Cape Hatteras / Outer Banks

First visit to North Carolina!

We’ve driven through a few times, but this is our 49th State to “really” visit together, our 34th state to camp in! And where did we start? In Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, in the middle of the Outer Banks. We could watch the sunrise over the Atlantic, just over the dunes from our campsite, and see the sunset over the Albemarle Sound, just across the street.

We did quite a bit of driving over 4 beautiful, sunny, 70+ degree days… south to Cape Hatteras, north to Roanoke Island & Kitty Hawk, south to Ocracoke Island, and north to Brodie Island & Pea Island.

Speaking of Ocracoke Island, we had our first ever Nighttime Ferry Crossing!
NOT intentionally.

To make a short story longer…

1. Driving to Ocracoke from Hatteras includes a 75 minute ferry ride, on 1 of 3 ferries, carrying ~30 vehicles each, leaving hourly:
   • on the hour from Hatteras heading south
   • on the half hour from Ocracoke heading north
2. We visited Ocracoke on Sunday, October 29, the day after Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree on Ocracoke.
   (On November 22, 1718, Edward Teach, the infamous pirate Blackbeard, was killed off Ocracoke Island by British naval troops led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard!)
3. We showed up about 8:45 AM and caught the 9:00 AM Ferry to Ocracoke (ferry not full).
4. Exiting the ferry on Ocracoke, we passed about a mile long line of vehicles heading back to Hatteras. SO…we realized we had better not return to the line too late!
5. We had a pleasant few hours on Ocracoke.
6. We got in the the return ferry line at 3:00 and we made it onto the 7:30 Ferry.
   Thank goodness we had a very nice, late lunch before getting in line!

We spent most of our time visiting 3 new National Park Sites:

• Cape Hatteras National Seashore (#220), shaped by the forces of water, wind, and storms the islands of the Outer Banks are ever changing, and much of them are encompassed in the National Park, including 3 lighthouses! Spent 3 days visiting various sites.
• Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (#221), protects and preserves known portions of England’s first New World settlements from 1584 to 1590 on Roanoke Island and the cultural heritage of the Native Americans, European Americans and African Americans who have lived on Roanoke Island.
• Wright Brothers National Memorial (#222), in Kitty Hawk, where Wilbur and Orville Wright, after four years of scientific experimentation, achieved the first successful airplane flights on December 17, 1903.

Other Visits included:

• Pea Island Wildlife Refuge
• Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Historic Site and Museum

Heading on south, to New Bern, NC, birthplace of Pepsi!

For more pictures, eventually, see (in-work) Adventure Album:  Head South for Winter

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Note…Planning Updates!

What’s Comin Up? has been updated with our latest, more detailed plans,
reservations now made through January!