Highway 76 E | From Prosperity, SC to Wrightsville Beach, NC

When you travel Off the Interstate (OTI), you are often traveling the “super highways” of the past. Many these early “super highways” started as Native American trails, following the ridge lines of the land. These foot paths soon became grooved with wagon wheels and much later paved for families in sedans on vacation and truckers stopping at road side diners. While Highway 66 is probably the most nostalgically remembered of pre-interstate American roads, Highway 76 is our “super highway” of the past. It went from Native American trail, to colonial trail, to paved in 1926.

Heather Hawkins, who came up with the original OTI program on WKDK, explained, “Growing up, Highway 76 was the road to dance class in Newberry, the road to Mid-Carolina High School, the road to Granny’s house…it was the road to my world. My grown-up-self was very surprised to discover that you could follow it outside of the Center of the Universe, aka Newberry County. Did you know it goes all the way to the beach?”

Her question about following Highway 76 sparked our latest OTI family adventure July 4th weekend. On this OTI trip were the original WKDK team Heather Hawkins and Andy Hawkins, who learned their OTI ways from the original OTI Guy Mike Hawkins. In fact, Mike is a little OCD about OTI. Mike doesn’t leave Prosperity much, but when he does he always travels OTI and always goes “home OTI by another way,” as most wise people do. We had talked about this trip down Highway 76 for years. It was time to do it.

We went during July 4th week, which is the reason we did not stay at Wrightsville Beach. You know how far ahead you have to get a place at the beach during July 4th week! Since we decided about three weeks out, we rented a condo on VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) in the nearby town of Wilmington.

After our four night stay in Wilmington, we left Highway 76 and went to Kinston, NC to enjoy Vivian Howard’s Chef and the Farmer restaurant. We were great fans of the show “A Chef’s Life” on SC ETV/PBS, which recently ended. After a memorable night and meal in Kinston, it was home by another way with the Original OTI Guy driving.

Route: We started on Highway 76 in Prosperity and headed east to Wrightsville Beach. The Original OTI guy Mike is a purist so he refused to go on Highway 76 E when it left Broad River Rd and ran with I-26 and I-126 into Columbia. Instead, we continued into Columbia on Broad River Rd., which Mike says is the way his family always went into Columbia before the interstate. It was our only time off Highway 76E on our trip down.

We do have a recommendation for your travels that is based on the belief that the journey is as important as the destination. When approaching towns and you are offered the choice of 76 Business (BUS) or 76 E, take 76 BUS. It will take you through many lovely small towns flourishing OTI and some towns dying OTI. To understand history, you must look at and learn from the bad, as well as the good. Our OTI historian Susan taught us this principle.

Sumter Opera House: 21 N. Main St. (Highway 76), Sumter, SC 29150. 803-436-2616. For more information, www.sumtersc.gov

This stop in Sumter brings up another OTI travel principle. Know your interests. This was Heather’s stop.  Heather’s many interests include her job at the Newberry Opera House. She is always stopping at arts entertainment spaces in small and large towns, so it just made sense to stop at the Sumter Opera House.

We were very lucky and found Operations Manager Ellen Jansen in the house. What a wonderful tour. We learned that there are many similarities and differences between the Newberry Opera House (NOH) and the Sumter Opera House (SOH). Newberry started as a civic building in 1882 with government space on the first floor and performance space on the second floor. Sumter was a private building with local merchants in numerous shops on the first floor and performance space on the second floor. It was initially a wooden structure built in 1872. This structure burned down. The City of Sumter, recognizing the importance of the arts and entertainment to the community, decided to rebuild it as a civic center in 1895 with the performance hall still on the second floor. It has an E. Howard clock in the bell tower, just like Newberry.

Both Opera Houses were impacted by the new entertainment moving picture shows. NOH embraced the new entertainment in 1924 and continued until 1952 when it was closed. Sumter did a complete renovation of their building in 1935-36. They moved the performance space to the ground floor and made it a beautiful Art Deco movie theater. Government offices were in the other spaces.

The next round of renovations saw the NOH resurrected as a fully functional performance center with a full fledged performance season in 1998. In Sumter, the city renovated their space in the 1980s. They resurrected and saved some of the beautiful art deco decorations, such as the proscenium arch over the stage. After these renovations, the space was primarily used for city events.

