North Carolina Advice
 

I posted a while back for advice on NC beaches. We are trying to finalize our travel plans & need to figure out the 2nd half of our trip. We will be flying from Seattle to Charlotte, NC on March 25. Spending March 25 - 29 at Hampton Inn in Concord while we attend the AKC National Agility Championships. Our flight home is April 3 in the evening out of CLT. We still don't know where we're going the last four nights. Originally we thought we'd head towards the beach. From the wonderful advice we've gotten from fodorites we've decided that the outer banks is too far for the time we have. Given our time frame and the fact we'll have a dog (6lbs) with us, what do you recommend? We'd love to stay at a beach house, but none rent to us this far in advance for less than a week. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Serendipity42

Head to one of the Charleston beaches in South Carolina. They are much closer than the NC beaches.

Try Wild Dunes.

Beaches in the middle of March?

It will be too cold yet then.

Try the mountains.

Ashville is about 2 hours from Charlotte.

Great Smokey Mountains is another 2 hours or so from Ashville along Blue Ridge Parkway.

Lots of waterfalls in the Brevard/Franklin/Cashiers area.

Dusty - we've already come to the conclusion that any beach in NC in March is going to be much warmer than a beach in WA in June (and possibly July & August too <G> ) We live in an area of WA close to mountains & waterfalls, hubby has a desire to see the beach, so the beach we will see! No, we don't plan on surfing or swimming. Just want to feel the salt spray on our faces.

If we can't find a beach house for just 4 nights, any ideas for a decent pet friendly motel?

Serendipity42

Serendipity42

Hmmm...the dog adds a wrinkle to the equation, but GoTravel's suggestion of a South Carolina beach is a good one, if you are set on a beach. It is a little over three hours from Charlotte to Charleston or around 4 hours from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach. We have stayed on Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms in the Charleston area many times and love it, no matter what time of year. At the end of March, you probably will have days warm enough to be out on the beach, though not swimming weather. At any rate, we have used Island Realty for rentals in the area. I don't know how many pet friendly rentals they have, but at that time of year, you shouldn't have much trouble getting one for less than a week, since it's not peak season.

Yes, a rental on Isle of Palms or Sullivans Island is an excellent idea as you are only 20 minutes to downtown Charleston.

Charleston is one of the loveliest cities you'll ever encounter and you'll find the arts, culture, amenities, shopping, dining, and attractions of a much larger city.

The gorgeous architecture is icing on the cake.

Late March early April will definitely be warm. I've had beach days as early as March so you may be in luck but the ocean temps will only be around 70 so no swimming. You can easily sit around a pool in your bathing suit.

Pup will love the beach!

Agree Charleston area beaches, and you could get lucky on the temps, but it could also be chilly. Walking/biking on the beach can definitely be enjoyed, but there will be no sea spray (think wide, flat beaches with little wave action compared to the west coast - unless there is a storm offshore).

Isle of Palms is great location with it's own good restaurants, or it's 20 minutes into Charleston (which you should definitely spend some time in).

GoT needs to invest in a map. www.ncbrunswick.com

Why do I need a map?

It is 200 miles to Wilmington from Charlotte and 200 miles to Charleston from Charlotte.

The roads to Wilmington are state highway and two lane roads.

It is all interstate to Charleston.

Which one are you going to reach quicker?

According to Google maps, it is a shorter drive from Charlotte to Charleston (3:15) or Isle of Palms (3:24) than to Wilmington (3:55) or Kure Beach (4:24), but it's nice to know that the OP has several beach options within a reasonable drive of Charlotte.

Our son went to UNCW and I can tell you that the beach weather will be fine for a person from the north. The beaches near Wilmington are beautiful, Wrightsville, Carolina, Kure, Fort Fisher all good picks. We visited him often in winter and even if we weren't in the water we walked the beach and found it very comfortable. Our son would surf until after Thanksgiving and then use a wet suit for the warmer days in the winter, yes it took him five years to graduate but the guys rented a house on the beach for the winter and commuted to school.

