Von and Sarah "Chilax'n" on Ocracoke Island. We had a 4-wheel drive, so you can just drive right on the beach. In fact the OBX has approximately 60 miles on national seashore to drive on. No permit required. Be sure to drop your tire pressure down to about 8-10 psig. There's excellent surf fishing in the Winter there as well.
Here we are on the 30-minute ferry that will take you from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Island. This ferry ran every 30-minutes and used to be free, but now I think you will have to pay a small fee. Riding a ferry is all part of the North Carolina experience. A ferry can hold up to 20-30 vehicles...and Ocracoke is crowded in the summer, but a ghost town in the Winter. This was the home of "Black Beard" the most famous pirate of all.
If you have a 4-wheel drive you can either go to an East or South facing beach. A South facing beach might have gentler waves. The water feels great, no crowds, and there's plenty of good fishing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and good eats on the island. This is a back to nature kinda place...so look forward to uncrowded beaches, sand dunes, and sea oats.
This is one of my kids all time favorite places to eat in Buxton, NC, it's called the "Orange Blossom." It's been here forever and they have the best coffee and real made from scratch donuts. Sarah calls this place "donut heaven." The donuts are heavy, literally heavy, maybe 1/4 lb. each...I'm not kidding. They are super delicious..and go down well with chocolate milk. The OBX is a very laid back place and Ocracoke has a Key West feel without the dirtiness and bums. At least that's what I'm told.
The OBX
To the West of North Carolina we have Asheville and the Biltmore Estate, but here to the East we have the polar opposite. This right here is one of my favorite places of all times, it holds such a special place in my psyche, it is the place where time stands still, where there's always the music of crashing waves, sugar fine sand, and a strong breeze blowing onto shore. I am sandwiched between the oceans and the sound...this is my Disney World, and I become a kid again each and every time I come here. OBX beauty never changes, it is a timeless classic....here to endure till the end of time. Thank God that this place is a national treasure and there is limited development out this way.
My heart literally skips a beat as the tires hit route 12 and I'm heading southbound through little towns with the names like Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras, and of course Ocracoke. I live an hour East of Raleigh and it still takes me 4 hours to drive to the Hatteras Light House.
For those of you that didn't know it, this is where the Lost Colony got lost. This is where Black Beard the Pirate put his toes in the sands and pondered out his next adventure. This is where hurricane after hurricane has tried to wipe this place off the face of the earth. This is where two bicycling brothers from Ohio came to play and changed the history of the world! And this is where I love to be, and almost died here more than once..just playing in the waters. When you come to the OBX, love her, but respect her at the same time.
I can not begin to describe the sunsets over the water...silhouettes of windsurfers slowly sailing back and forth at the Canadian Hole as the sun shines through their multi-colored sails, or how it feels to climb up over the sand dues, surrounded by gently bending sea oats, and staring out to a white capped raging sea while your toes are deep into the cool soft sand. The Nor-Easters ripping so hard you can see the sand being blown off the beach.
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