In 2014, the City of Sumter decided to follow the Newberry model and have more performances by local and national artists in a variety of genres. The staff actually visited with the Newberry Opera House staff during this time. This was part of the city’s plan to bring more people downtown. Today, the Sumter Opera House has a Main Stage Series with nationally recognized artists, a Student Matinee Series for K-12 students, and a family friendly Movie Tuesdays so that a family of 4 could come for under $20. Both of these last two programs are aimed at building their future audiences.

For more details about the Sumter Opera House, check out www.sumteroperahouse.com. For more details about our tour at the lovely Opera House in Sumter, listen to our OTI 76 E audio at www.offthei.wordpress.com. Click on podcasts.

Wilmington, NC: We stayed at a lovely condo on Market St. in downtown Wilmington. Perfect location! There are also some spectacular Bed and Breakfasts and boutique hotels in this charming historic town along the Cape Fear River.

Thalian Hall: 310 Chestnut St. 910-632-2285. www.thalianhall.org. This was our second “Opera House” visit on our Highway 76 E travels. Thalian Hall is stunningly beautiful. We hit the jackpot and got tickets for an afternoon performance on July 4th of “Five Guys Named Moe.” It was a wow performance with smooth as silk harmonies. Heather and I got to be part of a conga line on the stage.

I enjoyed a little chat with one of the volunteers who told me that several of the professional cast members have close ties to the Wilmington area and art scene. She was thrilled to see the guys again and to be a volunteer at Thalian Hall.

Wrightsville Beach: Six miles from Wilmington. This is where Highway 76 begins or ends, depending on your point of view. We spent a morning sun bathing, watching the waves and the people, and walking on Wrightsville Beach. Extended families with little kids, big kids, moms, dads, and grandparents were everywhere. The wind was whipping, testing the engineering skills of Dads who were putting up tents and large umbrellas.  Under them were coolers and beach chairs, which also spilled out into open sand and blazing sun.

Little toddlers played in tide pools with watchful parents. Kids with boogie boards were playing in the skim of the waves, falling and laughing. Big kids were out on surf boards in some righteous waves and imposing undertow…a family beach on Fourth of July.

July 4th Fireworks: We hear that 40,000 people showed up in Wilmington for the state sanctioned fireworks on the Cape Fear River. We were three of them. It was quite a party on the river front. We really enjoyed being able to walk down one and a half blocks and be a part of it all.

Keep in mind individuals can’t buy fireworks in North Carolina so there are very few places to see live fireworks in NC. Their fireworks were good, but they ain’t got nothin’ on Newberry County fireworks! From the lake to the stadium, we have better fireworks. It was still a great party and since no one is allowed to shoot off their own fireworks nobody showed up in the ER.

Burgwin-Wright House & Gardens: “Where Now Meets Then” 224 Market St. burgwinwrighthouse.com.

Built on the foundation of Wilmington’s first city jail (1744), the 1770 house was built by John Burgwin, a prominent merchant, planter and treasurer of the Colony. On our tour, we learned that not everyone picked the winning side in the revolution. Mr. Burgwin spent most of the time during the Revolution hiding out in England, hoping that no one would notice.

Come enjoy this tour and learn what happened to Burgwin after the revolution and who Wright was. All the furniture is from the 18th and 19th century and looks fabulous. The house showcases hundreds of historical objects, including beds that break down for travel. Back then guests had to bring their own. Who knew?! Do take a stroll through the one-acre garden. The house also has many special events, including night tours and art shows.

North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher: 900 Loggerhead Road, Kura Beach, NC 28449. North Carolina has three aquariums along the state’s coast.  Enjoy them all.

We love aquariums. Perfect thing to do at the beach when it is raining. It was raining that day. The place was packed with kids running, kids in strollers, kids sticking their hands in the open water exhibits, accompanied by frantic parents and grandparents. There was a lot of energy in that beautiful space.

We stood in the mouth of the mother of all sharks. Between that and all of the recent shark activity, I am not going in the ocean deeper than my ankles. That’s it!

Food in Wilmington: While in Wilmington, we followed some of the recommendations of Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives (Triple D) fame. There were six or more Triple D eateries to choose from in Wilmington. It definitely is a foodie town. We walked to and enjoyed two of his suggestions and stopped at the third one for brunch on the way out of town.

The Copper Penny, 109 Chestnut St., Wilmington, NC The best pork sandwich that Heather has ever had and the best black bean burger I have ever had. I also now understand why people love onion rings. OMG

Fork N’ Cork, 122 Market St., Wilmington, NC An evening of inventive and tasty small plates shared: Scotch Egg, Rattlesnake Bites and Classic Poutine. Aren’t those great names for great food!

