August 29, 2007
The east coast
A lot of people prefer the west coast but my family really enjoys taking a summer vacation on the east coast of the United States. There are some great beaches to explore and they have a lot of stories that go along with them.
For instance, the Outer Banks of North Carolina are beautiful barrier islands that are often the setting for a romance or mystery novel. With names like Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, how can you resist checking them out? Some parts are fairly old with worn cottage-type homes on stilts, other parts are newly developed with multimillion-dollar estates. The views are equally fabulous.
Further south, you will run into another set of islands in North Carolina. For instance Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle Beach are simply lovely areas for families to rent a beach house for a week or two. Then there's Bald Head Island, to which you must take a 15-minute ferry ride. This can be a pain at check-in and check-out times for the rental houses as the lines get pretty long for the ferry. But the island includes Cape Fear. Haven't we all seen that movie, the old one and the remake? You can buy shirts on Baldhead Island that say Cape Fear, very cool.
Pawley's Island is an older development and it's really interesting. The old houses are really jammed in, like there was no real master plan for this island. But regulars love it! It's famous for its hammocks that sell around the world.
And character. You will find lots of it on the east coast. There are a lot of lovely accents that you will hear and the people are real friendly, sometimes sharing gossip about locals before you even ask. Every time I came out of a store, I had another story to tell my family about, for instance, why a multimillion-dollar house has sat half-built for two years. Or which house the famous race car driver owns.
There are a lot more states along the east coast, all worth checking out for your next vacation.
Posted by Idea Man at August 29, 2007 01:38 PM