Okay my wife has long wanted to visit the ambush site where Bonnie and Clyde died. It was out of our way and time was short but we spent the night in LA and early on the 4th rode over and went to the Ambush Museum and the actual ambush site. It was pretty cool to see.
860 Feet Above Sea Level to -13 Feet Below to 860 Feet Above in 32 hours
It began on Thursday evening at dinner. My wife and I have been a little more stressed over the last couple of weeks than normal. She asked if I would take her somewhere this weekend for a short get away. I said sure and she suggested Maggie Valley. Well I’ve already been twice this year and it’s getting cooler there and not as much to do even though Wheels Through Time has re-opened. Then she suggested Myrtle Beach. We’ve been there already this year as well. But thinking back two years ago our week at the Outer Banks was cancelled because of the hurricane. I suggested OBX and her eyes lit up and the first thing out of her mouth was “Awful Arthurs”! Yes, if you want the best oysters, you’ll find in the area that is the place to go! She was excited, we got through work on Friday, packed the bike, did final inspections and were ready to roll out on Saturday morning. We slept in a little to let the temps increase. Finally rolled out at 9:15am to a calm, sunny 45-degree day with higher temps close by. We hit I-40 west bound with Raleigh on the radar about two hours away. Rolled though Raleigh 11:30 rolling a fuel stop and I was starting to get hungry. We were out in the stretch of highway 64 I like so much dotted with little towns. I checked the boom GPS and there was a place that popped up on top called “Showside Grill” in Spring Hope, NC. The exit was two miles ahead and I rolled off, leaned left and in about five miles we found ourselves in the quaint little one-horse town of Spring Hope. We parked across the street from the restaurant next to the railroad tracks. We were the first customers to walk in for lunch. It was a cool small place with a lot of personality. The menu was a little expensive at first glance but then we learned this was not your normal small-town diner. The chef was from Maryland and cooked for years in Key West. Everything looked great even the home made, pastries and pies. I my enjoyed a Cuban which she loved. I had without a doubt the best French Dip I ever put in my mount. You know you are in for a treat when you order a French Dip and they ask out you want your meat cooked. It was thinly sliced prime rib with the perfect cheese. The dip/sauce was like none I have ever had. This sandwich just melted in your mouth. I told our waitress to please let the chef know that it was spectacular. His name is Andrew and he came out and spoke with us. This place is on our list of favorites now and we look forward to going back. Time to roll, we jumped back on 64 and rolled with traffic at 75 to 80 for over an hour. Time for another gas stop and bathroom break. We lucked out again when we found the Dixie Mart Shell at exit 514 and Hwy 17. Great place to stop, Subway shop and clean restrooms. We rolled back out with enough fuel to finish our trip. However about 60 miles out I started feeling a heavy head wind. I’m not going to lie the OBX are known for their winds. Remember why Orville and Wilber went there?
Before long we had rolled though pretty area of Columbia where there is a very nice rest stop right on the Scuppernong River. The winds are getting worse by the minute and having been to OBX many times I will say that concern was growing for the upcoming bridge crossings over the sound. As we rolled by the 50-foot-tall replica of the Hatteras light house at the Alligator River Marina we got on the nearly 3-mile-long low bridge over the Alligator River. I was hit immediately by a cross wind that brought me down from 55mph to 20mph in a hurry. This bridge is a narrow two lane with the older open side rails. The water was white capping and as we traveled East the winds were coming South, South-East and it was a white-knuckle ride. This is a low bridge several miles inland so my concern for the big bridges was growing.
Hat’s off to my wife who is a fantastic passenger. I did not know she was back there at all. Of course, she and I along with a bag on the tour pack and a big touring bike becomes a huge sail in the wind. We got across safely running 25mph with our flashers and few cars passed as the wind was tough for them as well. We got down the road a few miles and stopped at the rest area prior to crossing Croatan Sound which will be our first tall bridge. I checked the local wind conditions and there was a steady 24mph wind which was one of the strongest I had experienced our there. I could tell she was concerned but I tried to stay calm for both of us. We rolled out and again by the top of the bridge we were running 25mph and I was doing all I could to keep the bike between the lines. This is a four-lane bridge and I stayed in the inside lane which maybe helped block a little of the wind. We rolled down onto Roanoke Island and before you could say OBX we were on the third and final bridge. While the shortest it is the tallest. We came across it like the other two, slow and puckered up but safely! In about ten minutes we reached our destination “Shutters on the Banks” and felt a sigh of relief. It had been a wonderful day, but the bridge crossings were scary under these conditions. The good news was the wind speeds were to drop overnight from 24mph to only 16mph!
