring and in the fall. The winter is great for hiking because you don’t have the bugs. It’s lovely three-quarters of the year-round on there unless you’re at the ocean itself, then you don’t have the bug because of the wind. Another place if you want to go camping for free right on the water is if you have a kayak. You can kayak over to Shackleford Banks or you can take the ferry for a nominal fee. They’ll drop you off and pick you up whenever the day you want to come back. There’s free camping there in one of our national seashores. Shackleford Banks is a beautiful island where the sound meets the sea and there are a lot of wild ponies out there. There is no doubt you’ll see some. There’s 50 or 60 out there spread out on the island somewhere.

Kayaking

The woman who manages the horses periodically puts on these walking tours of the island where you’ll learn about the wild horses and the ponies. It’s a lot of fun. You can combine that with a camping and kayaking adventure or simply take the ferry over and back for the walking tour. You’ll also see them at Carrot Island, another great place. That’s a good way to segue to kayaking. Kayaking this area is cool because there are many little marshes and inlets that you can go to. If you’re curious about seeing the waterfowl, the egrets and herons of which we have loads of, the great blue herons, the kayaks allow you to get up close and personal because you tend not to scare them until you get close. We’ve got all these little marshlands you can go into. We’ve got creeks you can explore, rivers. It’s a little hard to kayak on that, but by the shoreline, you can do that.

If you go out to one of our state parks, Hammocks Beach State Park up 24 by Swansboro, we have kayak trails out in the sea, which is nice. I think there are three of them. They are marked with blazes as if you are in a hiking trail and you follow the blazes. If you are going off the trail because there are some many little marsh grass islands, make sure you bring a waterproof phone cover with your phone. I did have my friend, Cathy, get lost out there kayaking because when you’re amongst the grass, a lot of it looks the same. She got a little panicky as the sun was going down going through the little quarters of these islands. If you’re going off the trail, make sure that you don’t say, “I’ll remember how I get there,†because you may not. You can’t get too lost. You’ll find a way or a boat will find you eventually, but you don’t want to spend the night out there. It’s absolutely beautiful.

If you take one of the trails from Hammocks State Park, which is another great place for a picnic, you can take the ferry over if you’re not into kayaking or one of your family members or one of your partners on this trip isn’t a kayaker, they can take the ferry over to Bear Island. You can kayak over and reserve a campsite and spend the night there. It’s beautiful you can either be on the oceanside or the sound side. We went to one and it was gorgeous and reasonable. Bear Island is worth exploring and going to the kayak trails is beautiful. You don’t have to bring your kayak, there are lots of places to rent them.

Scuba Diving

Speaking of kayaking through all these beautiful marshlands and islands, remember Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring? That was the book that instigated the whole environmental movement. The Rachel Carson Reserve is right off Beaufort and you can see what inspired her to write that book. You can also do standup paddleboarding and that’s becoming more popular. I see the standup paddleboards out in the White Oak River all the time. There are several places to rent them both on the Swansboro side or over at the Beaufort side near where I live. If you don’t want to do the work yourself, you can rent jet skis or boats and go exploring that way. If you want to go underwater, consider scuba diving.

Here’s an interesting fact, the coastline of North Carolina is called the graveyard of the sea because of the dozens if not hundreds of shipwrecks off the coast. You have the shipwrecks to explore in addition to the fact that the Gulf stream comes through here, so the water is warm relatively speaking. It was listed in the Top Twenty Places to Scuba Dive in the whole world. One of our famous and notorious former residents was Blackbeard himself. Blackbeard used the sleepy town of Beaufort as his home port whenever he wasn’t out pillaging, ransacking and pirating other ships. His main ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, was shipwrecked outside of Beaufort and was found several years ago. There is a great exhibit that opened up in the Maritime Museum in downtown Beaufort. It’s a worthwhile look.

