Day Trip Historic Fort Fisher

by Steve Wishard

It was early October and we were just about to leave for a long family gathering weekend. Everyone would be meeting at one of the family member’s homes in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. I’m not sure, maybe a shrink could elaborate, but I think that had something to do with my sudden thoughts of civil war history. I’m positive it had a lot to do with me loading my G310 GS on the carrier, and taking it along on the trip. I wanted an escape vehicle and plan.

point of interest. I could ride up to Wilmington, cross over the Brunswick & Cape Fear Rivers, then ride back south to the fort. Or, I could ride a short distance to Southport and board the Fort Fisher Ferry. Assuming I arrived at the ferry exactly as it was my turn to load, the trip is nearly the same amount ot time. If I rode up as the ferry pulled away, I would have to wait 45 minutes minimum for the next one. I’d rather ride anyway.

It didn’t take long to identify Historic Fort Fisher as an appropriately distant

My planned route was a combination of scenic and efficient. It would take a bit over 90 minutes to travel the 64 miles and 38

I’d hug the water as much as possible. 3 hours of riding, an hour or so at the fort, and a stop at the Kure Beach Pier will make a perfect half day escape - I mean road trip.

Ocean Isle Beach is a very small beach community in southeast North Carolina. Only 4.5 miles long and a half mile wide, it consists primarily of residences, built on stilts, along the ocean front to the east and man-made canals to the west. The canals are connected to the intra-coastal waterway. The commercial section is only a 2x4 block area at the east end of the road connecting the island to the mainland.

It only gets less populated once you are off the island so it makes for a nice ride, on 2 lane country roads, from the beach to 17. 17 is a 4 lane divided hwy much like riding 301 in north Florida. So the run up to Wilmington was a faster, busier portion of the trip. It got a little congested crossing the rivers but never stopped moving, and once I was heading south along the river it was once again a pleasant and scenic ride.

Despite the chilly 58° air at the time of my departure, it was a very comfortable ride which seemed to be over far too soon. Of course, I still had a lot to see.