North Carolina

October/November 2023

Our visit to North Carolina was part of a 5-week, 3,695-mile trip throughout the southeast, including one-night stays in Virginia and Maryland, and more extensive stays in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. This blog post describes our time spent in North Carolina.

North Carolina was both our first and final stop on the trip and was definitely the most pleasant surprise over the course of five weeks. North Carolina offered a warm, welcoming, friendly atmosphere from the mountains in the west to the ocean in the east, leading us to really love all the places we visited. The mountain towns of Blowing Rock, Boone, Black Mountain, and Brevard (among others), and of course, Asheville, offered an amazing art scene, great breweries, welcoming people, and a terrific vibe. Wilmington was a terrific town, and Frisco in the Outer Banks afforded the most magnificent, secluded campsite on the edge of the Pamlico Bay, providing amazing sunsets, jumping fish, flying pelicans and wading snowy egrets fishing nearby as part of our vast backyard during our stay. We did not visit the middle of the state but are looking forward to returning soon. We found all the places we visited in North Carolina to be welcoming, warm, and friendly. Pride flags were visible throughout with the exception of the Outer Banks. Our favorite rainbow flag had the logo, “Y’all Means All”.

We started our trip by driving to our Harvest Host spot, the Shenandoah Heritage Market in Harrisonburg, VA, a sprawling indoor market with multiple vendors selling prepackaged food, jams, candy, and much more. The six spots for RVs on the edge of the vast parking lot were filled mostly by large RVs. After wandering through the market and purchasing chocolate coated ginger, a wine bottle cap, and some spicy pickle pretzels, we returned to the van for dinner and good night’s rest.

That first night was one of the only times it rained during the entire trip. After an oatmeal breakfast, we headed to Blowing Rock, NC. Although our original plan was to drive the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the way to Asheville, because we had delayed the start of trip by a few days, we decided to drive on Interstate 81 most of the way as this was the fastest route. We entered the Blue Ridge Parkway closer to Blowing Rock and found that while the views were beautiful and not driving next to trucks was a welcome relief, driving the RV on the narrow, winding road was challenging and a bit terrifying when driving next to steep drop-offs.

In Blowing Rock, we stayed at a friend’s vacation home. Blowing Rock is a great little mountain town, definitely worth visiting. The main streets were vibrant with people moving in and out of the boutique shops, restaurants, and a small street fair. Being in the area, we travelled to Grandfather Mountain. We were glad we went early as the afternoon became very crowded. Following the guided tour provided with the entrance fee, we started with the short .25-mile Woods trail, then drove up to see the animals (bears, cougars, elk, bald eagle) in the animal sanctuary. Then we drove to the lower parking lot, hiked the .4-mile Bridge Trail where we could hear the wind vibrating the steel cables that hold the Mile High Bridge in place. Walking across the bridge was windy and chilly, but the views of the surrounding mountains were beautiful! An amazing part of being in western North Carolina is the endless view of mountains and trees that span the entire area. Traveling in the fall offered us a spectacular view of reds and yellows as the trees were changing color.  Crossing back over the bridge, we hiked the Extension Trail to the lower parking lot and took the Black Rock Trail for a view of Grandmother Mountain. Part of the trail required using ladders and cables to scramble up the rocks, well worth the effort as the trail led to more amazing views. On our way down, we stopped at the nature center and then drove over to Boone. We really didn’t know what to expect but Boone is a really fun, lively, college town with lots of shops and restaurants. We shared a delicious vegan Reuben at the Wildcraft Restaurant, a quaint and comfortable local spot. We also discovered the Mast General Store which sold all sorts of candy, including Hopjes coffee candy, which was a blast from my past.

