From My Hometown to Yours - - Katie of Miss Dixie

Its Tuesday and also my Friday, hello 5 day weekend! I'm looking forward to my parents coming into town tomorrow, to be with Sean and I for this holiday. Who are you spending your Thanksgiving with this year? 
I have another installment today for you of From My Hometown to Yours series.





Today Katie is taking up to North Carolina. I have only been there once to Elon, when my sister was graduating from Elon University. A lot of Sean's family is from North Carolina so along with Katie and Sean's family, we have many reasons to go visit. Katie is a new blogger friend and I have enjoyed getting to her and building a new bloggy friendship.
Take it away Katie!

Good Morning Friends! I'm Katie from Miss Dixie and I am thrilled to be sharing a little place in the south that I call home. Even more so, I am happy to be sharing this on Meg's blog, which I always find inspiring, fun to read and incredibly genuine. Thank you so much for having me, Meg! I live on the coast of North Carolina in Morehead City. Morehead is surrounded by other popular destinations like Beaufort and Atlantic Beach. First things first, I would insist you come visit me anytime from May-September during prime beach season! We would spend most of our time outdoors enjoying the "Crystal Coast" that my town is known for. Welcome to the laid back southern living... 

When we have a summer day that is wide open we like to take the boat to Cape Lookout National Seashore. This island is unreachable by any bridge, so a boat ride is necessary. The boat ride here is about thirty minutes from our marina, but we will enjoy tons of beautiful scenery the entire way. There is a lot to explore on this island once you are there.  Cape Lookout is home to tons of wildlife and we will be sure to observe while we are visiting. We usually bring fishing rods and nets because of the great fishing, and the guys love it! On several occasions we have seen dolphins swimming right by our boat, pretty cool.


The dogs absolutely love the boat also, this is Dixie enjoying a boat ride with us!



A day at the Cape usually entails bringing a great picnic lunch to feast on. Beaufort Grocery is one of my favorite restaurants and their lunches are amazing-especially the pimiento cheese sandwich, my favorite! After lunch we might be ready for a mimosa or two- you are on vacation here! 



After relaxing on the beach for a while we might start to head back towards mainland, but not without a few stops along the way. Another popular barrier island to visit is Shackleford Banks. This island still has wild ponies that live and roam here, that descended from horses in Spain 400 years ago. 
They will walk right by you on the beach, it's amazing!  

On a typical summer day you can find a lot of familiar faces and meet new friends. You pull up, anchor the boat and can spend hours wading in the water with beach music in the background. The boats will be lined up as far as you can see in the summertime. This is a huge destination for anyone that visits our area and we like to refer to this island as "Shack".

We might decide to take boat cruise down Front Street in Beaufort for one last stop. Our favorite place to grab a drink on a hot summer day is Stillwater. The view is incredible and lots of times they have live music playing in the afternoons. You feel like you are in the Bahamas here, which is alright with me!



We have had a full day so far but you just have to try some locally caught, super fresh seafood for dinner. Whether it is shrimp, tuna, grouper, scallops...it just doesn't get any better! We would probably go to one of my favorite restaurants, Chefs 105, right in the middle of downtown Morehead City on the water. Chefs is a great dinner spot, and they also have live music in the summertime that carries on into the evening for a nightlife destination. Although, these days we seem to soak up the evening sunset rocking on the porch at the beach house or on a dock with friends!



The next day I would take you shopping in downtown Morehead or Beaufort. Although we already would have cruised by on the boat,  Beaufort also offers great antique shopping and local unique boutiques.    


This is a photo I took in one of my favorite shops, the Blue Gardenia in Morehead City. 
Everything is precious!


For lunch, I would take you to a wonderful lunch spot, Ruddy Duck. Ruddy Duck is also on the waterfront, (I obviously don't want you to miss any views!) They have great seafood and burgers, and a great place to have a drink, socialize and relax.



In addition to what I named here, we also have a blue marlin fishing tournament, The Big Rock, and host the North Carolina Seafood Festival, which are huge attractions during the year. 

