One of things my wife loves most is to be around water, especially the ocean, so to celebrate her birthday in early November I arranged for us to spend a long weekend at Carolina Beach. We have visited Carolina Beach often, and escaped out there for a week in November last week just to get out of our house and get a change of scenery. You can’t be sure what kind of weather you might get in November, but we were looking forward to enjoying some quiet time away from the regular responsibilities and with the sound of the ocean in the background.
Rather than rent a house like we usually do, I just used hotel points and booked us into a nice little suite at the Courtyard Marriott that is right on the beach and beside the boardwalk. We left mid-morning on Friday and arrived in town in time for a late lunch after the three and a half hour drive. It’s not an exciting drive, but it’s relatively easy and gave us a chance to decompress and prepare to relax for a couple of days. For lunch we hit an old favorite, The Hang Ten Grill, and enjoyed some fish and their awesome fries. Plus a side of their great hushpuppies with cinnamon butter.
The weather wasn’t great, but it could have been worse. It rained a little over the weekend, but not as much as they had predicted, but the wind gusts lasted the entire weekend and they got a little intense from time to time. We didn’t let that bother us, and we enjoyed a couple of days of strolling around the little town enjoying the brisk air and taking our time wandering into the various little stores. We were able to pick up some unique Christmas gifts for friends and enjoyed some nice meals together.
Meals were all favorite places that we have visited multiple times – Michelangelo’s Pizza for dinner Friday night, Kate’s pancakes for brunch on Saturday, the Cork and Fork for Saturday dinner. Plus multiple stops for different treats and beverages as we wandered around without a real agenda. Finished the food strong on Sunday morning with a stop at Wake N Bake Donuts. So good.
It turned out to be a nice relaxing weekend, and was exactly how my wife wanted to spend her birthday. Now we are prepping for out Seattle trip and I am looking forward to being able to share what we discover in terms of things to do, and most importantly where to eat up there in the Pacific Northwest.
The Free Range Viking
The Free Range Viking 