Richmond to Caswell Beach

It’s been over a year since I posted any kind of blog, but since I’m on another bike trip, and actually on a2 hour ferry ride right now, what better time y to catch up?

Normally on my ride I’m accompanied by my personal physician and bike mechanic, my brother Jerry. However, a week prior to the start of a full month trip from Richmond to Key West, his heart went into atrial fibrillation. If you don’t know what that is, and haven’t watched numerous TV commercials for drug companies, it’s a condition where the heart doesn’t pump in a normal, or “sinus” rhythm, but is short circuited into an abnormal beat that doesn’t fully circulate the blood. This results in less oxygen, and a higher risk of stroke by sending blood clots to the brain. Yeah, yuck. In any case, this meant Jerry couldn’t go. This was actually the inspiration for us to go across country last year. He had this condition before and had a heart “ablation” to try to fix it. Knowing our family heart issues, and with perhaps limited time to have a healthy heart, why shouldn’t we ride when we can?

So this year’s trip was planned and ready to roll, until A-fib struck Jerry again. We had to cancel. That’s understandable, but about a week into this realization that I wouldn’t be doing a cycling trip This year I thought I might do a A solo trip. Patty’s sister has a house on Caswell Beach, NC that they were planning to vacation the first week of October, which was going to be a stop on our Key West trip. I figured that perhaps I could just do the trip from Richmond to Caswell, spend a few days at the beach, then ride home on the comfort of Patty’s car? A shorter trip was planned. 

So I kept my planned rental car from Cleveland to Richmond and set up for the shorter trip. There’s not much really different to plan for a week trip or a month: you have to pack most of the same stuff. Clothes, bike tools, and camping equipment. Camping equipment, for me, is a backup to insure a place to stay if hotels are unavailable. I’m a hotel camper, believing in the wonder of a hot shower, air conditioning, and a soft bed between days on the bike. However, as we found on a trip across Ohio in August, it’s good to have the backup. We camped one night in Canal Fulton OH when all the hotels were filled on football hall of fame induction weekend. We had a great night without trouble even though it rained a bit. 

So the trip to Richmond was nostalgic, as I was to re-create most of the last day of our cross country trip last year. This time, though, instead of heading to Yorktown, I was to cross rhe James a river at Jamestown and head south. My trip was to take me out to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, follow the coast, and ride through Wilmington into Caswell. 

The Jamestown ferry over the James River

Day 1 and off I headed to a target town of Smithfield, VA. The trip was really nice, helped by the fact it was almost 20 degrees cooler than the last time I rode it, when it was 97 degrees and about 95% humidity. I had a nice food truck lunch near Jamestown, then headed to the first of what will be 4 ferries on this trip. The James River ferry was quick and I met a guy motorcycling down the coast to NC. Nice guy, doing the same thing as me, solo, but without the pedaling. I got off the ferry and headed to Smithfield. Unfortunately, the maps I use from Adventure Cycling, always keep you away from cities, meaning hotels, so I always have to improvise. I used Google maps to see how to ride to Smithfield, and unfortunately like last year, Google wanted to send me down roads apparently made for billy goats or something. They were really not roads, being composed of rocks as large as my head, and not a good fit for my touring bike. So, I kept going farther and farther away, until if finally found a road taking me to Smithfield. 

The Smithfield marina

Strangely, on a Tuesday night in Smithfield, VA the Hampton Inn, where I might have had a shot at a family discount (thanks Abby) was sold out.  Who knew?  But the Smithfield Station had a room.  Smithfield Station is a family owned group of buildings that includes a hotel, restaurant, marina, wine shop, some sort of store that sells a lot of Yeti mugs, etc.  They had a room, on the third floor (steps only) where I could drag my bike up to.  It was a really nice room, but since I wasn't dragging the bike back down 'til morning, my choices were set.  The restaurant turned out to be pretty good, the beer cold, and it was plenty for a body that hadn't been used to 90 miles for a while.  I walked around the marina, saw a monster yacht parked there, and discussed said yacht with a couple who had a really great little 24' boat and were grilling out for the evening.

