Moon Coastal Carolinas Read online

  Lake Drummond, in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

  GATESVILLE

  Near the town of Gatesville, a little way west of South Mills on U.S. 158, is another gorgeous swampy natural area, Merchant’s Millpond State Park (176 Millpond Rd., Gatesville, 252/357-1191, http://ncparks.gov, office daily 8am-4:30pm except holidays, park Nov.-Feb. daily 8am-6pm, Mar.-May and Sept.-Oct. daily 8am-8pm, June-Aug. daily 8am-9pm). This is a great spot for canoeing or kayaking, with miles of beautiful blackwater backwaters. The park has a canoe rental facility, charging $5 per hour for the first hour and $3 per hour for each additional hour; or, for those camping, $20 for 24 hours. There are several hiking trails through the park, totaling about nine miles.

  Merchant’s Millpond has several campsites for three kinds of campers. The family campground, near the park office, is easily accessible, accommodates trailers as well as tents, and had a washhouse with restrooms, showers, and drinking water. Off the park’s Lassiter trail are five backpack campsites. All supplies, including water, must be packed in, and there is a pit toilet nearby. There are also two canoe camping areas reached by canoe trails. These sites also have pit toilets, and campers must bring water and other supplies.

  ELIZABETH CITY

  The Museum of the Albemarle (501 S. Water St., 252/335-1453, www.museumofthealbemarle.com, Tues.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 2pm-5pm) is a relatively new and growing museum. It explores the four centuries of history in northeastern North Carolina since the first English settlers arrived at Roanoke. Come here to learn about the Lost Colonists, the pirates who swarmed this region, the folkways of the Sound country, and more.

  To stay in Elizabeth City, you have several options. The Pond House Inn (915 Rivershore Rd., 252/335-9834, www.thepondhouseinn.com, $99-165) sits on the banks of the Pasquotank River. Each of the large guest rooms has its own fireplace in this pleasant 1940s house. The Culpepper Inn (609 W. Main St., 252/335-9235, www.culpepperinn.com, $90-145), just a few blocks from the Albemarle Sound, has several comfortable guest rooms in the main house, and cozy accommodations in a carriage house and cottage.

  There are also chain motels in the area, including the Travelers Inn (1211 N. Road St., 252/338-5451, www.travelersinn.webs.com, around $70, small pets allowed), Econo Lodge (522 S. Hughes Blvd. B, 252/338-4124, www.econolodge.com, around $70, pets allowed), Holiday Inn Express (306 S. Hughes Blvd., 252/338-8900, www.hiexpress.com, $75-125), and Hampton Inn (402 Halstead Blvd., 252/333-1800, www.hamptoninn.com, around $100).

  HERTFORD

  If you’re traveling between Edenton and Elizabeth City, don’t miss Hertford, a pretty little Spanish moss-draped town on the Perquimans (per-KWIH-muns) River. The historic Newbold White House (151 Newbold White Rd., 252/426-7567, www.newboldwhitehouse.org, guided tours Mar.-late Nov. Tues.-Sat. 10am-4pm, $5 adults, $3 students) is the oldest brick house in North Carolina, built in 1730 by one of the region’s early Quakers. The grounds include a seasonal herb garden and a 17th-century Quaker graveyard. While you’re in Hertford, stop in at Woodard’s Pharmacy (101 N. Church St., 252/426-5527), an old-fashioned lunch counter and soda fountain in the heart of downtown, where you can grab a pimiento cheese sandwich and an ice cream cone. If you’re making it an overnight, stay at 1812 on the Perquimans (385 Old Neck Rd., 252/426-1812, $80-85) or at the Beechtree Inn (948 Pender Rd., 252/426-1593, $90). At the Beechtree, guests stay in restored pre-Civil War cottages. Children and pets are welcome.

  EDENTON

  Incorporated in 1722 but inhabited long before that, Edenton was one of North Carolina’s most important colonial towns, and it remains one of its most beautiful.

