The Crystal Coast will be the setting for a half-marathon on March 8th. BTR Management and NCRaces.com are sponsoring the run through Morehead City and Atlantic Beach. A half marathon is not for the faint of hear, and it is recommended all participants to have trained for the event. For more information see an earlier post about the Crystal Coast Half-Marathon.
In the month of February alone I have seen two vehicle rollovers on NC highway 24 between Morehead City and Cape Carteret. The first I saw on way my way from Morehead City to Emerald Isle after stopping by the pet store. I had my friend from Missouri, Rob, riding shot gun. This wreck involved a pickup truck hauling a trailer with several engine blocks on it.
The beaches of the Crystal Coast attract thousands of visitors each year. For those visitors that are handicapped though, they weren’t very wheelchair friendly. That is all changing with a grant from the Carteret Community Foundation. The foundation has helped purchase several beach wheelchairs. The wheelchairs were given to Atlantic Beach, Fort Macon State Park, and Pine Knoll Shores. Emerald Isle now has six of the lightweight beach chairs. Fort Macon has three chairs now that are available to handicapped visitors to the park. This donation by the foundation gives Pine Knoll Shores its first beach chair.
By now your Crystal Coast rental property should be rented for many of the weeks this summer. If not there are some things to think about. Ensure your rental is getting seen by potential guests. Make it easy for people to book your property. Be sure that your rental is attractive to guests.
Yesterday the weather was rather warm so I decided to take Nitro for a walk around the Patsy Pond Trail. The trail is off highway 24 just outside of Cape Carteret. The 1.75 mile trail attracts many of the Crystal Coast’s visitors. You can spot a wide variety of local wildlife while walking the trail. There is usually plenty of parking.
The Emerald Isle Police Department has grown considerably since I moved to the Crystal Coast back in 2003. Tonight I was making my way home from Morehead City after visiting some friends. I thought for sure the police in Morehead City would stop me considering the hour of the night. I didn’t hit the road until right at 2 a.m. and everyone knows this is when the bars close and folks who have been drinking hit the road.
The Point in Emerald Isle has seen better days as far as sand is concerned. The town deployed the sandbags back in 2001 due to Bogue Inlet Channel eroding the sand there. Some houses were losing their decks and stairs that used to lead to the beach. Other houses like the octagonal shaped Carousel were near falling into the channel.
That all changed in 2005 as a result of an expansive effort to shift Bogue Inlet westward. For a time it looked as though the engineers had achieved the unachievable and tamed the rushing tides as well as their impact to Emerald Isle’s shoreline. The sandbags became buried under the newly “accreted” sand. Native plants even started taking root on the new real estate.
Yesterday my mother offered to take me to lunch. We both work in Morehead City and she suggested El Zarape in Atlantic Beach. There aren’t many Mexican restaurants in our area, and I think they’re pretty much all an El Zarape anyway. When we arrived at El Zarape, I was shocked that the parking lot was fairly empty. Usually this place has a lot more cars in the parking lot at lunch time, even in the winter. So we parked and headed on in.
It occurred to me today that I have been neglecting my Crystal Coast upcoming event posts. This is really quite a shame and I apologize if you have been looking for events in our area. My real job has been keeping me pretty busy, and I was entertaining a friend from out of town last week. At any rate here are a few things happening in our area you may want to check out.
Morehead City council members agreed to apply for a $1.15 million dollar grant from the NC Waterfront Access and Marine Industry, or WAMI. The WAMI is supposed to procure waterfront property and improve or develop public waterfront access areas. This project if all goes according to plan will construct a boat ramp as well as extend the public fishing pier on Radio Island, which is just over the bridge from Morehead City to Beaufort.
Last week I had a friend visiting and I knew I had to take him to Yana’s Restaurant in Swansboro. It’s a nice little 50’s style diner with awesome food. We went there for lunch, although I still ordered breakfast. I think the last time I went to Yana’s was last summer, and I remember they had a full house that day, which is typical for summer. The restaurant was at near capacity, but the food still came out like clockwork. No wonder it is a favorite dining destination for the visitor to the Crystal Coast.
I wasn’t surprised at all when I learned Morehead City had been named among the top fishing towns in the US. It is hardly a secret that the fishing along the Crystal Coast is truly second to none. We’re blessed with excellent inshore fishing, offshore fishing, and surf/pier fishing. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream keep different fish species within range year round. We’re known for record catches of redfish. They can be found in many types of water from the marsh to the surf. If you want to catch something a little bigger the giant bluefin generally pass by our coast each winter.
I woke up from a cat nap last night around 9p.m. I was so tired after all the driving I did yesterday, I had to get some rest before heading to the Dive in Cape Carteret. There was going to be some music there I wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else around the Crystal Coast. There was a Drum N Bass event there, which to me seems like a great option for diversifying the area nightlife.
You can always count on the Dive to provide you with great specials, good food, and all kinds of music to enhance the atmosphere for any night. I noticed there were many improvements to the Dive. I could see they are a lot more of a restaurant. There is also now no smoking in most areas. There is a small bar in the back called the speak-easy which does allow smoking. The place is a lot more of a restaurant than in the past. I noticed on their website (thencdive.com) that it’s now called the Dive Hard Times Café.
