Ocracoke

Since today was cool, windy, rainy and cloudy, we decided to take a drive to Ocracoke, the quaint little island that is the farthest outpost of the Outer Banks. Everytime I go to Ocracoke, I fall in love with it all over again. The pace of life slows down....people walk and bike all over the village....and one feels safe. (There is hardly any crime because there is no place for the bad guys to run).

To get to Ocracoke, one must drive down the entire island of Hatteras and then take a 30 minute ferry ride (with your car) to Ocracoke. Once the ferry lands, you simply drive your car off the ferry, and then drive 14 miles to reach the village.

We left the house around 10:30 and arrived on the island of Ocracoke around 1:30. It takes about 2 hours to drive from Duck to the end of Hatteras, and then we had to wait around 30 minutes for the ferry to leave Hatteras. The drive was very nice, and I got a kick out of watching the kids enjoy sitting in the car on the ferry while the ferry was moving. By the time we arrived, Sean was really hungry, and so we first drove immediately to the restaurant on the harbor where Kevin, Veronica and I had eaten last year. It was too cold to sit outside as we had done before, but the inside seats still gave a great view of the harbor. And the food....just like last year was DELICIOUS! The fishermen of Ocracoke deliver their catches to the restaurant fresh every day, so the fish is as fresh as it can be. All of us except for Laura got the bluefish sandwich. It was soooo good....and I, of course, could not resist the beer-battered onion rings to go along with it.

After lunch, we drove them the few blocks to the end of the harbor, where Sean was interested in the civil war marker that was there and I showed them where Blackbeard had been killed by the British. Ocracoke was Blackbeard's headquarters and even though he was a pirate, he was quite popular on the island. We then went to this wonderful little coffee shop where I got a latte and the others got hot chocolate. After that, Kevin drove them to the house that we had stayed in last year. We showed them the canal that ran behind the house so that the fishermen could keep their boats docked at home and just ride out into the ocean. They just loved Ocracoke! Sean asked, "Can we come live here?" That's how I feel everytime I come to the island.

On the way back, I fell asleep and woke up when we reached the town of Avon on Hatteras Island. The rest of the ride back was very nice, but we were all glad when we finally reached the cottage. We each fixed whatever we wanted to eat.....there was plenty of food.....and then we played card games for the rest of the evening. Kevin and Sean went to bed fairly early since they have to leave early for Manteo in the morning. (I'll tell about that in another post) Jenna and Laura stayed up later....but then they turned in.....and I stayed up to wait for Kim & Rob to arrive. I am so glad that Kim and Rob are able to come. They stayed in the cottage last year and loved it as much as I did.