  Historic District

  The whole town is lined with historic buildings, and several especially important sites are clustered within a few blocks of each other near the waterfront. The easiest starting point for a walking tour (guided or on your own) is the headquarters of the Edenton State Historic Site (108 N. Broad St., 252/482-2637, www.edenton.nchistoricsites.org, Apr.-Oct. Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 1pm-5pm, Nov.-Mar. Mon.-Sat. 10am-4pm, Sun. 1pm-4pm), also referred to as the Edenton Visitors Center. The 1782 Barker House (505 S. Broad St., 252/482-7800, www.edentonhistoricalcommission.org, Mon.-Sat. 10am-4pm, Sun. 1pm-4pm), a stunning Lowcountry palazzo, was the home of Penelope Barker, an early revolutionary and organizer of the Edenton Tea Party. It’s now the headquarters of the Edenton Historical Commission, and the location of their bookstore. The 1758 Cupola House (108 Broad St., 252/482-2637, www.cupolahouse.org, daily 9am-4:30pm, tickets available at Edenton Visitors Center, $10) is a National Historical Landmark and a home of great architectural significance. Although much of the original interior woodwork was removed in 1918 and sold to New York’s Brooklyn Museum, where it remains, the Cupola House has been restored meticulously inside and out and its colonial gardens recreated. Also a designated National Historical Landmark is the Chowan County Courthouse (111 E. King St., 252/482-2637, www.edenton.nchistoricsites.org, hours vary, $1), a superb 1767 brick building in the Georgian style. It is the best-preserved colonial courthouse in the United States.

  picturesque Edenton

  Accommodations and Food

  The S Broad Street Inn (300 N. Broad St., 888/394-6622, www.edentoninn.com, from $170) occupies not one but four exceptional historic buildings: the 1901 main White-Bond House, the 1801 Satterfield House, a 1915 tobacco storage barn remodeled with beautiful guest rooms, and the 1870 Tillie Bond House cottage. Each one of these is artfully restored, with soft and restful furnishings. Breakfast cook Janie Granby prepares specialties like lemon soufflé pancakes, and North Carolina native and star chef Kevin Yokley prepares four-course dinners that are dazzling. Entrées include grilled swordfish with artichoke vinaigrette, lamb porterhouse chops with dried cherry sauce, and breast of Muscovy duck with red currant sauce.

  The Granville Queen Inn (108 S. Granville St., 866/482-8534, www.granvillequeen.com, $95-140) is a rather splendid early-1900s mansion decorated in a variety of early 20th-century styles. Breakfasts are as ornate and elegant as the house itself, featuring poached pears, potato tortillas, crepes, and much more.

  WINDSOR

  A small historic town on the Cashie River, Windsor is the seat of Bertie County. Historic architecture, good food, and wetlands exploration are equally compelling reasons to visit this lesser-known treasure of the Albemarle region. Pronunciation is a little perverse here: The county name is pronounced “ber-TEE,” and the river is the “cuh-SHY.”

  Sights

  Hope Plantation (132 Hope House Rd., 252/794-3140, www.hopeplantation.org, Apr.-Dec. Mon.-Sat. 10am-4pm, Sun. 2pm-4pm, $11 adults, $6 children) was built in 1803 for the former governor David Stone. Stone did not live to see his 50th birthday, but by the time of his death he had been the governor of North Carolina, a U.S. senator and congressman, a state senator, a Superior Court judge, and a seven-times-elected member of the State House. He graduated from Princeton University and passed the bar when he was 20; he was the father of 11 children and one of the founders of the University of North Carolina. High among his most impressive accomplishments was the construction of this wonderful house. Characterized by a mixture of Georgian and federal styles with significant twists of regional and individual aesthetics, Hope House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

  The Roanoke-Cashie River Center (112 W. Water St., Windsor, 252/794-2001, www.partnershipforthesounds.org, Tues.-Sat. 10am-4pm, $2 adults, $1 children) has interpretive exhibits about this region’s history and ecology. There is a canoe ramp outside where you can get out into the Cashie River, and canoe rentals are available ($10 per hour, half-day $25, full day $35).

  Southeast of Windsor on the Cashie River, the Sans Souci Ferry (Woodard Rd. and Sans Souci Rd., 252/794-4277, Mar. 16-Sept. 16 daily 6:30am-6pm, Sept. 17-Mar. 15 daily 6:45am-5pm) operates, as it has for generations, by a cable and a honk of the horn. To cross the river, pull up to the bank, honk your horn, and wait. The operator will emerge directly and pull you across.
/>   Recreation

  The headquarters of the Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge (114 W. Water St., 252/794-3808, www.fws.gov/roanokeriver) are located here in Windsor. The Refuge, however, stretches over nearly 21,000 acres in Bertie County, through the hardwood bottomlands and cypress-tupelo wetlands of the Roanoke River Valleys, an environment that the Nature Conservancy calls “one of the last great places.” The Refuge is an exceptional place for bird-watching, with the largest inland heron rookery in North Carolina, a large population of bald eagles, and many wintering waterfowl and neotropical migrant species.