Day 2:  Smithfield wasn't on the Adventure Cycling route, and I had to get around the Great Dismal Swamp, my choices were many on where to go the next morning.  Since I had no faith in the Google, I was a little bit stumped as I had my breakfast and got ready to go in the morning.  A couple of other cyclists, Jim and Grant, were doing a loop of VA/NC, and were more or less going my direction.  I asked to tag along for the morning and they were happy to have a third for at least a little while.  Jim was clearly the navigator, as he had every road memorized, down to the turns and all milestones along the way.  We rode for a while, stopped for a rest at a boat dock near a small lake, and continued.  I wanted to get a photo of my new temporary friends, but as we left, we came to a quick turn and it was time to split, and I got no photo.  

On I went, making my way through the outskirts of Suffolk, VA, back into the countryside, heading southeast.  I rode along and found myself crossing into North Carolina soon enough.  According to the ACA maps, Sunbury would be the big cutoff for either one of their routes - going through the interior of NC, or taking the Outer Banks Alternative, which was my choice.  I assumed, by the prominence of Sunbury on their map, that this would be a place that would have amenities.  I was (mostly) wrong, as the Sunoco station and convenience store was just about it.  Fortunately for me they did have some fried chicken, snacks, and a place to fill my empty water bottles.  I made my way over to a shady spot, sat on a bench, and ate my lunch feast.  This was a huge find, as I was tired, hot, and empty before I hit Sunbury.  After lunch, I headed east from Sunbury toward the coast, under the GDS, Great Dismal Swamp.  Once again, Adventure Cycling wanted to skirt cities, including my hotel target for the night, Elizabeth City.  So, once again, I had to improvise and find some routes to the "city."  Somehow I ended up on the outskirts, and was ready to find a hotel for the night.  It looked like Elizabeth City was an old town right on the water, so I figured the downtown would have some nice places.  I rode toward there, and found 2 separate B&Bs, both of which weren't taking in customers: one was heading out of town for her father's memorial service, and the other was doing renovation work.  Oh well...  so I headed out to the bypass, the inevitable suburban hell-hole of franchises and cheap hotels.  I found a room at the Econo-Lodge, where it looks like every out-of-town utility worker parks his truck, and it was fine.  I looked for an interesting local restaurant, and found Hoppin Johnzz, a small bar back in downtown.  It turned out to be a really nice little spot, and I ate at the bar where I met Earl, a really nice guy who had moved there about six months before.  He was waiting on a couple of friends to meet him there.  When it turned out he was supposed to be next door, he invited me over to have a beer with them at the brewery across the alley.  After dinner I met them and they were very nice in sharing the scoop on E-city.  I had been disappointed that there wasn't much activity in town, but just like this little alley where we were enjoying our weird beer, a small group had begun to revitalize the downtown.  Breweries always seem to be the spark, and they say another is setting up soon.  It was such a charming area, but the shops were underutilized as dry cleaners, used furniture, and other bargain basement shops.  I hope they succeed, as they have a nice little waterfront and a lot of potential.  I said good night and headed back to the Econo-lodge with my headlights on.