Here is a link to pet friendly lodging.

http://www.petswelcome.com/cgi-bin/ghotelframe.pl

Better link

http://www.petswelcome.com/

From Charlotte you can be in the Myrtle Beach area in 3.5 hours--but please go a bit south to maybe Litchfield/Pawley's Island if you are going to that area. And the Charleston BEACHES will be a bit over 4 hours, and you will have the city of Charleston to compete with beach time!!
The Pawley's Island area has some of the best seafood on the SE coast, there is Brookgreen Gardens for a lovely tour for an afternoon, GREAT shopping of all sorts--small shops to outlets.
And south of Wilmington will be a little warmer. We love the beach in these off months.
The pet may make it more difficult but you have some leads there. If Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort is listed, I recommend it. Also the Hampton Inn at Pawley's/Litchfield is a beautiful property. Litchfield Inn is right on the beach and adequate--has been renovated. I imagine you don't want to consider it, but there are boarding facilities along the road (route 17) that we have noticed.
The drive to MB from Charlotte is not interstate, but is 4 lane road for 99% and off season, is not crowded.

And I agree--Starrs needs no map link.

I can get to most any of the Brunswick Islands in 3.5 hours, tops. Except for a small portion, that is now all 4 lane. Of course, much will depend on what time you choose to travel as I-77 can be a bear as can 74 thru Monroe. To get to Kiawah or Seabrook tacks on another 30-45 minutes. Being in Matthews (as I am), the disparity is even greater. Thanks Gretchen

Yes because Kiawah is 45 minutes south of Charleston.

You owe me an apology.

I am unaware of any beach houses in Charleston proper. If/When I go to the beach in Charleston, personnally, I go to Seabrook. You were looking at Wilmington & Charleston probably IS closer than Wilmington, but it isn't closer to Oak Island, or Holden Beach or Ocean Isle or Sunset Beach.

Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, James Island, Johns Island, Folly Beach are all considered Charleston Beaches. Seabrook is not because it is so far outside Charleston. Ditto for Edisto.

Thanks everyone for the advice & links. I didn't mean for this to become a discussion on which area is closer, we've pretty much decided on the Wilmington area.

A couple other quick questions - can anyone recommend a good place aprox halfway between Wilmington & Charlotte for one night?

And is anyone familiar with Concord & the Cabarrus Arena? I'm looking for some specific info, thanks!

Serendipity42

Serendipity - don't assume you can't find something to rent for less than a week then - the resort-area realtors are gasping for business and you might well be able to cut a deal. I love Wrightsville, and a few phone calls might find you what you need.

Be aware that The Waterway Lodge http://www.waterwaylodge.com/ says it accepts pets - it's not on the beach, but . . . .

Otherwise, two realtors are http://www.bryantrealestate.com/
http://www.intracoastalrentals.com/enjoy.htm

Otherwise, NC is somewhat less pet friendly about its beaches than other places, so check local regulations - often it's a matter of season and hours (e.g., in the summer, no pets at all; shoulder seasons, only before 9 am or after 6 pm).

Good luck with the Agility tests.

PS why do you need to break up the trip between Charlotte and Wrightsville? - it's only about 4 hrs.

Also: http://www.pettravel.com/View_Suppli...10949&pl=1

With all due respect to our NC beaches, I don't think the beach at Wilmington is nearly as nice as some further south--like Ocean Isle, and not as nice as the beaches south of Myrtle. Wrightsville Beach has a sort of odd design in the the streets of houses run toward the ocean, rather than parallel.
And I don't understand a halfway place for a night to any of the beaches, NC or SC. It is no more than 4 hours of easy driving.
The arena is just north of Charlotte on route 29. What do you need to know? I have been by it but not in it. Big!
And I agree that at that time there should be some rentals available, although it will be spring break for public schools in NC. don't know about SC. That could complicate some rentals.
You do know that Wilmington is not really the beach--Wrightsville is the beach area of Wilmington.

