The ride from Carolina Beach NC to Surf City NC went along the Cape Fear River for many miles.  The marsh was striking. 

The road was nice and quiet.  The Adventure Cycling route in North Carolina mostly had a bike lane.  The turns were also marked with a bike lane sign.

The bike lane signs were a big help.  My Garmin had been trying to take me in circles.  I frequently had to confirm my route several ways at each turn.

After about 20 miles, I reached Wilmington.   

It was another 10 miles before I got to the downtown historic district.  The first part of the city I reached was the port. 

I stopped for lunch downtown.  The roads on the way out were nice. 

Flowers are blooming.

Then it got ugly. 

At Hempstead, the route drops in the middle of US-17.  This is a divided four lane highway, 55 mph, with a square gutter.  That means I either ride in the road or I ride on the grass.  There’s no way to get from one to the other like there was on other highways.  I tried riding the grass, but that was 1 mph.  I rode road hugging the gutter as much as I could.

When I turned off US-17, I took NC-210 and NC-50.  These were only marginally better.  They didn’t have the gutter, but the traffic was just as heavy.  After this nightmare, I was in Surf City NC.

I stopped to see Dan and the crew.  They were having a long weekend on the beach.  Here’s Dan and the view from the deck.

 

Later on, I went down to see Geoffery and Dianne.   

I had a nice weekend visiting with everyone.

Like I mentioned, I had planned to take a break on my tour in Surf City NC.  I had planned to ship the trike from Geoffrey and Dianne’s house.  Dan and his friends were able to take me and the trike to Durham NC, so I’m shipping the trike from Durham NC instead.

I had a very nice visit.