It was forecasted to be a dreary, rainy day today, so we decided to spend the time exploring the local area in the truck. People have talked about the beauty of Emerald Isle for years, and since we are only 30 minutes south, we headed up to check it out. I looked up some other towns for us to explore during our drive and added in Swansboro, Cape Carteret and Newport onto our list.
The first town we came to was Swansboro. It has a cute historic downtown with narrow streets that make you suck in your breath as you try to squeeze a dually passed cars parked on both sides of the road. We grabbed a coffee and some ice cream from an adorable shop with a view and sat to appreciate the beauty of the Carolina coast.
After the kids finished their ice cream, I made us tromp around the historic area and look at a house for sale (or at least the outside of it). Chris spotted a marina and boat storage nearby and was happy to head us in that direction too. Our final stop in Swansboro was a drive away at Hammock State Park. We enjoyed the visitor’s center and a peaceful walk through the woods, complete with a reptilian friend. If we have an inclination, we might come back and rent kayaks to paddle around the marshes and out to Bear Island. It is sea turtle nesting season, so maybe we will be lucky enough to see a sea turtle too.
On to Emerald Isle! We crossed over a beautiful bridge onto the barrier island. I felt the island had more of a Hilton Head feel to it than OBX, probably because the foliage was similar. Chris had found a lunch spot, so with that spot as our end point we started driving the Ocean Drive to see what we could see. Wow. Vacation rentals as far as the eye can see. We love the beach, but I want to live by full time neighbors, not new neighbors by the week. This would be a great place to visit and enjoy, but it is not in the long term plan for us.
Lunch – Chris didn’t realize it was a food truck – was delicious and fun. Jack didn’t find a single thing he wasn’t ecstatic to put in his mouth: fried fish, fried clams, fried oysters, crab cake, shrimp, fries, coleslaw, hush puppies, more fries. Even Aleah was happy with the food choices of a cheese burger and corn dog. The sea gulls were their usual annoying selves while at a beach location, but their persistence paid off when Chris taught the kids to toss fries in the air and watch them dive for them.
Back off the island and on to the last locations. Cape Carteret was tiny as far as towns are concerned, but had some pretty homes and easy water access that Chris loved. Newport had a beautiful new development that we toured with a boat ramp, kayak launch, pool, etc. It also probably has a strict HOA, but maybe we are ok with that. The high school is the same in both Newport and Cape Carteret, but they are a different county than Swansboro. Both areas seem to have schools with a good reputation. Who knows how long we will be homeschooling, and if the kids want a school experience, I want to live in an area that I feel comfortable sending them to that school.
At the end of the day, I think I like Swansboro more, because there are plenty of houses that allow walking to the community, the town has an interest in hosting events for its citizens, and it seems like it has many things we like as a family. I think Chris likes the communities we toured in the other towns more because their ease of access to the water, but maybe we just weren’t looking in the right place in Swansboro. I guess we will just keep looking for our final destination!
The high school not in swansboro had a 10/10 rating compared to 6/10 for Swansboro – just saying
Wonderful commentary!!!
Looks great.
Those are some happy looking kids.