Not sure what your complaint is, Gretchen. Wrightsville Beach is so narrow that there's only room for the "spine" street (Lumina Ave.) going north-south, parallel to the beach, with little lanes running from Lumina to the beach - no more than about a block or so at the widest part.

Sure, there are nicer beaches elsewhere (for that matter, Gulfside Florida's better than all of this.) They're asking about WIlmington/Wrightsville and have already decided to go there. Ocean Isle is a lonnnnng way from there.

Whoa. I'm just reporting something I found interesting and a bit different from most other NC beaches. Wrightsville is VERY old, and therefore has that historic character and the difference in how it was originally built. When we went with friends we found it very charming, but that feature of the main part was just different, making it possible for you to be be 2 blocks from the ocean on one of those perpendicular streets.
On many other beaches you could be on the second row, and have an ocean view.
And there are a lot of beaches with the "spine" you describe, so it isn't all that unique. Might get a few rows out of it.
It depends on how you go to Ocean Isle as to whether it is further--as we discussed ad nauseum already. You can be at OIB, Wrightsville,MB, Litchfield, etc. ALL in the same 4 hours.

I also thought it was important to point out to the OP that Wilmington is not the beach. They might make a huge mistake in taking a hotel/motel in Wilmington thinking they would be at the beach and finding themselves 20+ minutes away.
They have the pet which is complicating. Otherwise they could stay (and maybe can) at the resorts that are right on the (Wrightsville) Beach.

HKP - thanks so much for the links.

I'm pretty much letting hubby plan this portion of the trip, since he's being such a good sport about sitting through three days straight of agility (not an easy thing to do for non-agility folks, lol!). I know he wants to do fun stuff like kayak, etc, so I'm sure he's planning this carefully. We'd also like to be reasonably close to decent restaurants, museums, etc.

The reason for the halfway stop is his idea - our flight home leaves Charlotte at 6:10 pm. He's thinking that instead of driving all the way to Charlotte & staying overnight the day before, that we would drive halfway to break up the drive. If there's no decent place halfway, we'll just drive the whole way the day before. Not a huge detail, whatever works is fine with me.

Gretchen - Do you know if the arena's bleacher seats have backs? Just wondering if we need to bring our stadium seats (will be spending a lot of time sitting).
Also - is there a Walmart or sporting goods store close to Concord? We'll need to purchase 2 really cheap camp chairs for the crating area. Don't want to pay the excess baggage fee to take the ones we have here.
One more - are there any good pet supply stores near Concord? Not your normal Pet Smart type, but the ones with the better brands of dog food, etc.

Thanks!
Serendipity42

Just adding a non-pet related tip:

If you like or want to try fabulous Carolina-style bbq and/or you appreciate amazing fried chicken, see if any of your travels will take you by a Smithfields. Nothing fancy but WOW- chicken, bbq, cracklins, nana pudding- calorie heaven.

http://www.smithfieldschicken.com/

Why would you not spend your final night at the beach and leave at 11 when the normal checkout is and drive to the airport? Arrive at 3PM, turn in the car, and have 2 hours before your flight leaves. PLEASe do something approxiamating this. Surely you can drive 4 hours at a time. Think about the time you would spend checking into a hotel and out. This makes no sense--honest. I have delivered someone TO the airport from the beach and driven back.
I take it he will have a wet suit if he wants to kayak. There are lots of rental places at Wrightsville, I'm sure, and I know there are at Ocean Isle. Our kids did it this summer. Not sure about wet suit rental, but I would guess the surf shops at Wrightsville (probably more than further south because the beach is steeper and there is more surfing) might have them.
I'm sure there are plenty of WalMarts there. As for your need for a higher end pet store, I doubt it. It is usually PetSmart around here but you could look up a veterinarian who would probablysell you some high end food.

G has it right + there is nothing halfway. It is only 3.5 -4 hours.

Ocean Isle is a long way from Wilmington ??!! When did they move it ?? S42 - Many places WILL rent to you RIGHT NOW for partial weeks. However, if someone should want it for the entire week, you would be moved to another property.

