We rolled out of Durham on Saturday morning for the Easy Escape Tour: Historic. We had repeat customers on this trip, along with a couple on their first motorcycle trip! After 45 minutes of interstate travel, we were on the path of least resistance as we traveled to our first day destination: New Bern.

Day 1 was all about the destination.  After about 2:45 minutes of total driving time and 180 miles later, we were relaxing at a charming seafood restaurant in downtown New Bern.  Travelers had the run of the city after lunch, with some venturing to the Firemen’s Museum, the Regional History Museum (at Tryon Palace), the birthplace of Pepsi (pharmacy) and visiting the shops and antique stores along the waterfront.

Dinner that evening was at The Chelsea, and we were fortunate enough to get to watch a “show”.  It was prom night in New Bern, so we got to see a constant parade of young couples dressed for the night!  Our evening accommodations were at the KOA campground, where each motorcycle had their own private cabin.

Day 2 started to a “foggy mist” that was more annoying than detrimental to our trip.  We crossed back over the river to New Bern and had a wonderful breakfast before starting our ride.  The second day of this trip was all about the journey.

From New Bern, we drove to Washington, NC.  This is the first town in the country to be named for our first president, George Washington.  From “Little” Washington we drove along the Pamlico River to the town of Bath, NC’s first town.  This is also home to the state’s oldest church, St. Thomas Episcopal, built in 1734. From Bath, we motored along curving farm roads to the town of Plymouth, home of a replica of one of NC’s inland lighthouses.

The rest of the trip was spent traveling west, taking rolling pavement to our final destination: Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, NC.  Travel on the last day was over 230 miles with a grand total of over 400 for the weekend.  Despite overcast skies on Saturday and Sunday morning, the journey finished in warm sunshine and a good time was had by all.

Our next available tour will be the Waterfall Weekend Tour on June 22-24.  For more information, email us at nctouring@gmail.com or visit our website: www.nctouring.com

The Easy Escape tours were developed to allow for a painless get-away from the work week. There is no need to take a much coveted day off in order to participate in one of our motorcycle tours. The premise is very simple: meet with your tour leader the morning of the ride and then… RIDE. Because your time is precious, we try to fill the day with great riding off the bat, and some great stops for either history, nature, or shoping options.

This 2 day, 1 night tour will take riders from the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) to historic New Bern. Arrive to refreshments while your camp is being set up for you. Explorations on Day 1 will include some of the wonderful historic sections of New Bern. Additional choices include the new history museum, sailboat rides or touring Tryon Palace. Day 2 will include a ride to historic “little” Washington and a relaxing ride back home.

You will have a private cabin near the New River on this tour. We will provide your sleeping bag and pillow!

Throw a change of clothes and some cash in your saddle bags or back pack and go! It really is that easy!

Updated: This tour is SOLD OUT. Check back for a recap of the tour. Other upcoming tours are available on our website: www.nctouring.com

NC Touring rolled out of the triangle on Tuesday evening for a 6 day tour traveling the coast of North Carolina and visiting all of the lighthouses. Day 1 was spent traveling up to Kerr Lake so that we would start close to the Virginia border for this trip. Morning started early on Day 2 as we cruised 262 miles finishing up on Bells Island, NC.  Along the way we stopped by the Roanoke River Lighthouse (replica) in Plymouth, as well as the original, screwpile lighthouse that is located in Edenton.  Both of these were inland lights.

Day 3 continued along to the start of Highway 12 in Corolla, NC.  This is home to the Currituck Lighthouse, which was built in 1875.  It is a beautiful lighthouse in that it was not painted and the wonderful redbrick shows through.  This is one of several coastal lighthouses that allow you to climb to the top.  We continued along Highway 12, avoiding the more popular “by-pass” as we wound our way down the outerbanks till we reach the Bodie lighthouse.

The Bodie light had been under a recent restoration, so we were not able to climb to the top.  It is interesting that the area is named Bodie (pronounced “Body”) because of the large number of bodies that washed up from ship wrecks (it is the graveyard of the atlantic afterall).  From there, it was a short trip to one of the most famous lighthouses and the tallest one in the country: Cape Hatteras (it is also incorporated in our logo).

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built 1802 and was moved just short of 3000 feet in 1999 to avoid being lost to the sea.  This lighthouse is open to the public and we were able to climb it.  Off in the distance, we could see the Diamond Shoals Light Station.  Day 3 is still not over, with one more ocean lighthouse on our list.  We took the ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke and completed our day with a stop at Ocracoke Lighthouse.

Ocracoke Island is one of my favorite places, and I had the privilege of sailing to the island when I was in graduate school and spending the night “on the hook” at Silver Lake, a hurricane hole that the notorious Blackbeard spent many a night.  The quaint village is a wonderful stopping point for the night and is only accessible by boat (ferrys from three different areas can get you here.   Total mileage for today was 188 miles.

Morning for Day 4 started early with a 7:30am ferry ride to Cedar Island (2.5 hour boat ride).  Once off of the boat, we meandered our way to Harker’s Island to arrange ferry service to Cape Lookout Lighthouse.  There are several “taxi” services to the barrier island, and we found great captains and nice boats at Calico Jacks.  The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is open during the summer months for climbs, but we were a week or two early for this visit.  We still had a great time exploring the grounds.  After our boat ride back, we cruised down to Emerald Isle for third night camping.  By mileage standards, a quick day, with only 82 miles traveled.

The only rain we saw the entire trip was that night as we slept.  Our Mountain Hardware tent kept us dry and secure, despite the tremendous downpour.  The weather broke and we awoke to a pleasant morning.  On Day 5, we continued our route down to Wilmington for a brief break before heading to our last two ocean lighthouses.  We joined up with one of our regular tour leaders, Shannon Stewart, and we all rode over to Oak Island to view the working light for the Cape Fear River.  This lighthouse is quite “new”, having been constructed in 1958 and it has moved away from the traditional pyramid shape.

After a wonderful lunch at the Provision Company in Southport, we made our way by private ferry to Bald Head Island to walk the grounds and view the lighthouse.  This private community is secluded on a island along the Cape Fear River and the Ocean.  The lighthouse is not working, but had recently been under repair so that visitors could climb to the top.  The lighthouse was not very tall, but was worth the $50 round trip it cost us to just see this structure.

Day 6 was our last day of the tour, as we made the journey back home.  We took the Fort Fisher / Southport Ferry and saw our final lighthouse, a river light: Price Creek.  This abandoned lighthouse is on private property, so you cannot walk over to see it.  We  then headed down to Sunset Beach, the last island in NC.  We met family for lunch at Ella’s of Calabash (one of our most favorite lunch spots) and then started heading back toward the triangle.

Several stops were made as we meandered through the coastal / piedmont area of North Carolina.  Overall, it was a wonderful trip and the weather could not have been any better. No rain during the day, with highs approaching 80’s and great camping in the 60’s at night.  We covered 1015 miles for the journey and had a great time.  Look for a portion of this tour to be repeated in the 2012 Tour Season!

For more information about NC Touring, visit them on the web at: www.nctouring.com, email them at nctouring@gmail.com, or give them a call at 919-410-TOUR.

We are out on the coast of NC, touring many of the lighthouses here in NC. We are posting information and photos daily on our Facebook page (its just easier when we are on the road). A recap of the tour and a few photos will be posted here when we return.

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