At the southern end of College Road (N.C. Highway 132) where it junctions with Carolina Beach Road (U.S. Highway 421), you’ll find an area that has been rife with heated controversy recently. Known for many years as Monkey Junction, this rapidly expanding area has experienced enormous growth both commercially and residentially, some of it fairly upscale. Some of the residents, especially ones more recently moving into the area, feel that the name "Monkey Junction" does not convey the image they’d like to have for their community. They prefer "Myrtle Grove," which is an area east of Monkey Junction.

Ever sensitive to the desires of their customers, the U.S. Postal Service dutifully changed the name of their postal station in the area from Monkey Junction to Myrtle Grove. However, the New Hanover County commissioners, ever sensitive to the desire of most residents of the county to preserve our historical heritage, have officially designated the area as Monkey Junction, and signs to that effect will soon be planted.

The name Monkey Junction harkens back to the 1920s when the bus to Carolina Beach stopped at this intersection. An enterprising gas station nearby featured live monkeys as an attraction to draw customers from the bus. When the driver stopped, he announced, "Monkey Junction," and that’s how it has been known ever since.

Carolina Beach, just 30 minutes from downtown Wilmington by car, is on a narrow slip of land between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. Separated from the mainland by the Intracoastal Waterway (Snow’s Cut), the island is called Pleasure Island.

Established in 1857, when Joseph Winner planned the streets and lots for the 50 acres of beach property he had purchased, the island's only access then was by water. In 1866 a steamship began carrying vacationers down the Cape Fear River to Snow's Cut and a small railroad took them the rest of the way into Carolina Beach. In later years, a high-rise bridge was built over Snow’s Cut connecting the island with the mainland.

Carolina Beach has undergone a dramatic transformation during the 1990s. Once considered a wild party spot, it is now a heavily residential community dedicated to creating a wholesome family environment. Recent years have seen the cultivation of improved services, pleasant landscaping, attention to zoning and tangible citizen action to make Carolina Beach an attractive visitor destination. With a fair amount of relatively inexpensive land still available on the island, home construction is booming.

The busy central business district is centered around an active yacht basin containing a large number of charter fishing boats and large excursion boats. The nearby Boardwalk area is currently undergoing revitalization and rebuilding in conjunction with a new oceanfront Courtyard by Marriott Resort Hotel, which opened in 2003, and several mixed-use condo/retail projects planned and underway.

A drive through Carolina Beach reveals a pleasant 1950s-style beach town of modest cottages, increasingly more upscale single-family dwellings and an abundance of three- and four-story condominiums. Near the center of Carolina Beach is Jubilee Park, where you'll find water slides, miniature golf courses and other activities that appeal to the kids.

The town also has a movie complex, grocery stores, drugstores, beach shops and boutiques, numerous restaurants, both upscale and simple, hardware and variety stores, an ABC store and even bait shops. The beachfront motels, including several vintage motor courts, offer a welcome blast from the past. If you were a kid during the '50s and your parents took you on vacation to the beach, this was the kind of place you probably remember. Some of the best beachfront lodging values are offered here. A shopping plaza opened in 2002, a Microtel in 2003 and a number of new commercial developments opened in 2004.

Anglers love Carolina Beach. The surf promises wonderful bounty all year long, and there are plenty of tackle shops and piers as well as the opportunity to experience deep-sea fishing from the sterns of a number of charter boats berthed in the municipal yacht basin. Several annual fishing tournaments are based on the abundance of king mackerel, and you can pay a nominal entry fee for a chance to reap as much as $50,000 for the winning fish.

At the northernmost end of the island, the beach is open only to four-wheel-drive vehicles. While there is a certain allure to driving right off the street onto the sand of this expansive space, don't do it if you are in a two-wheel-drive car. Without the right tires, it’s even possible to get stuck in the sand in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Carolina Beach also offers one of the few state parks in the region. For a modest fee, you can camp and enjoy the wonders of nature. The Venus's flytrap, a carnivorous plant that eats insects, is abundant in the park. This plant, a relic from pre-human existence on the planet, grows naturally within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington. A sizable marina is also located in the park.

To the south of Kure Beach are the Fort Fisher State Historic Site and Fort Fisher State Recreation Area. The Historic Site, amidst twisted live oaks on the west side of U.S. Highway 421, was the largest of the Confederacy’s earthwork fortifications during the Civil War. It fell to Union forces in 1865, cutting off the last of the Confederacy supply lines from the sea. During World War II, as an arm of Camp Davis to the north, it became an important training site for anti-aircraft and coastal artillery defenses and a large airstrip was located there. An extensive, newly expanded visitors center offers guided tours.

The Recreation Area on the east side of U.S. 421 has 4 miles of wide, unspoiled beach, a visitor center with bath house, a snack bar and restrooms (see our chapter on Sports, Parks and Fitness).

The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, which was closed for nearly two years due to construction, has been expanded into North Carolina’s largest aquarium and reopened in the spring of 2002. The aquarium has many new features and exhibits and features a huge shark tank (see our Attractions chapter).