Checkout Rocky Mount and see if there is anything that interests you there. From there you could head East and pickup US-17. Washington and Chocowhinty are small towns with Historic Districts. New Bern may have some things of interest to you. Wilmington has some historic sites and plantations, a nice historic district and the Battleship North Carolina. I have no idea how much damage US-17 incurred during the recent storms, but we have driven it many times over the years and have always enjoyed our stops along this route.
