Side Trip to the Outer Banks

Saturday, July 2 - This week we rented a car and drove to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  It was just an overnight, but we enjoyed the drive - and the ferry rides!  We left on Tuesday, June 28 and returned to New Bern on Wednesday.

Our trip started with a drive to Cedar Island where we boarded a car ferry for a 2 hour trip to Ocracoke Island.   The drive to Cedar Island was very slow - there are no expressways in this part of North Carolina.  But, we got to drive through small towns and see beautiful scenery on the way.  Everyone told us that a trip to Ocracoke Island was a must and they were right.  Ocracoke Island is a charming island with shops, restaurants, a few hotels, and sandy beaches.  It appears that Ocracoke is a vacation destination for many families.  We stopped for lunch at the Jolly Roger, then took a quick driving tour of the island.  Of course, we had to stop at the lighthouse!  The was also a bakery and after much looking we finally found it - but it was closed!

                                        

                                            2 Hour Ferry Ride to Ocracoke Island

                                                      Ocracoke Light House

After touring Ocracoke Island, we continued north on the island and found a walkway to the ocean through the sand dunes.  We never tire of seeing the ocean!  

                              Walkway Through the Sand Dunes to the Atlantic Ocean

The roads out of town went through sand dunes and we even came upon a sand plow (we are used to snow plows up north) that was pushing the sand off the road.  There were plenty of places to pull off and walk across a sand dune to the Atlantic Ocean.

                                       Road to the North Tip of Ocracoke Island

                              Sand Plowing the Sand on the Road on Ocracoke Island

At the north tip of Ocracoke Island, we took another car ferry to Cape Hatteras.  This was a shorter ferry ride, thank goodness.  There were so many cars packed onto the ferry that Nancy could not get out of the car!  The ferry distance was actually short (just a mile), however, the water was so shallow in many areas that it took the ferry an hour to navigate back and forth while cruising to Cape Hatteras.  Once we finally arrived, we found the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse!

                                                  Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We found the Outer Banks to be just as we imagined from pictures with sandy beaches, sand dunes, lots of beach houses (both private and for rent), restaurants, and store after store selling beachware, stand-up paddle boards and surf boards.  We did expect a lot of tourists, but we were happy to find that the drive through the Outer Banks was not bumper to bumper with cars.

We spent the night in Nags Head at a Holiday Inn Express.  It was a fairly new hotel and was right along the ocean.  It was surrounded by beach houses to the left and right, but we had a clear view of the ocean from the hotel.  The owners of the beach houses could not have been happy that a Holiday Inn Express was built there!  Wednesday morning we got up and took a walk on the beach.  It was heavenly!  The beach was not crowded and it was not too hot, so we really enjoyed our walk.  

                                       Carey Walking on the Beach in Nags Head

From Nags Head, we drove north to Kill Devil Hills where the Wright Brothers National Memorial is located.  This memorial is definitely a place to stop.  Inside the Visitor's Center, there is are replicas of the Wright Brothers' early planes with information about their first attempts with flight.  There is also a lot of space dedicated to all the famous aviators that came afterward. On the grounds of this memorial are granite rocks marking the distance of the first flights.  There is also a tall granite memorial honoring the Wright Brothers.

 

                                             Wright Brothers National Memorial

After leaving the Wright Brothers National Memorial, we continued north, passing through Kitty Hawk.  When we left the Outer Banks, there was a dramatic difference in the landscape.  We were back to green fields and small inland towns.  We stopped in Coinjock and Elizabeth City to check out the marinas.  Coinjock turned out to be a very small marina and not much of a town.  Elizabeth City is bigger and welcomes boaters by offering free dockage along a downtown park.  Our plans include passing through there by boat in a few days so we were happy to be able to check out the facilities by car!

                                     Free Docks in Elizabeth City, North Carolina

We are now back in New Bern awaiting the 4th of July celebration!  Our marina will be completely full as the New Bern Yacht Club is planning a weekend event here.  There is no parade in New Bern, but we have heard promises of celebrating in the parks and a fantastic firework display over the water.  

We have really enjoyed New Bern and hope to return some day.  As we travel the country, we are always on the lookout for somewhere we would like to spend more time - and New Bern is right at the top of that list!  But, the time has come for us to move on and continue our exploring!  We will leave on Tuesday, July 5 and continue north to the Chesapeake Bay.  

Happy 4th of July everyone!  We are sorry that we will miss the Racine 4th of July Parade  and Fireworks this year!