Whispering Pines, Newport, North Carolina

       We spent three nights at Whispering Pines as a go-between stop between Myrtle Beach & Virginia Beach.  We arrived at the park around one in the afternoon on one of the most humid days that we've encountered.  We went to the office got our assigned site backed in and proceeded to get set up.  Since we were going to be there a few nights I decided to put out the mat, chairs, table and set up the barbecue.  By the time I was finished I was soaked.  So we decided to cool off in the pool.  The pool was small but nice enough.  After about twenty minutes of chatting with a friendly lady in the pool, we noticed the northern sky fill with black ominous looking clouds.  Although it was still sunny and 85, everyone decided to get out of the pool.  Just after we go back to the RV, the sky went dark the temperature dropped and it hit.  The rain was falling hard and we were getting quite the thunder and lightning show.  Jackie was just about to get her phone out to record the show when lightning hit a tree about fifty feet from us.  It was very very loud and just awesome.  Power went off and on a few times and decided to stay on.  It was too bad we didn't record it.  I guess it's time to shell out for that surge suppressor that I've been putting off buying.  The of our stay there, the weather was nice.

     The park is just that, an RV Park.  It was nice, there are ponds and a pool, but not much to call it a resort.  Most of the people there were full-time residents with just a hand full of RV'ers.  There is a lot of lawn and so there was a good feel to the park, just nothing to write home about.  Most of the sites are a combination of grass and gravel without a lot of shade if you're not a resident.  Overall, I liked the park and the people and would stay there again, but it wouldn't be a destination point.

     While we were there, we drove north to Atlantic Beach and followed the coastline down Emerald Isle as far as we could looking for beach access spots.  Well, we found lots of them, but no place to park except in the two public parks we found with a $10 fee to park.  Not really worth it for an hour-long walk along the beach.  The beaches are beautiful, but you can't see them from the road, which is too bad.  

A quaint park near Bogue Sound, nestled among the North Carolina pines.