Guardians of the Sea and the OBX
As I pull away from the barrier islands of Assateague and Chincoteague, I am going to be grateful for hurricanes spinning themselves out and away from the OBX. The Outer Banks is a 200-mile-long string of narrow peninsulas and barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina and a small portion of Virginia, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the U.S. They cover most of the North Carolina coastline, separating the Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, and Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. The Outer Banks are not anchored to offshore coral reefs like some other barrier islands and as a consequence they often suffer significant beach erosion during major storms. In fact, their location jutting out into the Atlantic makes them the most hurricane-prone area north of Florida, for both landfalling storms and brushing storms offshore. All these current storms seem to be doing is holding a new wave of heat in place. I am hoping for coastal breezes to make camping tolerable. Isn't this why I headed away from SoFlo... to escape the heat? Scorching days are stuck to me like a damp t-shirt. Arghhh!
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore has four campgrounds and there are a host of private camps to stay also. I have had this romantic notion of wind swept beaches and miles of white solitary sand to walk and reflect on this fabulous life I get to have. This trip has surpassed all expectations to date.
I take a drive to the northern end of the OBX to check out the Currituck Lighthouse. I was surprised at how populated the northern towns of Corolla and Duck are. I imagined a much more sparsely occupied coastal towns. I find that I far prefer the smaller and less pretentious communities of Rodanthe and Hatteras. But maybe I have judged too soon. I can already see, I will have to spend much more time on these islands.
Lighthouses
The Currituck Beach Lighthouse (pictured above) is a first order lighthouse, which means it has the largest of seven Fresnel lens sizes. The light can be seen for 18 nautical miles. Like the other lighthouses on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, this one still serves as an aid to navigation. The beacon comes on automatically every evening at dusk and ceases at dawn.
I hadn't expected to spend as much time on the road, but the day has completely flown by and it is late before we get settled in at the Oregon Inlet Campground on the Hatteras National Seashore. Heading this direction had me bypass Kitty Hawk and the historical site of the Wright Brothers. I guess it means I will have to return and spend more time here in the future.
I can see the Bodie Lighthouse as we drive. The Bodie Lighthouse (pronounced body) was built in 1872. It stands 165 feet tall and is just south of Nags Head. The previous Bodie Lighthouse was destroyed in 1861 by retreating Confederate troops who feared it would be used as a Union observation post during the Civil War.
I will spend two days just over the dune from the ocean at Oregon Inlet. Ocean waves lull me to sleep.
Looking back on my pinterest board, I remembered I had planned a day trip to Manteo, N.C. (Pronounced man tee oh) The Town of Manteo wraps around Shallowbag Bay on the eastern side of Roanoke Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Named the seat of government for Dare County in 1870, this waterfront community incorporated in 1899. In those early days, every store lining the waterfront had two doors - one for those coming by boat, and the other for those coming from the courthouse or one of the inns on Water Street. Nestled on the waterfront is the current structure known as Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse. It is a re-creation from the original lighthouse that was located in the middle of the water near a busy port in-between Wanchese and mainland North Carolina. It was first opened on September 25, 2004. This lighthouse has a 4th order Fresnel lens with a fixed white light and is an active aid to navigation, guiding boats into Shallowbag Bay.
Back at our campsite in Oregon Inlet, one of the rangers wants to know all about our jewelry. She comes over to my site and goes on a major shopping spree...so grateful for your support, Denise! We spend a couple hours chatting and discussing the order of the world. This is probably what I look forward to the most–all the fascinating people I meet along the way. Denise encourages me to check out the national campground in Frisco, our next overnight, but with rain and heat in our forecast, I have the issue of suffocating in the van... okay I am being overly dramatic. The ZiOsmobile's windows are sliders and not the crank out kind. They need to be closed in a downpour. In the national campsites, it is dry camping and after 10 pm you can't use the generator... so no air conditioning. As the next day progresses and the mercury rises, I choose a private campground, Frisco Woods, with water and electric hookup. It is a fabulous choice as it rained all night and I ran the air all night. What a campground it is. Again my site couldn't get any closer to the water. The campground appears rustic; however, there is a large, pristine pool that I take advantage both days I am there. Bathhouses have hot, hot showers and it is another opportunity to get laundry done. i actually look forward to clean sheets, especially with all the sand Sitka and I drag in.
