Sea Bass
115 Nina Street, Emerald Isle North Carolina
Three bedroom, two bath, close to beach, quiet neighborhood
Contact blbass@earthlink.net
These are photos showing the way to the beach. The beach access walkway is beside the house at the end of the street. To put this into perspective, I took the photos below with my car halfway between the driveway and the end of the street. As you can see, it's a very short walk. About three minutes from the driveway to the beach. (Add one minute for each child under age 4.).
Contact blbass@earthlink.net Information about the house It has a large living room with two couches and some chairs. For added safety, we added a gate to the deck and extra posts between the existing posts. We also replaced the upstairs carpet and downstairs vinyl. We installed ceiling fans in all the bedrooms. The kitchen has a microwave, stove/oven, coffee maker, toaster and fairly new refrigerator. Plenty of silverware, pots, pans, and a shrimp deveiner also. (I mention the deveiner because you don't know how valuable a deveiner is until you need one and don't have one.) The bedrooms are as follows:
Linen service is available, but you'll probably want to bring your own sheets. Please, no pets (except guide dogs). Entertainment and Dining I prefer the places on the sound side, except for Frost Seafood House, which I think has lousy slaw. Drive up slightly past Frost and look to the left. There are some better places down there on the water. (When you see Squatters, start looking to your left and you'll see Frost.) The food at Crab Shack is pretty good, but very expensive, and GOD HELP YOU if you have a complaint. But, you will save a lot of money by just getting the ingredients from Captain Willis' and cooking dinner yourself. There are many more seafood restaurants up NC 58 toward Atlantic Beach, where, coincidentally, you'll find a fishing pier, a few miniature golf places, a go cart track, and a couple of water slide places. There is PLENTY for children to do down there. One place that is always fun to visit is Fort Macon State Park at the eastern tip of the Island. Drive EAST on 58 until you can't go any farther. Official site for Fort Macon. Personal note: My great-great grandfather James Spencer Pippen was stationed at Fort Macon early in the Civil War. He nearly died after being shot in Virginia near the end of the war. He was very lucky, and he survived. Whew! There are a few bars in Emerald Isle and many more up around Atlantic Beach and Beaufort. I've only been to the bar beside Jordans once. I guess it was o.k. I think it's a Top-40 and beach music-type bar. We like to visit Beaufort at least one night while we're down there. You can look at some really fancy yachts (from the outside). The Beaufort waterfront is very compact with lots of little shops, restaurants and bars. In Beaufort, it's a very quiet and laid-back atmosphere, with no dance clubs (that I know of). Go early if you want a good table at the Dock House. Clawsons Restaurant is popular, but it's expensive. A pool hall a block from the Dock House serves good hamburgers. There was a pretty good restaurant beside the Dock House once, but it closed. Most likely another has opened in the same spot. An ice cream shop is located across the street from the Dock House. Personal note: You may look over at the island across from the Dock House and think, "Hey, I can swim that." Please don't attempt it. When you're up on the dock area, your head is about 10 feet above the water and the island looks much closer than it actually is. If you try to swim it, you will discover about halfway across that the distance to swim is twice what it looked like on land. I made it to within 30 feet of the shore across when I swam it once. I had to grab onto a boat mooring to keep from drowning. (If there's an upside to this, it is that I got a free beer and ride back to the dock side from the boat's owner.) Please don't try to swim it. If you do, please do it sober. Beaufort has a very old cemetary at the Episcopal Church, which we like to visit. A veteran of the Revolutionary War is buried there. To get to Beaufort, drive EAST on 58, cross the bridge at Atlantic Beach, take a right and drive a few miles until you get there. Learn more about Beaufort at Swansboro is even more laid-back than Beaufort. Maybe a little too laid back. It's a small waterfront town with shops and restaurants. I prefer Beaufort. To get to Swansboro, drive WEST on 58. Take a left after you cross the bridge and drive about seven miles. Groceries and other shops Contact blbass@earthlink.net DIRECTIONS There is a Food Lion on the left about two miles after the bridge. THIS WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO STOP AND GET WHATEVER YOU NEED like ICE or BOTTLED WATER. The traffic can get bad on the weekends because of all the people checking in and out. Trying to drive west back toward the Emerald Isle "business district" on Saturdays or Sundays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. is NOT ADVISED. During those times, the four-mile round-trip to the Food Lion can take a long time. Instead, get the groceries you need now. Once you get to the house and get settled in, you probably won't want to go anywhere for a while, so boil some shrimp, saute some scallops, maybe mix up a little slaw, have a beer, and relax. FYI -- Texas Pete makes the best cocktail sauce. Nothing is better on boiled shrimp than Texas Pete Cocktail Sauce. While you're shopping, don't forget the ingredients for slaw, scallops and hotdogs -- white wine, bagged cabbage, 4 lemons, garlic, butter, sugar, RC Cola, Lance potato chips, White House Apple Cider Vinegar, Dukes Mayonnaise and Texas Pete Chili. After you get your groceries, drive up a little ways to Captain Willis' and get your shrimp and scallops. When you're getting your condiments, get the smallest container of it you can find for everything but the mayonnaise. You'll need a lot of mayonnaise so get the 16-ounce jar. Buy cans and 16-ounce bottles instead of 2-liter bottles. You probably won't use a whole bottle of mustard or ketchup, and then you'll leave it in the refridgerator. The next residents won't use the leftovers, but they won't throw it away either because they don't want to be wasteful so eventually, the refridgerator fills up with several years' worth of ketchup, mustard, and cocktail sauce. (Oy! The cocktail sauce) Don't worry about buying too much beer or liquor. For some reason, that always seems to get consumed when people leave it behind. If you are planning to over-stock up on beer, please buy Yuengling Lager, Yuengling Black & Tan, or Yuengling Porter. And, Canadian Club, Seagrams VO, and Crown Royal are the best liquors for the beach. They area specially blended to compliment the warm afternoon breezes and salty air of Emerald Isle. For best results, mix with RC Cola. Directions (continued) After you pass the "business district" and the EI WATER TOWER, start looking to your right. You will pass JAMES STREET, CRAIG STREET and BLUEWATER STREET. After you pass Bluewater, Look for the next street, which is PINTA, and the COLUMBUS SQUARE sign. Turn RIGHT onto Pinta and then RIGHT onto NINA. The house is straight ahead in the curve. Bryan's Recipe for Good Slaw Ingredients: Mix up around a half cup of the Duke's Mayonnaise, two or three tablespoons of vinegar and two or three tablespoons of sugar. Add or subtract sugar or vinegar according to your taste. Be careful adding sugar. If you add to much, no amount of vinegar can cancel it out. The slaw must be a little sweet and a little vinegarry. Refridgerate for at least a half hour. Serve cold with Aleksandr's Recipe for Good Scallops. Or, top your hotdogs with the slaw and maybe some Texas Pete chili, mustard, onions, and ketchup. My Friend Aleksandr's Recipe for Good ScallopsIngredients: Here's one other dinner-time hint: Captain Willis' will steam your seafood for you, but you may need to call ahead. They steamed a pound of crablegs for us, and it was pretty good! Contact blbass@earthlink.net |