  Food

  Bunn’s Bar-B-Q (127 N. King St., 252/794-2274, Mon.-Tues., Thurs.-Fri. 9am-5pm, Wed. and Sat. 9am-2pm, from $5) is a barbecue and Brunswick stew joint of renown, an early gas station converted in 1938 to its present state. Super-finely chopped barbecue is the specialty, with coleslaw, cornbread, and plenty of sauce from those little red bottles you see on every surface.

  WILLIAMSTON AND VICINITY

  Williamston is at the junction of U.S. 17 and U.S. 64. If you’re passing through town, Williamston is a great place to stop for barbecue or a fresh seafood meal.

  Sights

  A little west of Williamston on U.S. 13/64 Alternate, you’ll find the town of Robersonville and the St. James Place Museum (U.S. 64 Alt. and Outerbridge Rd., call Robersonville Public Library at 252/795-3591, by appointment, free). A Primitive Baptist church built in 1910 and restored by a local preservationist and folk art enthusiast, St. James Place is an unusual little museum that fans of Southern craft will not want to miss. A serious collection of traditional quilts is the main feature of the museum. Of the 100 on display, nearly half are African American quilts—examples of which are much less likely to have survived and find their way into museum collections than their counterpane counterparts made by white quilters. Getting a glimpse of the two traditions side by side is an education in these parallel Southern aesthetics.

  On the same highway is East Carolina Motor Speedway (4918 U.S. 64 Alt., 252/795-3968, www.ecmsracing.com, usually Apr.-Oct., pits open at 3pm, grandstands from 5pm), a 0.4-mile hard-surface track featuring several divisions, including late-model street stock, modified street stock, super-stock four-cylinder, and four-cylinder kids class.

  Food

  Come to Williamston on an empty stomach. It has an assortment of old and very traditional eateries. The S Sunny Side Oyster Bar (1102 Washington St., 252/792-3416, www.sunnysideoysterbarnc.com, Sept.-Apr. Mon.-Thurs. 5:30pm-9pm, Fri.-Sat. from 5:30pm, Sun. 5pm-8pm, $12-20) is the best known, a seasonal oyster joint open in the months with the letter r—that is, oyster season. It’s been in business since 1935, and is a historic as well as gastronomic landmark. Oysters are steamed behind the restaurant, and then hauled inside and shucked at the bar. Visit the restaurant’s website to get acquainted with the shuckers. In eastern North Carolina, a good oyster shucker is regarded as highly as a good artist or athlete, and rightly so. The Sunny Side doesn’t take reservations, and it fills to capacity in no time flat, so come early.

  Down the road a piece, Martin Supply (118 Washington St., 252/792-2123), an old general store, is a good place to buy local produce and preserves, honey, molasses, and hoop cheese. Griffin’s Quick Lunch (204 Washington St., 252/792-0002, Mon.-Fri. 6am-8:30pm, Sat. 6am-2pm, $8) is a popular old diner with good barbecue. Back on U.S. 64, Shaw’s Barbecue (U.S. 64 Alt., 252/792-5339, Mon.-Sat. 6am-7pm, $7-10) serves eastern Carolina-style barbecue, as well as good greasy breakfasts.

  East of Williamston at the intersection of U.S. 64 and Highway 171, the small Roanoke River town of Jamesville is home to a most unusual restaurant that draws attention from all over the country (it’s even been featured in the New York Times). The S Cypress Grill (1520 Stewart St., off U.S. 64, 252/792-4175, mid-Jan.-Apr. Mon.-Sat. 11am-8pm, $7-10) is an unprepossessing wooden shack right-smack on the river, a survivor of the days when Jamesville made its living in the herring industry, dragging the fish out of the water with horse-drawn seine nets. Herring—breaded and seriously deep-fried, not pickled or sweet—is the main dish here, though they also dress the herring up in other outfits, and serve bass, flounder, perch, oyster, catfish, and other fish too. The Cypress Grill is open for the three and a half months of the year, from the second Thursday in January through the end of April, and you could hardly have a more intensely authentic, small-town dining experience anywhere else.

  Cypress Grill in Jamesville

  EAST ON U.S. 64

  The eastern stretch of U.S. 64 runs along the Albemarle Sound between Williamston and the Outer Banks, passing through the towns of Plymouth, Creswell, and Columbia before it crosses over to Roanoke Island. Here you’ll encounter evidence of North Carolina’s ancient past in the form of old-growth forests; of the recent past in a plantation with a long and complex history of slavery; and the present, in art galleries and abundant wildlife-watching and recreational opportunities.