On our way down to Frisco is The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, with its black and white candy-cane stripes. It is one of the most famous and recognizable lighthouses in the world. Protecting one of the most treacherous stretches of the Outer Banks, with a beam of light that spans 20 miles into the ocean, the lighthouse is also the world's tallest brick lighthouse at a staggering 208' ft. tall. Hatteras Island, and subsequently the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, is known for being unpopulated and uncrowded, even in the height of summer. For me it is a perfect contrast to the northern end of the OBX. I also have the opportunity to visit a Native American Museum, not only garnering historical information but also current news about the water protectors in North Dakota who have been successful in stopping the oil pipeline at least temporarily. I become aware that I have been completely unaware of any current events over the last 3 weeks–a wonderful reprieve from the world's insanity.
After the steady down pour the previous night, Highway 12 is under a significant amount of water through the picturesque community of Rodanthe. This community achieved attention in the film Nights in Rodanthe, a 2008 romantic drama film. It is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' 2002 novel of the same name. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane. This is the second film set of Gere's I find myself at... I am half expecting to run into him.
On to Hatteras Island where I catch a ferry to Ocracoke Island. Here I make use of the National Campground. This will be our last night on the OBX. When the rains come, it is early morning, so I just close up and head to the harbor to wait for the ferry.
Arriving on the island of Ocracoke, I find a tiny community of 948 people loaded with history including the infamous Blackbeard.
In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh's colony, in their ship the Tiger, in search of Roanoke Island collided with a sand bar in Ocracoke Inlet and were forced to land on the island for repairs. An attempt at an English settlement was tried at Roanoke Island in the late 16th century, but it failed. This effectively halted European settlement until 1663, when Carolina Colony was chartered by King Charles II. However, remote Ocracoke Island was not permanently settled until 1750, being a pirate haven at times before then. It was a favorite anchorage of Edward Teach, better known as the pirate Blackbeard. He was killed in a fierce battle with troops from Virginia on November 22, 1718.
Fort Ocracoke, a Confederate fortification constructed at the beginning of the Civil War, was situated on Beacon Island in Ocracoke Inlet, The octagonally shaped fort was built on a previous War of 1812 site. At one point nearly 500 Confederate troops were stationed in and around Ocracoke and the fort. The Confederates abandoned and partially destroyed the fort in August 1861 after Union victories on nearby Hatteras Island. Union forces razed it a month later on September 17, 1861.
The village is located at the widest point of the island, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by sand dunes and a salt marsh. The average height of the island is less than five feet above sea level, and many of the buildings on the island are built on pilings to lift them off the ground. Flooding is a risk during both hurricanes and large storms. Ocracoke Lighthouse is situated near Silver Lake and has remained in continuous operation since 1823.
The island is also home to a British cemetery which preserves a moment in history when American shores were vulnerable to attack. They tell of the risk American mariners endured shipping goods up and down the Atlantic coast. And they honor the sacrifice of sailors, buried on foreign soil, who stood with their allies against the German threat during World War II. German submarines sank several British ships including the HMT Bedfordshire, and the bodies of British sailors were washed ashore. They were buried in a cemetery on the island, where a British flag flies at all times. The United States Coast Guard station on Ocracoke Island takes care of the property.
From here, I am to catch a ferry back to the mainland. Unfortunately, I will have to shorten the trip and make my way back to SoFlo. An old tooth has an abscess. It will have to be pulled and no dentists want to mess with it. I have to find an oral surgeon..... soon. Yes, I know ... this is the second dental emergency. I was at a dentist back in Roanoke, Virginia getting my front tooth fixed!
What I know for sure is there is rhythm and flow to the Outer Banks and I will return, rent a beach cottage, take those long walks on wind swept beaches and dig even deeper into all the southern charm these islands have to offer.
I know my journey’s not over yet and that life is a winding path, but I can only hope that it is somehow circles back to the place I belong. from Nights in Rodanthe