Wednesday Night in Elizabeth City outside Hoppin Johnzz

Day 3:  My target today was going to be the Outer Banks. It was a shorter day, at maybe 50 miles, which was fine. I was shooting for Kitty Hawk, the first town along the banks where I would come across.  Since the ACA map skirted Elizabeth City, I had to once-again find my own way.  Of course, there was the direct route, and the bike routes.  I took the direct route, as it would save at least 10 miles.  Unfortunately there was little to no shoulder, and lots of traffic.  Luckily the wind was behind me, and I zoomed through this section as fast as possible.  As I turned south toward the Outer Banks, the busy route I was on became the only route possible.  My bike friends Jim and Grant had recommended stopping at the Weeping Radish brewery, and this would be directly on my route.  He said it was an old German style place that served great bratwurst and good beer.  I stopped in as they opened, but it was not my idea of a great brewery.  The German style in this metal building was more "Sound of Music von Trapp family" lodging that was a bit tacky. The beer was good, but the sausage based lunch did not sit well and seemed to weigh me down the rest of the way.  Oh well.  The remainder of the trip was up over the bridge to the Outer Banks.  The shoulder was a bit bigger in this area, and it seemed like the cars were familiar with bikes along the road.  The bridges going over the Currituck Sound, toward the Banks, was long and not very bike-friendly, but went by quickly.  Before I knew it I was heading up the beach on a beautiful, sunny afternoon.  I went by a few hotels along the beach and landed upon the Best Western, which looked as good as any.  I anticipated another cheap hotel room, based on the outside of this place, and the inexpensive (off season) price.  They did have an elevator, which made bike transport a bit easier, and as I took it upstairs the outside balcony of the BW confirmed the inexpensive nature of my choice.  When I opened the slightly rusty door, I was in for a surprise.  This room had a separate bedroom, a kitchenette, a clean bathroom, a sitting room (with Murphy-bed), and a balcony overlooking the dune and beach.  It was really nice.  I showered and headed out to the Wright Brothers museum at Kill Devil Hill, right across the highway.  This was actually really cool, as they had a small museum that had a re-creation of the Wright Brothers Flyer, a bit of history on their early attempts at flight, and the grounds had the exact spot where they finally took to the air.  There were 4 stone blocks, designating the first four flights, which were like 80', 100', 120', and then about 850' for the final flight.  I went up to the big stone memorial at the top of Kill Devil Hill, which on this absolutely cloudless day, was a great vantage point to see all around the area.  As this was late afternoon, I had to scoot along, and I walked back to my bike at the museum.  I hadn't noticed, but just getting there had placed dozens of burrs and (very sharp) grasses in my tires.  Thank goodness for new tires and lots of sealant, as I was able to painfully remove these from the tires and head back to my room.  I went for a walk down the beach and found a little bar called Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint.  This was absolutely great, as it was a dive-bar with great food and good, cold beer.  As a matter of fact, they were serving some Great Lakes Haze Craft, so after a Blowing Rock Oktoberfest, I had one.  A great burger, cold beers, and I was happy and ready to call it a night.

At the Wright Brothers monument in Kitty Hawk

Day 4: My goal for today was to either make it to the end of Cape Hatteras, or optimistically, to Okracoke Island on the Hatteras ferry.  The farther I got, the better, as the next days would be stretches because of where I had hoped to stay.  Fortunately for me, the day was fantastic: low 70s, no humidity, sunny skies, and the wind at my back.   I flew down the Outer Banks, out of Kitty Hawk, past Nag's Head, down the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  Even though I had a full pack, I was cruising 18-22 mph with moderate effort, flying down the road with water on both sides.  I felt sorry for everyone in their cars, as they were driving along with their windows up and likely not noticing much.  I stopped at a few roadside rests for snacks, but mostly cruised along at top speeds without tiring.  This honestly was one of the best days I've ever spent on a bike.  Second, slightly, to heading up the Lochsa River in Idaho last year.  Some days are just incredible on the bike, where everything goes right - and this was  one of those days. Before I knew it, I was already at the Hatteras ferry, looking to head to Okracoke.  I got in line for the ferry by parking my bike near the entrance, and went to grab a sandwich at the Snack Shack.  Unfortunately, the Snack Shack had a long wait and I missed the ferry, but this gave me time to actually eat the sandwich waiting on the next.  On I went, parking my bike near the front, and hung out waiting for all the cars to get on.  The ferry was about 40 minutes, most of which I spent talking to a family from the DC area who were staying on Hatteras, but traveling to Okracoke for the remote beaches.  They had waited about 2-3 hours to get this ferry, so I wonder how they got back to Hatteras before nightfall.  The ferry took a long, circuitous route but didn't really go far.  It emptied onto an unin habited end of Okracoke, so I had to ride across the island to the other end, closer to the next ferry to Cedar Island.  Once again this took little time, as the wind stayed plastered to my back, making the trip effortless and fast.  Before I knew it I was in Okracoke, looking for a hotel.  I found the Silver Lake Motel & Inn, where the cost was slight and the convenience plenty, as this was close to where I would take the Cedar Island ferry in the morning.  Honesty, I could have continued along easily, but I ran out of island.  The next ferry would be almost 3 hours, so there was no choice but to stay in Okracoke.  I showered and got an ice cream, before heading off to dinner.  For the second time I followed the recommendation of someone along the way, and went to Howard's Pub & Raw Bar.  Once again, I was disappointed as I had hoped a fish sandwich with locally caught fish would be great, but ended up eating bun and fries as the fish was very fish-y and disappointing.  So much for recommendations, as I've been better off hitting on places by luck. No matter, as I headed back to the hotel for an early night and the latest episode of Ted Lasso before lights-out.

