Holden Beach & the backroads of NC

Holden Beach & Castaways
We found ourselves at a sleepy fishing town peninsula just about an hour south of Wilmington. With a beautiful stretch of soft sandy beach and just a handful of restaurants/bars and an incredibly chill vibe, it didn’t take more than a quick dip in the ocean to decide this would be our sleeping spot.

I drank a margarita and wrote in my journal while the live music played in the background of a little open air bar/restaurant called Castaways. In the mean time Mumpi took on the cooking task (the van only really has space for one chef at a time!) and made a lovely meal in the bar parking lot (it was made from farmers market veggies and was SO tasty!).

The sunset was beautiful (despite the sand fleas attacking me). Not long after sunset I wanted to sleep, and it was Mumpi’s turn to have a drink at the bar. He asked respectfully if we could stay overnight and they were more than okay about it, saying, “OF COURSE YOU CAN! You’re our customer now ;)” and even knocked one of his beers off the bill 😅 what a lovely bunch of people at that place! Now we understand what “Southern Hospitality” means 🥰

On the road again
We found a CRAZY looking dark art display- lots of toilets, mannequins, and all other sorts of oddities shaped together into a fantastically freaky art display. We had stumbled upon Crazy Dale’s Fort Apache, a junkyard/art display of a man who had made quite a name for himself in the south, and even got a documentary made about him. Here is an article about his insane life as a drug trafficker and artist:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article…

Flea Market on 17 South
This was probably the best flea market I’ve ever been to… so many hidden vintage gems 💎 if I lived here I would’ve bought so much more stuff. We did score some really good quality CDs and tapes for our musical pleasure (including but not limited to Shania Twain, Nsync, Dixie Chicks), cutting board with a drawer for cutlery, a much needed lid for our pan, and a cell phone holder for easier navigation 🙃 Also interesting but not so cool: the south is swarming with die-hard Trump supporters. There was even a dedicated “Trump Stand” at the flea market 😳🤯Читать далее