I really hope you enjoyed hearing about our little piece of paradise, and hope you want to come visit now! I had a great time putting this together and now I cannot wait for a summer day just like this! Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Ok Katie, the seafood festival, when exactly is that each year because I am booking my ticket now! Thank you again for writing about your hometown and participating in this series.
Again, the offer still stands that is anyone wants to be featured in this series, please let me know, I would love to have you, email me at megmouch(at)gmail(dot)com 

32 comments:

Collette Osuna said...

HI Katie...so nice to meet you!
Your hometown is gorgeous.....:)

Twitter Tuesday is back! Come meet Keiko Lynn!!

CALLIE said...

O my goodness!!! Can I come visit right now?? Sounds heavenly :)

Simply LKJ said...

Love the coastal Carolinas!!

Ruthie Hart said...

I have always wanted to go to North Carolina because I am obsessed with every Nicholas Sparks book and they all take place in adorable little coastal towns in NC!! I have a love for lighthouses too!

amy b.s. said...

i now want to go there!

Rachel said...

seriously gorgeous! i sooo want to visit!

Kate @ Daffodils said...

My little bro went to Elon too. Weird!
love the coast of Carolina and miss it so much. Great post! And if you ever want a tour of Monterey, Id be happy to contribute :) Happy Friday!

Jamie Leigh said...

I hope you have a fabulous 5 day weekend and blessed Thanksgiving. I will be going to my husbands aunts house to celebrate this year!

Hilliary Meisner said...

Can I come visit? Your hometown looks like so much fun! Thanks for introducing us to a great new blogger! Happy Friday Meg!

Krysta said...

I love everything about this. Sounds like the perfect couple days! Meg- I'm working on my post for you on Dec. 1st!

Mrs. Pancakes said...

Looks like a nice place to visit!!

Daniela said...

I have one more work day ! I'm jealous! lol

Kristin said...

This is an amazing series, girlie! Fabulous idea! I'm going to go back and read them all now! LOVE! And I cannot imagine living somewhere that beautiful! :)

birdie to be said...

Lovely post! And is that a puggle!?! I have one too...!

Tarabelle said...

Im from NC too (Raleigh) and the crystal coast is one of my favorite places to go! Katie did a great job representing!

Leeann @ Join the Gossip said...

Seriously! That sounds like the perfect city! What a wonderful place to live :)

Amanda said...

Take me there! Looks like the perfect place to visit and enjoy great sites and good food!

Katie Anne said...

Gorgeous hometown Katie! I need to make it out to the East Coast as I am a Northwestern-er here in the Portland, OR area. The sun, beaches, adorable places to eat and shop...it looks fantastic! Thanks for the post.

Alexa said...

Meg I love this series...feel like I can slip into other people's towns for a little bit. Great hometown, Katie!

Unknown said...

what a pretty place! I love seeing these towns I'll probably never get to visit, it's interesting!

whitney
seeshopeatdo.com

Unknown said...

That place looks amazing and so much fun! :)

Rod and Alex - aka: "Rolex" said...

I love the Cape! This reminds me of how much I want to go back! :)

BeckyJo606 said...

I want to go to Shackleford Banks! That sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing with us about your hometown--it's so beautiful! :)

Unknown said...

I love the Carolina Coast! We've been to Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington several times. We cannot wait to go again!!

Megan said...

This is precious!!! I have always wanted to visit there, so it's neat to see pictures!!

Stephanie said...

My husband use to live in North Carolina and always talks about the beaches there! And I'm a sucker for beach towns! : )

Caitlin@cait. create. said...

Such gorgeous pictures! It makes me want to travel more :)

... said...

Love these little tours! :) I have always wanted to go to North Carolina....ever since One Tree Hill ha ha!! I think it's filmed there.... hmmm. Anyway..looks so pretty!

Summer-Raye said...

What a pretty home town!

meme-and-he said...

jealous of your long break! I only have one day off :( wah wah.

Nikki said...

Awww...I have a puggle too but he is way chubbier!

I've wanted to go to beaufort ever since I saw a walk to remember. Someday. It looks gorgeous!

REBrown said...

We live in NC but have never been here - we'll have to go!