Traveling to the Outer Banks, NC from Myrtle Beach, SC area

[nomoretslt]

Will be heading up to the Outer Banks soon (unless a hurricane heads that way) from the Myrtle Beach area. To anyone that is familiar with this trip, is the only option Route 17 in NC up thru Leland and on past Camp Legume and eventually hooking up to 64? It takes too long to get to I-95 and would end up making a giant “U”. What kind of road is 17 north of Wilmington? It’s okay once you get past Bolivia thru Leland. Not sure what to expect after that.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Talent312]

Country highways, mostly. You've got Wilmington & Jacksonville.
After that, it's a little bumpy with small towns. Fascinating, actually.
Returning, we took the ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke & Cedar Island.
A unique experience, but even slower.
.

 

[Bucky]

17 out of Myrtle Beach north to i-140 which will end north of Wilmington but still remain a four lane highway. Not a bad drive, just time consuming.

 

[Big Matt]

There are only three viable routes. I would just take the 17 to 171 to 64 route, but make sure you go around Wilmington on I40/I140. It will seem frustrating with traffic lights when you go through small towns, but its a very easy drive with stops right on the road. Going back to 95 just brings more traffic and the chance for back ups into the mix, plus it's almost 50 miles out of the way and takes longer. To me the route 40 option takes you back through small roads on the way to Kinston, and doesn't save any time or make the drive easier.

 

[nomoretslt]

Thank you all, you’ve been very helpful. 17 it is.....best thing about being retired is we’re not in a hurry and it’s off season too.

 

[Big Matt]

Don't speed in rural North Carolina. You will get nailed.

 

[nomoretslt]

Don't speed in rural North Carolina. You will get nailed.

Goes for SC too. We take 378 to get to 95 south at Tuberville....always stay with 5 mph of the limit...it goes from 55 to 35 to 45 to 55. When we still had NJ plates we were extra cautious.

 

[nomoretslt]

Thanks everyone for the help. Made it there and back...6 hours plus. Our friends house is in Corolla where the drive-on beach is one minute away. Fascinating to me...never saw such a thing. Like Party Central. Was lucky enough to see the wild horses one day walking along the oceans edge. Had horrible driving rain on the way back...of course on the longest bridge ever that spanned the intercoastal...seemed like 3 miles right below Nags Head. Was doing 20 mph with my flashers on...white knuckles. Outer Banks is nice but wasn’t expecting it to be so busy.

 

[Big Matt]

OBX is always busy. Lots of people moved there full time during the pandemic.

 

[JudyH]

The Oregon inlet Bridge is newish. The other one was hit by a barge some years ago.

 

[Big Matt]

The Oregon inlet Bridge is newish. The other one was hit by a barge some years ago.

Yes the Oregon Inlet Bridge was washed away by one of the hurricanes. I don't think that's the one she was driving on though. It had to be route 64 going to Manteo or over the Alligator River (very dark at night).

 

[nomoretslt]

The Corella area is much quieter than Nags Head/Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil. The drive on beach goes for about 15 miles to Virginia Beach...but Virginia blocked off access so you can’t go that way. So weird, we were sitting under our tent and two large concrete trucks went rolling up the beach, followed by a large flatbed with large building timbers on it. The beach is actually is called Route 12. People that have homes that way have to drive on the beach to get to their home.

Yes I was on the bridge that goes over alligator river also (64). I was super nervous going over it in Monday on a beautiful day...we were laughing that the speed limit on the roadway before the big bridge was 45 but went up to 60 on the bridge, .

Apparently the storm was so bad that lightening struck a home not far from our friend and some of the windows blew out.

Glad to be home.

 

[pedro47]

OBX is always busy during the summer months with tourists going to the beach and renting vacation homes. The best time to visit OBX are late September to early December. IMO.

 

[nomoretslt]

It was still very busy...apparently the rental season is getting longer due to people “working from home”, but really working from vacation home.

Really beautiful rental homes....most have 5 bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms, gorgeous kitchens, lots of decks and in ground pools. Owners rent them out for several weeks, usually May thru mid August then use it for a couple of weeks. Apparently the rental income carries the home expenses for the year. Not sure if I would want to live there year round.

 

[Brett]

The Corella area is much quieter than Nags Head/Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil. The drive on beach goes for about 15 miles to Virginia Beach...but Virginia blocked off access so you can’t go that way. So weird, we were sitting under our tent and two large concrete trucks went rolling up the beach, followed by a large flatbed with large building timbers on it. The beach is actually is called Route 12. People that have homes that way have to drive on the beach to get to their home.

Yes I was on the bridge that goes over alligator river also (64). I was super nervous going over it in Monday on a beautiful day...we were laughing that the speed limit on the roadway before the big bridge was 45 but went up to 60 on the bridge, .

Apparently the storm was so bad that lightening struck a home not far from our friend and some of the windows blew out.

Glad to be home.

minor correction - it's Corolla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corolla,_North_Carolina
yes, a lot quieter (and nicer) than Nags Head/Kitty Hawk

 

[nomoretslt]

That was a typo in post #12. I had it right in post #8, but thanks for taking the time to point this out.