Sunrise in Kitty Hawk pre-ride

Heading down the Hatteras Seashore

Day 5: The earliest ferry in the morning would be the 7:30 one.  I couldn't afford to miss this, because the next one wouldn't be until the afternoon and I would likely be stranded in the middle of nowhere.  I got up early, packed the bike, and was on my way at dawn.  I grabbed a coffee from the local fisherman's bar and went to the ferry.  It loaded up on time and we were quickly out of the harbor on our way to Cedar Island.  I spend the 3 hours up on the top deck in the sunshine, and it seemed to go pretty fast.  For a while it seemed I was on the wrong ferry, as it seemed to head toward Swanquarter, the other ferry's destination, but it eventually turned and headed toward my destination.  I was a bit worried as I had made choices pre-coffee, and sometimes in that fog I could have just taken the wrong boat.  But I checked my ticket and figured there was nothing I could do anyway, so off I went.  I did make it it Cedar Island, which was pretty remote, and started on my way after 10AM, a pretty late start.  This part of the Outer Banks is much more swampy, and there were no beaches and scenery, but it was interesting nonetheless.  Lots of water surrounded the route, and I watched as I rode by as all the frogs lit off from shore as I went by.  There were lots of dead forests, and I wondered why.  They seemed to be dead sticks coming out of the swamp - was it fire, or a hurricane?  Who knows, but it was a bit eerie to see.  I stopped at an inevitable gas station convenience store for water, snacks and a time-out for directions again.  The ACA route wandered all over creation, while there was a direct route through Morehead City.  Again, my impatience lead me on the straight and narrow path, which really wasn't bad.  There were a couple of really steep bridges going from Beaufort, NC to Morehead City, but it put me squarely into town, where they were holding their seafood festival in their downtown.  Being lunchtime, I enjoyed a crab-cake sandwich and lemonade while listening to a local band play.  A local bike enthusiast came by after seeing my packed bike, fawning over my setup and making me feel like a bike celebrity.  He showed me his Ortlieb bag, the same kind currently hung on my bike.  We talked for a while, and he said that it might be a much better ride to head over the bridge to Atlantic Beach, where I would be on a less crowded beach road.  I did so, and I was glad I did, as the scenery was much better, and the beach went on for at least 20 miles before it headed back inland and toward Jacksonville, NC, my goal for the night.  I actually contemplated staying near the beach, but this would put me way behind for tomorrow's ride, and place me awkwardly between two cities.  Since it was Saturday I was plugged into college football and listened to the Wisconsin game, then the OSU game as I rode.  On I went, back inland, toward Jacksonville.  This part of the trip was about the least interesting, as there wasn't much to see and the area didn't seem very prosperous.  Jacksonville is the home of Camp Lejeune, home of the Marine Corps training center, and that facility surrounds the roads.  It actually prevented me from going straight along the coast, as the roads through Lejeune are closed to traffic.  As I approached Jacksonville you could see that this town has had hard times.  Most of what I saw was used car lots, "adult" bars, and strangely lots of tattoo shops.  They certainly serve the Marine population nearby.  I finally made my way into town and found the least objectionable accommodations at the Days Inn along Marine Boulevard.  It had a sports bar on top, and a Mexican restaurant next door.  Plenty to keep me amused for the evening, as I was too tired to venture out.  I went to the sports bar to find that I was the only customer, and sat and talked to the owner as we watched college football games.  He had a barber's license, but owned a couple of bars with a partner.  He was working this one because it was hard to find help to go to this empty bar as tips were hard to find.  They had bought it right before Covid hit, and in NC all bars not serving food were shut down tight.  They just opened up again a few weeks ago, so customers hadn't found their way back as they had bought what already was poorly performing bar, hoping to make it better.  I wish him luck.  I went down to the Mexican restaurant and had a great meal, or at least a good meal which tasted great because I was so hungry.  Nonetheless it did the job and I went back, watched a bit more football and was out.

