Traveling When We Can: Durham to Morehead City

Hiding eggs, hunting eggs, and cooking ham and all the side dishes filled Easter Morning so that we could be on our way to the beach about 1:00. We were on the road to Morehead City at 1:30. The trip was uneventful with minimal traffic on a rather non-descript road through no large cities.

After reading some of the travel information, Jane felt we needed a reservation on the Ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke. There were only 3 crossings – 7 AM, 10:30 AM and 4PM – we definitely wanted to 10:30 AM crossing so she started trying to make the reservation. The NC phone and web site would not cooperate at all – kept cutting off maybe due to reception or internet. Finally finding the phone number of the ferry office in Cedar Island and calling direct we got the reservation.

We passed by Cherry Point Marine Corp Air Station and were crossing the bridge to Atlantic Beach from Morehead City about 4PM. We were staying at hotels selected for their ratings and their willingness to accept points from two different travel point systems we use. We were staying at the Double Tree in the Hilton Hotel Chain. It was certainly a very nice room for the price we paid. Everything was 1^st class but the internet was only minimal so no blogging for Jane.

Ben has been visiting the Sanitary Fish Market in Morehead City since his days in college at NC State – quite some years – so we had to give it another try. It did not have the excellent ratings it used to have and does not offer the trendy new dishes – pecan crusted fish – etc. It did however come through with excellent scallops and oysters – fried up perfectly with light breading – good hush puppies and a baked potato and salad. Since they had a Senior Special for $13 ! Supposedly with smaller servings – I had a half plate full of tiny succulent scallops and Ben had 12 oysters. Not sure anyone could have eaten any more than we had,

Senior Scallops

Senior Oysters

Then back to our hotel for a short exploration of the beach. This hotel is right on the beach, has a nice pool and huge boardwalk and pier. Ben saw 2 boys and their dog hunting on the beach with their metal detector - they were all having a great time!