Pirates are a big thing around here. If you come during the summer, try to time it to the Pirate Invasion where the entire town of Beaufort turns into “shiver me timbers†pirates. It’s a lot of fun. Also if not, fall is the best season and come for Halloween. The whole town goes nuts, everybody is dressed and the whole town is a big parade and a big party. It’s probably one of the coolest places to spend Halloween. Back to scuba diving. I’ll list a couple of places you can hook up with local divers to take you out to take a look at shipwrecks. The commercial charters cannot take you to Blackbeard’s location, but if you have your own boat, you’re allowed to scuba dive yourself. Of course, don’t take any of the artifacts. They’re still doing stuff down there, but it’s quite exciting. It was big news around here when they finally found the belt and confirmed that it was the Queen Anne’s Revenge that was found.

Climbing

Need a little bit more exercise? Take the ferry out to Cape Lookout and climb the lighthouse that helped prevent more shipwrecks. You’ll have the opportunity to climb 163 feet high. This unique lighthouse was painted in a vertical black and white diamond pattern. If you look at it from the outside and see black diamonds over the white, that means you are oriented north to south. However, if you see the white over the black, then you are facing east to west. It takes you about 207 steps to get to the top of about twelve floors, but the view is worth it. Cape Lookout is only accessible by boat, but the ferry leaves both from Harkers Island and from downtown Beaufort. If you take the ferry from Harkers Island, take time to go to the Waterfowl Museum or better yet, time you visit to coincide with the Waterfowl Festival. It’s a lot of fun.

Biking

As far as biking goes, you can mountain bike some of the trails that we talked about in the national forests. If you have a fat-tire bike, you can bike along the beach at low tide, but remember to wash off your bike well because it will get salty and sandy. That makes for a lot of fun. If you can either bike or walk, you want to go to the end of Emerald Isle, which is the far western township on Bogue Banks, the outside barrier island. As you get to the inlet, we call it The Point. The Point has fond memories for me. It gives me the warm and fuzzies. I remember when my sister, Jan, would get her four-wheel drive and get the permit that you’ve got to buy to be able to drive your vehicle on the beach. We’d drive out to The Point and have a happy hour, spin around the sand, and watch the sun go down. It’s a magical place. It’s absolutely stunning. That’s where I asked to have my ashes scattered once I passed on to neverlands.

You are allowed to drive at the beach between Labor Day and Memorial Day if you get the permit and have the four-wheel-drive and again you want to watch the tides. Most of the beaches are quite fat, but there are places where it is thin and you don’t want to get caught by the tides. One little aside on the tides too, whenever I am walking on the beach and the tide is coming in, I cannot tell you how many times I spend carting people’s towels, chairs, memorabilia and all that stuff up because they have gone in for lunch to take a break and they don’t realize how much the tide changes. They come back, “Somebody stole my stuff.†The ocean stole their stuff, so pay attention to the tides. You can tell by looking at where all the seaweed line is, how far the high tide comes up. Plan accordingly if you are renting a beach house and you plan going inside for a while. Pay attention that your stuff is up above the high tide line so you don’t get disappointed when you come back out to the sea.

If you want to get out to The Point and you don’t have a four-wheel-drive and/or don’t want to get the permit, you’ll have to hike it or bike it. The nearest access is several miles away. It’s a bit of a hike but I tell you it is well worth it. It’s beautiful but remember the tides. Even if this is something that I don’t normally cover because you might be coming with a member that is interested in it, this is a huge area for fishing, crabbing, shrimping. If you don’t have the equipment, you can rent it here, you can charter boats here, rent a boat. If there’s anything to do with the water, all you have to do is show up and somebody has the facilities to do whatever it is you want to do. It makes for a wonderful adventure.

Fishing

If you are into the big fishing, one of the biggest prize money tournaments for deep-sea fishing in the world is the Big Rock Tournament, which happens on June and it has $1 million purse for catching the Marlins and all the different categories that they have. If you are here during the tournament, at the end of the day make sure you are on the docks of downtown Morehead to watch the boats come in with their catch of the day and for their weigh-ins. It’s exciting. There is an interesting story about the tournament I want to share. It has been a few years now, there’s prized money based on the first person to catch a Blue Marlin. That’s the fish with the big pointy nose and the one that catches the biggest one. That’s the fish that they’re mainly trying to catch even if they have prices for other fish.

