September 20, 2013 Ocracoke Island and the Ferry Ride.

We started out the day with muffins from the Orange Blossom Bakery in Buxton, NC.  Then off to catch the ferry to Ocracoke Island to view the last of the lighthouses on the Outer Banks as well as any other interesting sights to see, for me it was the lighthouse and the ferry ride I was most interested in but there is also and interesting critter on the island that we ran across as well.

There ferry leaves every half hour and is free so it stays quite busy throughout the day.  There at least 5 that I saw going back and forth.  Our trip over we were sandwiched in so we didn't get out of the car, but the return trip I was able to get out and stand at the rail the entire trip.  Thoughts ran to how much Les loved being on a boat of any kind and the memories of past ferry rides brought tears, but I am sure he was right there in spirit.

The Ocracoke lighthouse is small compared to the others we saw this week, but was built to guild traffic on the sound side of the island safely along the shore.  One thing I did notice was that there were a lot of sand bars just beneath the water which I heard are always shifting which is why this area of the Outer Banks is called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" .

This lighthouse is the second oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the east coast and the oldest in NC. It was built in 1823, is 65 feet tall and is not open for climbing.  It has a metal spiral staircase that does up the center of the lighthouse rather than around the outside of it.  The walls appear to be about 4 ft think at the base and the entire tower is made of brick.  It has a stucco like covering and is painted solid white unlike the others we have seen that have a design painted on them to denote their location on the coast.  History of Ocracoke Island Lighthouse

At the lighthouse we saw a little critter which at first looked like a groundhog, but on closer inspection looked like a very large rat eating the grass.  They are locally called a Russian Rat and were imported from South America to supplement the local fur trade in Louisiana and have migrated north.  They feed on the stems of plants rather than the leaves.  Also known at Nutria or Coypu they have large orange/red front teeth.  This one was not in the least bit intimidated by people walking along the wooden walkway above them.

LUNCH TIME!!!

We decided on lunch and found a nice restaurant with an outside patio.  Looking at the menu we both decided that the clam chowder sounded interesting.  OK you are reading this from a born and raised New Englander where clam chowder is either red tomato or white cream broth based with few variations depending on the area you are from.  Well this did not resemble any chowder I have ever seen.  It stated that it had mushrooms in it so OK we decided to give it a try.  It reminded me of golden mushroom soup with clams in it.  No way was it a chowder - no potatoes.  But I have to say that it was amazingly good.  I also have to add that no one in the world can or could ever make a chowder as good as my late husband.  I watched and helped make it for 30+ years and even I can't get it perfect.  We also had a salad with grilled shrimp and a house vinagerette dressing that was quite good as well.

As we were walking around town I spotted this dune/beach buggy seemed like it should be in California instead of North Carolina.  This is for you Will.

The ferry ride back was a nice way to end the day.

Sarah's last night here and we opted for seafood once again.  Sarah had fish tacos and I had tuna which I had to sent back to the kitchen to have it cooked just a bit more.  I don't mind pale pink but red pink was a little more than I could handle.  Sushi will never be something I like that is for sure.

This brings me up to date on the excursions to the Outer Banks of NC.  Sarah left Sat the 21st and I did mundane things like clean and do laundry in prep for the move to head south once again on Monday.  Today it has rained since the middle of the night although the sky seems to be getting lighter so maybe the storm has moved over us finally.  Duncan has been good at keeping his legs crossed since this morning so we didn't have to go out and get soaked.  New campers are moving in today so lots of others are getting wet while setting up in their sites and here I sit dry and comfy. 

More to come as we travel along.

Until Next Time.....