  Plymouth

  Plymouth is an attractive little town on the Roanoke River with a rich maritime and military history. Most notably, it was the site of the 1864 Battle of Plymouth, the second-largest Civil War battle in North Carolina, fought by more than 20,000 combatants. At the Roanoke River Lighthouse and Maritime Museum (W. Water St., 252/217-2204, www.roanokeriverlighthouse.org, Tues.-Sat. 11am-3pm and by appointment, $3.50), visitors can explore a pretty replica of Plymouth’s 1866 screw-pile lighthouse and, across the street in an old car dealership, the maritime museum itself, featuring artifacts and photographs from the region’s water-faring heritage. On East Water Street is the Port O’Plymouth Museum (302 E. Water St., 252/793-1377, www.livinghistoryweekend.com, Tues.-Sat. 9am-4pm, $3.50 adults, $2.50 ages 12-17, $1.50 ages 8-11). This tiny museum is packed with Civil War artifacts, including a collection of beautiful pistols, telling the story of the Battle of Plymouth.

  Davenport Homestead

  West of Creswell is the Davenport Homestead (3 miles from U.S. 64 exit 554, 252/793-1377, by appointment only, free), a small 18th-century cabin built by Daniel Davenport, the first state senator from Washington County. In 1800 this diminutive homestead was home to 14 people—six members of the Davenport family, and eight slaves. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Davenport Homestead, but for a closer look, ask Loretta Phelps, who lives across the road and is a Davenport descendant, to unlock the buildings and show you around.

  S Somerset Place Historic Site

  Somerset Place Historic Site (2572 Lake Shore Rd., Creswell, 252/797-4560, www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us, Apr.-Oct. Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 1pm-5pm, Nov.-Mar. Tues.-Sat. 10am-4pm, Sun. 1pm-4pm, free) was one of North Carolina’s largest and most profitable plantations for the 80 years leading up to the Civil War. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, 80 enslaved Africa-born men, women, and children were brought to Somerset to labor in the fields. The grief and spiritual disorientation they experienced, and the subsequent trials of the enslaved community that grew to include more than 300 people, are told by the historian Dorothy Spruill Redford in the amazing book Somerset Homecoming.

  Somerset Place is an eerily lovely place to visit. The restored grounds and buildings, including the Collins family’s house, slave quarters, and several dependencies, are deafeningly quiet, and the huge cypress trees growing right up to the quarters and the mansion make the place feel almost prehistoric. Visitors are permitted to walk around the estate at their leisure.

  Pettigrew State Park

  On the banks of Lake Phelps, Pettigrew State Park (2252 Lakeshore Rd., Creswell, 252/797-4475, http://ncparks.gov, day use hours June-Aug. 8am-9pm, Mar.-May and Sept.-Oct. 8am-8pm, Nov.-Feb. 8am-6pm, free) preserves a weird ancient waterscape that’s unlike anywhere else in the state. Archaeological studies reveal that there was a human presence here a staggering 10,000 years ago. The lake, which is five miles across, has yielded more than 30 ancient dugout canoes, some as old as 4,000 years and measuring more than 30 feet long. The natural surroundings are ancient too, encompassing some of east
ern North Carolina’s only remaining old-growth forests.

  Visitors to Pettigrew State Park can camp at the family campground ($15), which has drive-in sites and access to restrooms and hot showers, or at primitive group campsites (from $9).

  Sports and Recreation

  Palmetto-Peartree Preserve (Pot Licker Rd./Loop Rd./Hwy. 1220, east of Columbia, 252/796-0723 or 919/967-2223, www.palmettopeartree.org, daily dawn-dusk, free) is a 10,000-acre natural area, wrapped in 14 miles of shoreline along the Albemarle Sound and Little Alligator Creek. Originally established as a sanctuary for the red cockaded woodpecker, this is a great location for bird-watching and spotting other wildlife, including the birds, alligators, wolves, bears, and bobcats; hiking, biking, and horseback riding along the old logging trails through the forest; and canoeing and kayaking. The preserve’s excellent paddle trail passes by Hidden Lake, a secluded cypress-swamp blackwater lake. There is an overnight camping platform at the lake, which can be used in the daytime without a permit for bird-watching and picnicking. To stay overnight, arrange for a permit through the Roanoke River Partners (252/792-3790, www.roanokeriverpartners.org).