Ocean Isle is another hour from Wilmington, which for Serendity42 - already concerned about the 4 hr. trip back to Charlotte - might be just too far.

But everyone's in agreement that there's no likely in-between place at all, as you'll see.

No, 4 hrs is not to far for us (have driven 13 hours a day in the past no problem). It was just an idea hubby had, that's all. Apparently not a good one, lol! So now we're either going to stay the last night at the beach or drive all the way to Charlotte, still thinking about that.

So, which really is the nicer area, Ocean Isle or Wrightsville beach? Hubby really wants to kayak some inland waterways (not ocean kayaking), wants to get his running workout in on the beach, we'd like decent restaurants (nothing extremely fancy/pricey) and a few "touristy" things to do, not necessarily shopping. I'd like areas to walk the dog, doesn't have to be on the beach but would be nice. Basically I'll just need a comfortable place to unwind after the busy weekend.

Serendipity42

The Intercoastal runs down the entire East Coast of NC/SCc & would provide many opportunities to kayak. That being said, the area around Wilmington would likely be better for that...

What constitutes "nice" for you?

Wrightsville is an older resort area (as mentioned earlier), with a variety of types of houses, cottages, etc. Some very upscale large houses and some very modest cottages, a couple of restaurants, a couple of moderate to small hotels, a small retailing area with a few resort-y shops, and a nice beach. It has a kind of lived-in, comfortable-shoe -neighborhood-y feel (although by NO means run down), and it's easy to get across the causeway (with a couple of neat cafes and a store or two) back toward Wilmington if you want more choice in restaurants, stores, or a movie or some such.

I will leave it to Ocean Isle fans to describe it, but since it's newer, I'd guess it's a bit more manicured with newer, more upscale real estate.

(Also, it may make absolutely NO difference to you but just as a point of information: Wrightsville Beach faces east; Ocean Isle faces south. Main issues - if any at all - are where the sun hits you (at vernal equinox) and what the winds do at what time of day.)

HKP, guess what. If you go to Ocean Isle from Charlotte you don't go through Wilmington. There are a couple of other roads to get there that get you there in the 4 hours we have talked about!!

The inland waterway is VERY close at Ocean Isle 3 blocks from the beach. and there are several shops to rent kayaks, ski-doos, etc. There are also houses and places to rent on canals where he could launch from his own dock to get to the waterway.
Ocean Isle was where we used to go when the children were young. It had maybe 3 rows of houses--they had just started to develop the back/canal side. It is quite amazing now--VERY developed. However since it was controlled by basically one family there is VERY limited commercial development ON the beach--a couple of rental places, a grocery, a couple of burger places, miniature golf.. NO fast food. Don't get the wrong idea, there are PLENTY of supermarkets and restaurants available. There are very good restaurants in the area--across the bridge. Calabash, the "seafood capital" is nearby. You will be there during a time that some places may be closed.
If you are interested in looking for a house Cooke REalty, Williamson Realty are some names.
There are a few motels and condos.

I find it interesting that you are not at all interested in the SC beaches. They are beautiful with great accomodations.

Motels at OIB

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...p;aq=f&oq=

Holden Beach is one of my favorite beaches in NC - it is between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. Quiet, layed back kind of beach, mostly rental houses, condos. I believe we used Alan Holden Rentals the few times we've been.

Wilmington, NC is just fine for four days. Tons of great restaurants. History to tour.

Wrightsville is so close as well. Again a great choice.

Next heading south would be Sunset. Very small and quiet. Close to Myrtle Beach.

Charleston is great. From past posts on here you will find what an advocate I am of the area. However, in this case if you are looking for a beach trip, don't waste the extra time to drive that far. Charleston to Charlotte is a drive. I'd stick to NC for the beach.

Do Charleston when you can fly into CHS directly.

I prefer Wrightsville for all kinds of reasons. Not sure why people are so excited about Ocean Isle - it's a little too slick and same-same for me.

Much more interested in what your little dog is and what it does.