The last day in February, we headed off for our first beach holiday of the year. On our previous vacation, I had been checking out VRBO and spotted a beach front condo on a special winter price. I knew the boys had spring break coming up, so we decided to book it. After checking out the distance, and what there was to do in the area, we decided to go for the whole week. Accommodation ended up being under 500 bucks. We headed off on the Saturday morning, not too early.... We actually ended up taking a route we had never done before, a bit of a rarity here. Although we were staying in Kure Beach, we headed to Southport to catch the ferry.
The ferry runs about 10-15 times a day. We were able to get there about 20 minutes early. The ferry is $5 one way.
It was blowy, grey and a little choppy, but not too bad. There is a small seating area you can go into if you wish, or you can stay in your car. Our children wanted out......
The ferry arrived at Fort Fisher after about 35 minutes. From there it was a short drive past the aquarium and the fort to the condo. By short, I mean like less than 2 miles. By taking the ferry instead of driving through Wilmington, we saved about 70 miles, so about an hour off our journey. Plus it was much more scenic.
We got settled in and went in search of dinner. WE found it, more on the restaurant at a later date. The kids went to bed a little later than usual, to our downfall. That night, I never want to repeat. Let's just say we have learnt not to give our children diet coke at 6.30pm, then put them to bed, then check on them in a room with a creaky door....... No one got much sleep that night.
Paul was awesome the next morning, and let me sleep in. He was able to get up and see this beautiful sun rise. The condo block was set back slightly from the other blocks, creating a picture frame effect. The layout was good, fairly similar to a semi detached house in the UK.
After a night of not much sleep, and a beautiful sunny morning, what else is there to do but go for a walk? We had brought the boys wellies, so we got wrapped up in jumpers, wellies and jackets, and off we went.
We walked south along the beach from the condo, past all the others. Given it was the first of March, the beach was pretty deserted. The boys were able to run as much as they wanted.
We reached Fort Fisher fairly quickly, where there is this memorial built for those who lost their lives.
Fort Fisher is an earthen fort, built to keep the port of Wilmington open to blockade runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies in land. When it was defeated in 1865, it helped seal the fate of the Confederacy For more historical info, and to find out where i sourced this (cos I would remember those kind of intricate details, please click here). You are able to walk around a part of the fort, and see some of the cannons.
It is well maintained with plenty of information boards detailing details of the battles as you go round.
The boys loved being able to play goodies and baddies on the top of the fort. If it had been high season, they would not have had the free reign they did, as there would have been too many people around.
As it was Sunday, the visitors centre attached to the fort was closed. I don't think we missed much. As we walked along the road back to the condo, we checked out the recreation centre attached to the condo complex. It contained a gym room, and an indoor heated pool. We would definitely be back.....
We went out for lunch at Jack Mackeral's after checking out Kure Beaches main town area. Given it was off season, there was not a lot open. Jack Mack's was good. We stuck with soft drinks, all of us. Oliver had a cheeseburger, Isaac had a grilled cheese, and Seb had fries. This was to become their menus for the week. I had the fish and chips. The service was good, though it took them a while to take our order initially. The food was ok, my fish and chips was yummy, though I had to ask for tartar sauce, which should really always accompany fish and chips. No lemon either. Saying this, the boys finished everything, and there was clear plates all round. The place was fairly busy. It kinda made our meal to hear an older lady talking to her server about how she had to get home to watch the (NASCAR) race. Awesome....
We went for a little stroll down the fishing pier. I can imagine in the summer that it is super busy. That day it was grey, very windy and cold.
Didn't stop there being people in the water surfing though. They certainly had the waves for it.....
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