Bridging a Gap: North Carolina’s Sunset Beach

ByRainer Jenss
August 11, 2010
5 min read

Last year, Rainer Jenss traveled around the world with his wife and two sons, and blogged about his experience here on Intelligent Travel. Now he’s writing a column that focuses on traveling with kids.

Every family probably has that one special vacation spot they visit annually – a favorite place that both parents and kids really look forward to visiting each year. Chances are, summer is the time when most folks have these destinations marked on their calendars, and the Jensses are no exception.

There are actually two family traditions we commit to every year between the Memorial and Labor Day weekends:  Cape Cod, MA, and Sunset Beach, NC. The former is certainly known throughout the world and is quite popular with vacationers up and down the East Coast as well as visitors from across the country and overseas. The latter, not so much. In fact, very few people here in the Northeast have even heard of Sunset Beach, and that’s what helps make it special for us — kind of like our own little secret. So I’m going to risk it and let the cat out of the bag in hopes that it doesn’t spoil a good thing, although the city council may have already taken care of that – but more on that later.

Blue Reflection

Firstly, make no mistake, Sunset Beach is not some little unknown location that’s hard to find on a map (even though it’s under six square miles). On the contrary, even though the Outer Banks to the north get most of the recognition and Myrtle Beach to the south gets most of the traffic, in June, July, and August, almost every one of the approximate 1,200 homes on this barrier island is either rented out or occupied by its owner for a beach vacation. And for good reason – the nearly five mile stretch of beach has some of the best sand and surf on the eastern seaboard and the water temperature averages an ideal 80°F during the summer months. Although I’m definitely a fan of some of the Jersey Shore beach communities (Spring Lake, NJ being our favorite) and the aforementioned Cape Cod, the crowds are more abundant and the water temperatures can be quite chilly, especially the further north you go. And the weekly rental rates are simply much more affordable in North Carolina.

But perhaps Sunset Beach’s most distinguishing feature, besides its fishing pier and adjoining Bird Island coastal reserve, is the one-lane pontoon, or swing bridge, that you must cross to get to the island. After all, it is the last remaining one of its kind along the Intracoastal Waterway. Opening on the hour to let boats pass, the bridge does cause some rather inconvenient backups during the peak season; however, I tend to agree with the locals who claim it helps give Sunset Beach a unique laid-back feel. This is certainly not the case with other beach communities along the ‘Grand Strand,’ many which have massive bridges connecting them to the state’s major thoroughfares.

Unfortunately, after years of heated debates and emotional pleas, the NCDOT started construction to replace the swing bridge with a modern 65-foot tall arc bridge last year. The project is supposed to be completed this fall, and from what we could see during our recent visit, it looks right on schedule. Proponents of the new bridge say it will eliminate the need for a bridge keeper, and provide for a continual flow of vehicle traffic on and off the island, and water traffic on the Intracoastal Waterway. I, like many others, see this as yet another distressing sign of how ‘modernization’ is compromising, if not eradicating, some of our country’s most precious landmarks and attractions.  Even though lighthouses, for example, have long been outdated by more efficient navigational technology, they haven’t been torn down or left to erode away. Instead, they remain a hallmark of many coastal communities and increasingly popular with tourists. There’s a group that’s currently working to preserve the bridge, and have proposed relocating it to another site nearby where it can become part of a public park, but remains to be seen whether their efforts will be fruitful.

But no matter what the bridge’s fate may be, we will surely continue to go to Sunset Beach and enjoy our family traditions that have grown over the years – just as long as this post, and the new bridge, doesn’t attract the masses and damage its unique charm.

[Sunset Beach]
[The Old Sunset Beach Bridge Preservation Society]
[Residents Fight to Save the Sunset Beach Potoon Bridge]

Photos: Bridge Photo by Tyler Jenss; Pier Photo by Rainer Jenss

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