There is this one boat catches this monster that turned out not to be the first, but the largest and the prize was over $1 million. Everybody on the boat was excited because generally speaking, whoever is working on the boat gets a cut on the prize. However, one of the crew members was from Virginia where they don’t require a fishing license and in North Carolina you do. He could have gotten a $10-day pass to fish that day and didn’t have one and they forfeited the whole $1 million-plus. You’ve got to believe that from now on, there is no captain letting anybody on their boat without checking the licenses first. It’s a cool tournament. It adds a lot of excitement to the area and a lot of festivities and makes for a lot of fun.

Even though The Big Rock Tournament is in early summer, most of the fishing here is done in the fall when the migration of the fish come through. I remember once I was sitting on the beach in my bathing suit, I saw literally thousands of fish going southbound and they’re close to shore. I was like, “I have to go out there.†Even though I was fully clothed, I go into the ocean and not even far from the shore. Literally thousands of these fishes are swarming around and skirting around me. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I don’t know much about fish, but I found out later that they were bluefish. Another time I was on the beach, we have a lot of dolphins around here and the waves were large that day. The dolphins were putting on a show. They were jumping out of the air and spinning and splashing in the breaking waves. Everybody on the beach was standing on their feet clapping and cheering. I swear it was like these dolphins had escaped from Sea World and they knew they were putting a show for us. I have no doubt in my mind they knew exactly what they were doing and they were enjoying all the attention. It was spectacular.

Horse-Riding

Speaking of having fun along the shoreline, one cool thing you can do is go out to Cedar Island, not Cedar Point where we went hiking, this is going further east. We call it down east past Harkers Island out to Cedar Island where you can take the ferry to Ocracoke if you are interested. On Cedar Island, there is a place where they’ll take you to a horse-riding tour through the marshlands and through the grasslands. It’s a cool experience. You don’t have to have any experience with horses. They’ll match you up with a horse that fits your level. This may be the highlight of your Crystal Coast adventure.

Surfing

During the day, you can be out on the water, you can be biking, hiking, swimming and surfing. I forgot about surfing, you can surf too around here. It’s not the hugest waves but I do see people out there surfing all the time. Surfboards are available for rental too. In the evenings, we also have some great restaurants. Since the roads got here, all of a sudden we got enough population so we started to get decent restaurants that aren’t just fried fish. Now, we have cool-looking food you see coming on board. We’re starting to get an art scene. I’ve seen this transformation of our area in the last decade that’s unbelievable. There are a lot of things to do at night as well. There’s generally live music. It’s huge around here. You can always find someone playing somewhere. Walk along the waterfronts and you’ll hear the music and follow it.

The Festivals

There are festivals throughout the year but mainly in the spring and the fall, particularly in the fall with the biggest one being the Seafood Festival, which is one of North Carolina’s largest festivals altogether. I know I keep going back to the little town of Beaufort. There’s no wonder Budget Travel listed Beaufort, North Carolina as the coolest town in America one year. It is a charming historic town. Back when I was in college, it was this run-down beat-up and all shop worn looking town. You should see it now, it is beautiful. A beautiful time of year to see that is at Christmas when everyone decorates to the nines and there are little twinkling lights everywhere. They have a great candlelight tour. This is truly a year-round destination depending on the kinds of things you want to do.

I do love North Carolina and I hope I had conveyed that to you. If you have any questions, never hesitate to email me. I’m happy to answer anything I can. My email is Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com. I hope I encouraged you to explore my neck of the woods and see why I think it’s special and why you’ll think it’s special too if you come here. The biggest way for people to find out about podcasts is by word of mouth. I’d like to ask you to share the word about the Active Travel Adventures podcast. If you enjoy it, share the love and share it on Facebook, Instagram or whatever your social channels are or email it to your friends. I appreciate you helping get the word out. When you share it, be sure to tag me so I can see it and I can thank you personally.

It’s my goal to share not just great destinations but to encourage people to feel the empowerment and the joy that you get when you do these amazing adventures that we cover. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you’ll share it with your friends. I look forward to even sharing more adventures with you. I’ve got some great trips planned. I’d love to hear where you’re planning on going and places where you’d like me to cover. I’m always anxious to hear from you. Never hesitate to email me at Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com. Thanks for reading. Adventure on.

Important Links:

• Episode 612 – previous episode on Amateur Traveler
• Silent Spring
• Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com

• Here’s How »

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