Sweet and Savory, 1611 Pavilion Place, Wilmington, NC Brunch like you may have never had it before. Wonderful tasty choices. Delightfully hot Bloody Marys. A wait to get in.

Savorez, 402 Chestnut St., Wilmington, NC. Guy Fieri has not been to this Latin American inspired restaurant in Wilmington, yet. We sent him an email recommending the food at this fun, eye candy restaurant. The Salsas are to live for, not die for! Fabulous. The creative tacos tempted all of our palates. That is quite a spread!

The only restaurant that let us down was George’s on the river. We enjoyed the view much more than the food.

Kinston, NC: “A Chef’s Life” is an ETV program about prodigal daughter Vivian Howard, who left Kinston as quickly as she could and swore never to come back. She went to New York and became a chef. She and her husband Ben were working in some of the best restaurants in New York. Her parents lured her back by offering to pay for a restaurant of their own in Kinston. The program followed their return, the opening of the restaurants The Chef and the Farmer and later The Boiler Room, their trials and tribulations, their growing family, and Vivian discovering her love of her home, the people and the food of her corner of the south.  It was an honest, funny, sad, ironic, uplifting and tasty show, much like her first cookbook “Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South.” Mike and I really enjoyed the TV program, and I am enjoying the cook/story book.

For years, we had been saying we were going to Kinston to eat at The Chef and the Farmer. It’s a long trip from here, but not so far from Wilmington. We grabbed our chance.

When I looked online for a place to stay in Kinston and saw the Mother Earth Motor Lodge, an updated celebration of 1950’s motor lodges, I grabbed that chance, too. It had a pool, a ping pong table, a shuffle board, the cutest rooms you’ve seen since 1959, and you could order beer and bourbon at the front desk at any time of the day or night. The owner of the lodge also owned a brewery and distillery next door. Nice update.

Kinston reminded me of Newberry about 10 years ago, when the town was beginning to turn the corner. The City of Newberry has the Opera House to thank for where it is today. Kinston has Vivian and Ben’s restaurants The Chef and the Farmer and The Boiler Room to thank. Vivian and Ben have been there 15 years now. New stores and restaurants are opening. Main Street is being renovated. A boutique hotel is opening. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it. Thanks to the arts and the art of cooking two towns are on the rise. But, let’s remember that without cotton and tobacco there would not be a town to save. Adapt or die.

The Chef and the Farmer: 120 W. Gordon St., Kinston, NC.

As we walked to our 8:30pm reservation at The Chef and the Farmer, Heather and I confessed to each other that we were scared that our expectations were too high. Had we set ourselves up for a disappointment? Oh, dear…

As soon as we set down at the bar, we began to relax. Good bartenders can engage the people at their bar with humor and expertly mix several drinks all at the same time with a relaxed ease that is enviable. They are ultimate multi-taskers! These guys were good.

My observations prompted me to allow the bartender to pick the gin for my gin and tonic. I rarely do that. Heather also went the local gin route. Her drink was called Mother of Dragons and ended up much better than the Mother of Dragons on Game of Thrones.

As soon as our drinks came we were seated at our table. The first thing I noticed was a waitress hustling around that had been on the show since almost the beginning. I recognized the open kitchen. It was like being on a TV show set. Gosh, it was one! Thankfully, there were no cameras there that evening.

We looked at the menu. One of the tensions that had made the show interesting was how to use local products in an informed culinary manner and yet still have them be recognizably southern. Even with our great bar experience, Heather and I were still concerned about Vivian’s new take on southern food, until we took the first bite…

The first dish placed on the table was flash fried collards. They were divine wafers of southern goodness that should be a part of communion at some church. Make it mine. My Grandmother would have loved sipping southern table wine, aka sweet tea, with these lightly salted crunchy nibbles. Pinot Noir did just fine for me, especially since it came from the amazing wine list available at Chef and the Farmer.

This much-too-small plate was followed by another shared plate of sweet potato onion bread with local sliced tomatoes, pickled red onion and smoked corn aioli. Southern ingredients lifted high. Like Heather said, “The tomatoes tasted like real tomatoes. You could taste the warmth of the afternoon sun in them. They were that fresh.” It was delicious.

After this auspicious beginning, the entrees of pork chops, fish, and red rice and sausage were almost anticlimactic. Almost… Let’s just say we have complete faith in the food at Chef and the Farmer. We awarded Vivian and her staff 4.8 out of five forks. Mike said his fish could have used a little more seasoning. Heather and I just had big smiles on our faces.