Leaving Blowing Rock, on our drive to Asheville, we decided to hike the Old Mitchell Trail. The hail we encountered while driving to the parking lot dissuaded us from hiking to the top and lead us to the tree-lined and less exposed Balsam Nature Trail instead. After a very peaceful hike through the forest, we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, picked up a rental car at the airport, and drove to Wilson RV Campground. The campground is very conveniently located as the French Broad River Greenway runs through the middle, so we were able to ride our bikes from the campground to a variety of places, including the River Arts District. However, our original site (#5 hillside) backed up to a noisy highway with a pretty uninteresting view. The next day we were able to move to the river side (site #16) of the campground, which was less noisy and had a nice view of the French Broad River. The campground is still a bit odd as non-campers run and bike through the campground on the greenway. Despite this, Wilson RV Park proved to be a convenient place to stay and is where we met up with good friends from many years back, and also cooked our first dinner that we made from scratch in the van: a stir-fry with tofu.  

Asheville is a great town, very welcoming with a “crunchy” mountain culture, lots of small shops, and restaurants that we enjoyed. Walking around the town we happened upon Rosetta’s Kitchen, a vegan soul restaurant with good beer and amazing homemade spiced sweet potato fries. There was no shortage of restaurants in Asheville and so we also enjoyed eating at Addisae, an Ethiopian restaurant that got good reviews. The food was okay, not fabulous, but we made up for that by finding a place that sold pumpkin spice cookies with chocolate chips.

As friends of ours from New Jersey encouraged us to compost during our trip, we had a plastic container of coffee grinds, banana peels, and other compost we needed to dispose of.  After signing up for Asheville’s local composting program, we drove to the WNC Farmers Market to do some shopping and to add to their compost pile. There are two parts to the market – one wholesale with amazing amounts of fruits and vegetables, and the other retail where we purchased jam, bbq sauce, and warm peanuts. We also visited West Asheville but were disappointed with the lack of shops, the paucity of vegan options in restaurants, the disjointed nature of the area, and seeing someone on the corner shooting heroine.

By far our favorite part of Asheville was the River Arts District which we visited three times over the course of the week. The district is divided into several areas, each of which is walkable. We spent hours visiting galleries and talking with artists. We frequented a few food trucks with Cuban coffee and Korean specialties. One of the most vibrant spots was the Marquee, a large building with many art vendors and a bar that serves drinks. We enjoyed walking from booth to booth sipping beer and cider.

Deciding to alternate our time in Asheville with visiting the surrounding areas, we drove to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park with two goals in mind. The first was to see elk that we had read were in the Cataloochee area in the southeastern section of the park. Several elk were grazing and sparring in a huge field. Watching them from a safe distance and looking through our monocular, we could watch these huge and majestic animals in their natural environment. The second goal was to take a nice hike in the park. We decided to hike the Boogerman Trail which was supposed to be a 7.4-mile loop through the woods. When we got to the trail, there were signs that said that you needed to wade through numerous streams as there were very few bridges on the trail. Other hikers clearly knew about the lack of bridges because they came prepared wearing shorts and sandals for the crossings. Rather than doing the loop, we ended up walking up and back the same way to avoid crossing rivers and get soaking wet. Along the trail, in addition to seeing tall, beautiful trees, we came across a huge pile of fresh bear scat. Shortly after that sighting, a woman passed us from the other direction saying she had just seen a mother bear and two cubs. Deciding to turn around, we met two older men who encouraged us to turn around (again) and hike a bit further to see a grove of large poplar trees and some cliffs. After hiking with the two men for another 30 minutes, we saw no evidence of the promised poplar forest. We did find one large poplar, where we took some photos and then turned back. After that hike (about 6-8 miles), we drove to Waynesville which is a small mountain town, but much more tired and sleepy than Boone. One area of town, called Frogs Level, had a brewery with outdoor seating situated next to a river where we indulged in good beer, and an expensive, mediocre veggie burger and fries.

In addition to the Great Smokey National Park, we also hiked in Pisgah National Forest. We were very happy to be driving a car instead of the van as we had to drive on an unpaved, one-lane road that looped around the mountains. In Pisgah, we hiked the Daniel Ridge Trail, a 4.5-mile loop that passed a beautiful waterfall, took us through wonderful forests, and ended by walking alongside a small stream. We then drove to the Looking Glass Falls where two women were getting married, and then drove to Sliding Rock where we watched people slide down rocks into the water. We then drove into Brevard which we thought was a nice, but less-interesting town.

