For sure, one of the coolest rides I have been on this year, was the ride to Wilmington, NC. We had been planning that for some time, had been waiting for good weather. Even though we have been in a drought for most of the year, seemed like what rain fell, fell on the weekends. However, on July 1, I got to ride with some fellow transplants from Louisville (who also came down here with the job transfer.They were Bill on his Honda Gold Wing, Ed on his Honda VTX 1300, and myself on the Vulcan 1500. We left from Concord, NC at 7am after a quick breakfast at McDonalds. We went via NC-200 to Monroe, NC, and then down NC-74. The ride on NC-74 was due east, and straight into the sun for much of the morning. However, the weather was perfect, a little cool early on, and clear skies. We made two stops, one a rest stop, the other a fuel stop along the way. There was not a lot to see, and not a lot of towns actually on NC-74. Usually you had to pull off and ride around a mile or so to get to where the gas station was. Perhaps it was the day of the week, or perhaps the high fuel costs, but there were not a lot of cars on the road, which was very nice.
We got into Wilmington around 11pm. First thing we did was follow the signs to the USS North Carolina. This WWII Battleship was really interesting, and we enjoyed checking out the various decks on the ship. It has an amazing history, and unlike many ships in the Carolinas, it never saw post war action. It is basically as it was in World War II. All sorts of guns all over it, and inside the ship was set up as they lived it. We spent around 2.5 hours there, wandering around the decks, and up and down the ladders. Thats Bill standing by the 16 inch guns.
From the North Carolina, we rode to Carolina Beach. Once again traffic was light, and parking was easy at the beach. We had lunch at a local place, sea food was the order of the day. it was pretty good too! The beach was not very crowded but I was told that it got that way in the afternoon. We hung out on the pier there till around 5:30. The beach was really nice, had never been there before, but liked checking it out.Would be a nice place to bring my wife to, not as commercial as Myrtle Beach, kind of reminded me in a way of Folly Beach in Charleston, SC. Bill wanted to get some crabs to take back home, and having a Gold Wing he could do that thanks to that big trunk on the back! Once we had done that, we rolled back to NC-74 and pointed the motorcycles toward home.
The ride back was much the same as the ride there, though this time we rode into the sun which was sinking in the west. We made an early fuel stop, and a dinner stop later on (Thickburgers at Hardee's; not bad really, but quite a messy meal). We did have one problem, Bill and Ed both had only sunglasses, so we stopped at a Wal-Mart and they got some clear goggles. Night riding really brought the bugs out. I had my helmet with the clear face shield, and sunglasses that I could put in my pocket.
We got back around 11pm; a long day in the saddle, and a total of some 430 miles of riding. I have ridden at the sea, but it was a different sea and another time many years ago. Have been to the mountains many times, but this was a real experience, and really enjoyed the day on the motorcycle. Prior to the ride, checked my bike over and had it ready for a long day on the road. That paid off well, as I had zero problems during the ride, as did we all.
We got into Wilmington around 11pm. First thing we did was follow the signs to the USS North Carolina. This WWII Battleship was really interesting, and we enjoyed checking out the various decks on the ship. It has an amazing history, and unlike many ships in the Carolinas, it never saw post war action. It is basically as it was in World War II. All sorts of guns all over it, and inside the ship was set up as they lived it. We spent around 2.5 hours there, wandering around the decks, and up and down the ladders. Thats Bill standing by the 16 inch guns.
From the North Carolina, we rode to Carolina Beach. Once again traffic was light, and parking was easy at the beach. We had lunch at a local place, sea food was the order of the day. it was pretty good too! The beach was not very crowded but I was told that it got that way in the afternoon. We hung out on the pier there till around 5:30. The beach was really nice, had never been there before, but liked checking it out.Would be a nice place to bring my wife to, not as commercial as Myrtle Beach, kind of reminded me in a way of Folly Beach in Charleston, SC. Bill wanted to get some crabs to take back home, and having a Gold Wing he could do that thanks to that big trunk on the back! Once we had done that, we rolled back to NC-74 and pointed the motorcycles toward home.
The ride back was much the same as the ride there, though this time we rode into the sun which was sinking in the west. We made an early fuel stop, and a dinner stop later on (Thickburgers at Hardee's; not bad really, but quite a messy meal). We did have one problem, Bill and Ed both had only sunglasses, so we stopped at a Wal-Mart and they got some clear goggles. Night riding really brought the bugs out. I had my helmet with the clear face shield, and sunglasses that I could put in my pocket.
We got back around 11pm; a long day in the saddle, and a total of some 430 miles of riding. I have ridden at the sea, but it was a different sea and another time many years ago. Have been to the mountains many times, but this was a real experience, and really enjoyed the day on the motorcycle. Prior to the ride, checked my bike over and had it ready for a long day on the road. That paid off well, as I had zero problems during the ride, as did we all.
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