Happy Wednesday, everyone! As I look back on Instagram stories and pictures in my camera roll from the past week, I thought it would be fun to share a recap of my trip to North Carolina! I feel like I’ve been sharing a lot of travel content lately, so this is a good way to wrap things up!
While mainly known for Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville is also located about an hour north of Wilmington and within 20 minutes of a few different beaches. This was my second time visiting, so I also wanted to make Sure I included some details of the places we went and restaurants we tried in case you ever find yourself in southeast NC!
Tuesday, March 1st
I worked on Monday, then took off the rest of the week to fly down south. I arrived early Tuesday evening and stayed until Saturday morning. I snapped this picture as we were landing in Charlotte! I took a second flight into Jacksonville and grabbed Zaxby’s for a quick dinner once I arrived.
Wednesday, March 2nd
On Wednesday, I took some blog pictures outside of my hotel by the pool. I also vlogged for YouTube this day, so be sure to watch that video here if you missed it! Later that day we drove down to Surf City to try a restaurant called Shaka Taco. Living at the Jersey Shore ourselves, we have places at home with similar food but this meal definitely exceeded my expectations! The menu is limited but any of their tacos can be made into a bowl which is what I opted to do. I got the fish taco bowl over coconut rice (with a sweet tea of course!) and I loved it so much that I re-created it for myself when I got home! This is a great place to go if you’re looking for a casual restaurant to grab a quick bite off the beach or are in the mood for Mexican-style food.
Thursday, March 3rd
I love supporting local coffee shops wherever I go so I was very excited to try Port City Java. I had an iced caramello leche which had espresso, caramel, and vanilla. I opted for oat milk and it was so tasty! Not to mention, it paired perfectly with the warm chocolate chip muffin I ordered along with it! It was the perfect way to start the morning before heading north to Emerald Isle later in the day. We had an earlier dinner at a restaurant called The Trading Post which served lots of traditional southern food – we ordered the hush puppies as an appetizer, followed by the Southerner Salad as an entree which had tons of fresh veggies!
Friday, March 4th
Friday was such a fun day! I was able to attend my boyfriend’s pinning ceremony which was so special. He is a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy and provides medical care for a Marine Corps battalion at Camp Lejeune. As one of the only civilians on base, I definitely stuck out not being in uniform (lol), but I had so much fun meeting his friends and getting to take some pictures before they were released on post-deployment leave!
After the ceremony, we ate at Raising Canes on base which is another popular chain restaurant in the south. As much as I love to explore the local places in town, I also like to try out the chains we don’t have in New Jersey, haha! After lunch, we picked up some snacks for our road trip home on Saturday, then met back up with some friends to go to the movies.
Saturday, March 5th
On Saturday, we made the 9 hour drive back to New Jersey! I tried my best to be present in the moment and not be on my phone as much, but overall I had so much fun! The week flew by, but I am very grateful that I was able to make the trip!
Thank you so much for reading!