We got into our room and my wife turned on the television and instantly her favorite movie “Grease” was on and she was all smiles and enjoying life. We were about an hour later than expected arriving and the only thing I had to do was get her to Awful Arthurs for dinner. We chilled, freshened up and took a quick ride North on Hwy 12 through Duck and to the lighthouse. I’ve told people for years that if you can afford it the two places to have homes are Lake Tahoe and Duck, NC. That would be the perfect bookends to this great nation and give you the best of the best. We arrived at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse which is our favorite. It is a duplicate of Hatteras but natural brick unpainted in a beautiful wooded setting. Even though we were a couple of hundred yards from the ocean and could not see it we could hear the waves pounding from the high winds.
Now as the sun is setting on day one it’s time to ride south back to Kitty Hawk for dinner. For those that may not beware Highway 12 is the main north to south route from Corolla which is famous for the wild horses all the way to Cape Hatteras where it ends at the Ferry Port and Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. In my neck of the woods we see a lot of stickers on the back of cars that say “OBX” which is short for Outer Banks. If you are a resident or property owner at the OBX you will have a special NC license plate that also starts with OBX which allows you to re-enter the area following a storm when others cannot. When friends or family visiting for the first time ask what’s the best thing is to see in NC, I always say the OBX. Our mountains are beautiful but there are larger taller in the western part of the country. But there is nothing in my opinion as beautiful as the OBX. It is very fragile and points where you can easily see the sound on one side of the road and the Atlantic on the other. The hotel that we stayed out was 2 feet below sea level!
We arrive at Awful Arthurs about 7:30pm and the parking lot was packed. Got checked in for a 35 to 40-minute wait and just talked about our ride down. Following the crossing of the Alligator River I called my wife’s phone and left her a special voice message. She shared that she listed to it and how special it was to her. I want this to be the perfect weekend getaway. In no time we sat down for dinner. We each ordered a bowl of lobster crap bisque, my wife got a salad and ordered a dozen steamed oysters on the half shell. He said they were just caught the day prior! I am not the huge fan of oysters that my wife is. A few years back we ordered a peck and I tried to help her eat them all, but we fell short of the task. This time I went with the flounder. Glad to see her enjoying the meal. That made two perfect meals to top off a great day. In no time we were sawing logs and looking forward to day two.
I woke up at 6am Sunday morning and my wife was sound asleep. I looked out and checked on the bike first. The flags were standing at attention and I could hear the wind howl by our doorway. The good thing is it was 63 degrees! I checked the weather and it was showing 16mph winds. Our plans were to ride down to Cape Hatteras and then back home. I have to say that crossing the Bonner Bridge with these winds was not appealing. I made the decision that we would take the northern route and cross the Currituck Sound on the Wright Brothers Bridge Hwy 158. This is a longer route but only one major bridge to deal with. The positive thing is the wind was from the east and would be to our back. We loaded up and walked down to the beach prior to leaving. It was beautiful and we got some great pictures. Topped off the tanks and rolled out about 9am. I was a little nervous as we approached the bridge, but it was like the wind just stopped. We scooted across at 60mph with smiles on our faces. We passed by “Outer Banks Harley Davidson” but they had not opened yet. Rolling up Hwy 158 I was also looking for a good breakfast spot and bingo there it was on the left. I had to turn around and glad we did. We enjoyed a great breakfast at “Mel’s Diner”. Another place marked on our favorites. Such sweet ladies in there, nice atmosphere and good food.
We continued highway 158 to Elizabeth City which is on the Pasquotank River and a major port for the U.S. Coast Guard. Then we hit Highway 17 and got up with a couple of fellows on Road Kings out enjoying the beautiful weather. We all crossed the Chowan River bridge together and while we could safely maintain 55mph it was windy in that location. Once over the bridge we passed them by with a wave and put them in the rear view. We stopped once again at the Dixie Shell at Hwy 17 and 64 for fuel and put her in high gear for the next two hours back west. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick inexpensive late lunch, fueled up and arrived back home at 5pm. I washed the bike and my wife fixed us a light dinner and we shared how much we enjoyed this trip and how much we love our motorcycle!
Oh, and she got another voice message on the ride back home from me which she loved! I love my wife of 31 years and we are blessed to be able to just do something like this on the spur of the moment.
Many have asked about our engine upgrade to Stage III 117 CI. Now with over 3k miles on the upgrade all is doing very well. The added power is nice, the sound is awesome, and we are happy. On this trip our best gas mileage was 45.47 mpg at 35 to 60 mph speeds. Our lowest was 39.28 at a long sustained 75 to 80mph rate.
We both love and serve the Lord and he has blessed us beyond what we deserve. I must give thanks to him for health, happiness, strength, ability, weather, protection and this beautiful state we get to enjoy.
God Bless and thanks for coming along on the ride.
10-11-2020 | 09:30 PM
