Roger/Nileen Travel

Travels in North Carolina, Road Trips, Etc.

Things To Do In Raleigh (and RTP)

North Carolina Museum of Art
Excellent state run museum.
North Carolina State University
Crafts Center Gallery
J. C. Raulston Arboretum
Gallery of Art and Design
North Carolina Museum of History
Not the easiest place to park, but worth the trouble. It is not easy Monday through Friday to find an easy parking place.
North Carolina Museum of Natural History
Another problem for parking except on weekends.

Atlantic Beach

The traditional beach trip location for Nileen's family is Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Almost always at the Seahawk Motor Lodge.

Atlantic Beach
Seahawk Motor Lodge
A nice motel on the beach with inexpensive rates and an easy location. SOP is to check in then go to the Food Lion for beer and an embarrassing amount of junk food to consume on the porch.
Restaurant Guide
Loughrey's Landing is a place we would recommend for a good meal in Atlantic Beach. It is just over the causeway from Morehead City on the sound side. The crab gratin was especially tasty, but after chowing down on the hush puppies I didn't leave enough room. I fed the remainder to Nileen and I think she will be getting that the next time.
The White Swan barbeque has a place on Ft. Macon Road now near the Seahawk which we plan to try soon.
DJ Shooters has a good filling breakfast. We haven't gone for supper.
Otis Mosquito's has been recommended to us, but we have not eaten there.
Pierhouse Restaurant has been great some years and ho-hum on others. It is probably worth the look if just for a couple of brews.
Salter Path
Whidden Landing Restaurant: 252-247-4600
Traditional fried seafood (like that is a bad thing). You can eat out in the sound on a pier which is usually our choice. Update: Ophelia hammered that area on the sound side in 2005. Whidden's is rebuilding from the look of it. It didn't look open in April 2006 when we drove by.
Morehead City (or Morehead)
Sugar Loaf Cafe: 252-726-8484
Update: This restaurant has changed hands and I would no longer recommend it as of April of 2006. It went from fantastic, to not worth the effort.
Beaufort ("bow fert", not "bew fert")
Down the road from Morehead on Hwy 70.
Downtown once had a good selection of eating places, but many have gone away.
North Carolina Maritime Museum

Winston-Salem

Reynolda House and Gallery
We really enjoyed a trip to Reynolda House when they had their American Painting collection put into the gallery. Usually it is spread out in the house which can take a lot of walking to get around.

Hickory

Hickory Art Museum
A great little museum that we visit on each trip to see Roger's family.

Wilmington

Wrightsville Beach

Asheville

Excellent destination for visitors.

Charlotte

Mint Museum
The Mint Museum of Craft and Design is in downtown and worth the trip. We want to get to the other museum, but haven't at this point.

Gastonia

Mary Jo's
Of course, Mary Jo's Cloth Store is the main source of quilter karma in the Southeast.

Lists and Links to Our Travels

Washington State 1999: Olympic Peninsula

Our relationship was sealed when we didn't hate each other after spending a week traveling on the Olympic Peninsula then attending the 1999 AAW Symposium in Tacoma, Washington and attending a week of board meetings afterwards. This trip defined in our minds that we would avoid air travel unless absolutely necessary.

New England 2000: New Hampshire, Maine, Etc.

A great trip (other than the bad clams in Bar Harbor, Maine. The coastline in Maine isn't like North Carolina.
More on this later when I find the pile of photos.

2005 Road Trip: NC-TN-KY-MO-KA-MO-IL-IN-KY-WV-VA-NC

About 2300 miles of listening to about 40-50 CDs in the car, plus we saw some great scenery and sights along the way to the 2005 AAW Symposium in Overland Park, Kansas.
Two days of traveling got us to Paducah, Kentucky to the Museum of the American Quilters Society which is one of the rites of passage for a quilter. Both of us enjoyed this museum and the stay in Paducah which is a nice little town on the Ohio River.
A major stop also was St. Louis to visit Nileen's brother and kids. We really enjoyed our day long outing to the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
The trip over Missouri to Kansas City was uneventful. Once there, we didn't get out much since the woodturning symposium took up the entire time. We did get a taste of what they call Kansas City barbeque which is not barbeque, but just roast beef with a sad type of sauce on it. I would eat it again, but we will be sure to try it at one of the famous places where I hope there is more to it than at the symposium.
After several more days in St. Louis, we headed overland through Illinois, Indiana, and to Louisville and Frankfort. We headed to Charleston, WV and then down 77 to Virginia and to home. After eating barbeque through all those states, it affirms my belief that eastern North Carolina barbeque is the only one that makes the grade.

2006 Road Trip: NC-TN-KY-OH-WV-VA-NC