We topped off our trip in the Asheville area by visiting the Folk Art Center which we really enjoyed. Then we drove to Black Mountain, birthplace of Roberta Flack, and a very vibrant and fun mountain town that was a highlight of our trip. Visiting one of the many shops that lined the streets, we purchased some coffee for the rest of our travels and a small metal raven to put in the van.

We left Asheville and headed to Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, which we write about in another blog post. But for the last leg of our trip we travelled to Wilmington and then Frisco in the Outer Banks, two other places in North Carolina that we loved. We stayed with friends in Wilmington who gave us a walking tour of the historic downtown. Situated along the Cape Fear River, Wilmington is a really interesting and enjoyable town with lots to see and do. We enjoyed walking around window-shopping, and stopping for beer, chips, salsa, and guacamole at the Beer Barrio on Front Street. Then we came home, walked around a park near our friends’ house, and ordered food from IndoChine Express.

The next day we drove to the Outer Banks. The drive was very smooth, driving on state roads mostly through the countryside lined by huge fields of cotton. The drive into the Outer Banks was beautiful, going over bridges that spanned the water, through small beach towns, and on a road with the bay on one side and the beach on the other. Because our drive coincided with the first day of daylight savings time, the sun was setting around 5:00 and we arrived at Frisco Woods Campground 4:10 PM, so we had a short time to set up and watch the sun set. Worth noting about the campground is that there were really great amenities including free air, propane filling, wi-fi throughout the park, cable, full hook ups, and kayak and SUP rentals, with a fully stocked camp store. The bathhouse was very nice as well. In addition, we had the most amazing site imaginable situated at the very end of a spit of land that was right on the Pamlico Bay with no other RVs in the area. Each night we would sit watching the sunset entertained by jumping fish all around. Then we would eat dinner, go inside for a bit, and then return outside to lay on the picnic table to enjoy the dark sky, with a full view of the Milky Way.

During the day, the weather was a beautiful sunny 60-degrees, allowing us to explore Frisco and the surrounding areas on bicycle. We rode the five miles south to the Hatteras Ferry and on a whim, took the free 1-hour boat ride to Ocracoke. While on the ferry, we saw sandbars populated with pelicans and other sea birds relaxing in the sun, and a pod of dolphin swimming near the boat. Once on Ocracoke, we rode on a nearly deserted road surrounded by sand dunes, with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other. The town of Ocracoke was 13-miles away. Given that the sun set early and we forgot the lights for our bicycles, we decided instead to ride about five miles to the Pony Pen, saw a few ponies, crossed the street to see the ocean, and then headed back to the ferry.

Waking in the mornings to the spectacular view, doing yoga on our mats by the water, and watching the myriad cormorants, pelicans, and seagulls, was a wonderful way to spend our mornings while in Frisco. One morning, we walked to the Frisco Native American Museum and Natural History Center, about a 10-minute walk from the campsite. According to the museum, the first documented meeting between the British and a group of Native Americans was in Frisco. Behind the museum is a nature trail that points out native plants and trees and how they were used by native groups. We also rode our bikes through the Frisco neighborhoods and then rode down Billy Mitchell Road, past the local airport and through the Frisco Campground to see what that was like, stopping at the beach to see the ocean a few times as well. The Frisco Campground is very nice but there are no hook-ups there and no real ocean view.

Leaving Frisco, we packed up and drove up to Pocomoke River - Shad Landing Area Campground in Maryland. We decided not to stay at a Harvest Host for our last night as we needed to dump our tanks. We decided to stay in a Maryland state park because it was affordable and we wanted to scratch Maryland off our map of places we have stayed. Shad Landing is a beautiful, quiet, and wooded campground. Had we stayed there longer, we would have enjoyed kayaking on the river that runs through the campground. Instead, we spent a quiet last night before finishing our 5-week trip as we headed home the next morning.