The Outer Banks

I mentioned in an earlier post that Patrick and I did a whirlwind tour of the Outer Banks in late August 2002. These are my favorite shots from that expedition.


This, of course, is Cape Hatteras light. It is operated by the Coast Guard and the building is maintained as a historical site by the National Park Service. Originally built between 1868 and 1870, it has an interesting history. Between 1999 and 2000, the building was successfully moved half a mile inland because of the threat of erosion.


The shots immediately above and below were shot at two different spots on Hatteras Island, between the lighthouse and the Hatteras to Ocracoke ferry. The one above is the Atlantic view looking southwest; the one below, not much farther down the road, is the Atlantic view looking east. (That surprised me too - the orientation of this part of the island is ENE to WSW.) Kites are even more popular now on the Outer Banks than they were when the Wright brothers were experimenting there between 1900 and 1903.




We continued our trek with a ferry ride to Ocracoke Island where we started thinking about getting something to eat. We had a wonderful meal in the courtyard of a small restaurant in the village of Ocracoke, just off Hwy 12. The view of the lovely harbor above, with the Ocracoke Light at center on the horizon, was only a block or two from the restaurant.


Ocracoke is one of those places, very much like St. Simon's Island (Georgia) and Port Douglas (Queensland), where your thoughts turn unbidden to retirement. Yeah, I could live out the rest of my days right here. The picture above shows part of the marina with the ferry terminal in the background. Pat and I wandered in and out of a few gift shops while we waited for the Cedar Island ferry to return us to the mainland near Morehead City.

A week or so later, after talking to Tony and Donna, I found out that while we were en queue, the ferry disgorged vehicles and passengers from the mainland, among whom were the aforementioned Tony and Donna and two friends from Florida. They were traveling incognito in Big Tony's RV, so we missed them.