I had to work in Raleigh last night from 11:30p.m. to 3:30a.m. this morning. I of course still had my best friend Rob visiting from Missouri visiting the Crystal Coast. I felt bad for dragging him with me to Raleigh since I am basically unfamiliar with the city and would be working most of the time. So needless to say, there wasn’t much sight-seeing going on during his trip to Raleigh. But I hope the week spent visiting the Crystal Coast and staying in Emerald Isle may have made up for the stay in Raleigh.
My friend Rob from the Show-Me-State is still visiting me in Emerald Isle. Yesterday I managed to get off of work early so we would have some time to do some tourist type activities. It turned out to be a very nice day. I opted to take him to the NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. The aquarium is a great place for visitors to our area. There are a lot of educational exhibits. Hopefully aquarium visitors leave with an increased appreciation for our coastal waters as well as their own.
Yesterday my good friend from Missouri, Rob, arrived in Jacksonville. He agreed to help one of his friends from back home move down here. I guess his wife’s friend’s husband is in the Marines and stationed in Jacksonville. Rob was kind enough to offer to drive her down here so she wouldn’t have to make the trip alone. I guess it ended up to be like a twenty hour drive for them.
Today in Morehead City, I had to get something to eat, and get out of the office and walk for a bit. I decided to head over to Beach Bumz Pub & Pizzeria. Its only a few blocks from where I work in downtown Morehead City. Beach Bumz is a great lunch spot. They have incredible sandwiches, good pizza, and lots of beers to choose from.
If you’re traveling around the Crystal Coast and find yourself approaching Cape Carteret, make sure to adhere to posted speed limits and buckle your safety belt. This town is infamously known by many travelers as a speed trap. You’d be well advised to slow down, make sure your belt is fastened and not even think of drinking and driving if you’re coming through this town.
Hopefully by now your property has been booked for most of the year. Though it seems rentals are going to come in late across the board for many Crystal Coast properties as well as along most of the East coast this season compared to last. I imagine this is due in part to the sub-prime lending crisis as well as other economic concerns. But just like in years past, the same folks who could go on vacation last year will manage to go on vacation this year.
That being said now is the time to get your rental property up to par for the upcoming season. If you have been thinking of adding an outside shower, carpeting or tiling a floor, even adding a pool; now is the time for these projects. If you can’t count on one hand how long the sofa in your beach house living room has been in there, you should consider replacing it. People spend good money to occupy your home at the beach and should be able to sit on a nice sofa. Or they won’t rent your home next year.
There are many things a home owner can do to entice renters. It shouldn’t be hard to rent a beach house. I mean it’s at the beach and people are willing to travel thousands of miles to arrive at the Crystal Coast. So think of some of the little things that could improve bookings.
The Emerald Isle night life can get pretty dead in the depths of winter. However, there’s still plenty of fun to be had. My friend Jason invited me out to Ballyhoo’s for a couple beers to which I agreed, since it would be the first time I had been out lately. Crystal Coast News is keeping me pretty busy these days. So anyway we headed out for an evening in Emerald Isle.
Today was absolutely gorgeous along the Crystal Coast. My friend Steve and I decided to once again test our luck pursuing the often elusive redfish. We have been pretty successful down at the point in Emerald Isle the last few weeks as you can see from the previous fishing reports. The Weather Channel had forecasted highs of around 70 degrees today, and there was almost no wind. A big difference compared to last weekend. So we planned to take full advantage of it.
This morning I went to the beach in Emerald Isle to try and catch the sunrise. I was shocked to find the winds were almost non-existent. The skies were mostly clear too. Today promises to be a gorgeous winter day along the Crystal Coast.
Cedar Point is under fire and being sued by one Charles Bayer and family. They contend the moratorium from September 25th, 2007 through March 25th, 2008 should not apply to the Bayers’ 42 unit condominium development project behind Waterway Drive.
The Sept. 25th moratorium was intended to give the town time to rewrite multi-unit development policies and regulations. These modifications to Cedar Point’s multifamily development policies are to be reviewed by the board of commissioners on February 26th. The board has many apprehensions with regard to the town’s current development practices.
Monday in Beaufort, Carteret County judge Russell Lanier Jr. allowed a gender discrimination suit to go to trial. Regina Lovoy, now released from the Atlantic Beach Police Department alleges she was wrongfully discharged for refusing a polygraph test required by an internal investigation.
The judge did rule the town does not have to give its employees Garrity warnings, the equivalent of a citizen’s Miranda rights given to employees who are asked to give information about alleged misconduct. On the other hand the judge did allow the action against Town of Atlantic Beach alleging Lovoy was dismissed because of her gender.
I was talking with a couple of friends the other day. And get this, there are apparently rumors circulating that Emerald Isle will be putting in a skate park. I know it would be a good thing for the youth that live in and visit Emerald Isle. It wouldn’t be too bad for us old guys that want to rip it up either.