Early morning ferry #3 from Okracoke to Cedar Island

Day 6  

Sunday morning and likely the last day of my journey.  I was going to make it to Wilmington, or likely all the way to Oak Island, depending on how the day went.  For this day, it looked like the official, and non-official travel all went on pretty busy highways.  The ACA route took me immediately on route 17. Familiar to all who travel into Myrtle Beach, 17 is a divided highway which thankfully had some wide shoulders.  As always, this is not fun to ride, but it does usually contain the shortest, most direct route between cities.  17 took me southeast of Jacksonville, toward the Atlantic.  About 20 miles in, the ACA route detours from 17 towards Topsail Beach, another beach community on the shore.  I went ahead and took this route, despite the fact that it adds likely another 15 miles to the day.  It's always good to find a beach on your route, and today was the last day on this trip (likely), so why not?  It took a little ways to get there, and of course I had to climb over the Intracoastal bridge, but Topsail was very pleasant.  There were actually a lot of cyclists on the road, likely locals doing Sunday group rides, but it was nice to get a wave from a passing bike, rather than a honk from a passing truck, so this was nice.  Topsail Beach was only about 10 miles long, so I eventually headed back inland and soon met back up with route 17 (see, it would have been faster to just stay on 17, but this trip isn't always about getting there fast).  Back on 17, I rode the shoulder for quite some time, getting lots of attention from passing cars and trucks, not all of it pleasant.  At one point, where there was little or no shoulder, an SUV passed so close to me that I felt the swoosh of the car and the suction of the thing passing.  I had to push out into the lane farther, to force passing traffic to move into the next lane, which is much safer.  I had seen signs in NC stating that traffic needs to pass 4 feet away from bicycles, but I seriously doubt anyone in a car or truck bothers reading or following that rule.  In any case, as you can imagine, my lane-taking wasn't a real popular move as people were shifting over to the other lane.  Luckily most of the road contained a wide shoulder, so I went back to it as soon as possible.

The Adventure Cycling route would have put me into Wilmington, before reversing route to go back towards the beach.  I improvised and Google-mapped a route that would move me east of Wilmington and to the beach much quicker.  I took good roads all the way, skirting Wilmington and into its suburbs, towards the ocean.  Again the weather was terrific, but the humidity was a bit higher today and I could feel it.  Lots of stops for breaks and water refills today.  Before too long I found myself riding up Carolina Beach, then Kure Beach, on the water.  I was getting closer and closer and it was early afternoon.  I continued along the beach, eventually finding Fort Fisher state park, where my 4th and final ferry would be.  This one had a bit of a break before it arrived, so I started up a conversation with a woman who had taken the ferry this morning from her home in Southport to see her sister.  It was a $2 ferry ride, so it was better than riding all the way around which would have added miles to her trip.  We went onto the ferry together and she talked about this ferry and the (very expensive) ferry to Bald Head Island, which I had thought to be uninhabited.  I guess it has a golf resort and some exclusive homes, but the ferry runs like $35 per person per direction - the better to keep the riff raff away.  It worked, as I would not be going to Bald Head and I am definitely riff raff.  There were a few other cyclists on this ferry, on fat tired e-bikes, which rapidly blew by me when I exited the ferry. 

Getting ready to board ferry #4, to Southport

From Southport it is only a few miles to Oak Island.  Despite Google's insistence that I go to the other end and circle around, I found the more direct route and rode over the Intracoastal bridge and headed toward Caswell Beach, where Patty's sister Deb and husband Steve had their house.  I had been there before, so it was easy navigating.  As I got onto the island I received a text message that the girls were already on the beach, so as I got to the entrance of Deb and Steve's development, I parked my bike and walked over the dune towards the beach. Sure enough, all 4 Lizotte sisters were there, all talking at once, and I joined them for a cold drink and a few minutes' rest.  Eventually I made my way inland to their house, parked the bike, and called it a week.  

The beach welcoming committee at Caswell Beach

It was really different riding this trip alone.  The days seem a bit more isolated, but it is always easy to strike up conversations along the way.  People see the bike and the bags and immediately ask my destination, or origin, or both.  Most folks are curious, and most are very nice.  Most always say that there's no way they could do this, but I really don't think that's true.  If anyone has taken a bike ride around their neighborhood, or a ways up the road, they could do something like this.  The bike, plus time, usually equals the destination.  As long as you can figure out where you want to go, and give it time, you'll arrive where you want.  It doesn't take special skills or athletic ability, but usually more patience to continue to ride.  It is very rewarding in that you get to see more of an area than you would from the inside of an automobile.  And this continues to connect me to an area well after I've gone.  As I said along Hatteras, I actually felt sorry for the folks in their cars - they will get to their destination faster, but sometimes a journey isn't all about the destination.  This is why I think I'll try to continue riding trips like this.  Yes, it can get a bit isolated, and yes I miss everyone at home, but the journey is good, and my time here on earth is short, so I hope I can continue to do this as long as my body will allow.