Stats for May 20, 2019

Origin: Oriental Free Dock

Destination: Ocracoke Anchorage

Distance: 45.5 miles

Speed: 8.6 mph

Time on the Move: 5 hours and 18 minutes

We were up and on our way early to get away from the smell of those shrimp boats…BLEH!! Just kidding (kind of)!! We were anxious to get to Ocracoke and get our long travel day heading out to the middle of nowhere under our belt. Heading to the Outer Banks is off the typical looper path, but many loopers travel this route, if weather permits. Since we’re meeting Mike’s parents out this way, we made sure weather permitted.

Even though we had a pretty good ride, I was still thankful to get closer to land and find our anchorage. Right away the harbor reminded us of Beaver Island, Michigan. A very protected harbor, surrounded by fishing and pleasure boats, out in the middle of nowhere.

This car ferry docked right next to us as we made a quick stop to drop off our bikes on land before dropping the hook. There is a passenger ferry and a car ferry (from 2 different directions) that head to Ocracoke because the state doesn’t maintain the bridges and roads here anymore. Instead, they just run ferries.

After the anchor was set, we were ready to get off the boat and explore this gem of a town. First, that requires us to get our bikes in working order. They take quite a bit of abuse from sun and salt water sitting out there on the bow, so every time we go to use them, Mike has to work all the kinks out first. He is such a patient dad to put all that work in. He must really love bike rides!!

Of course 3 of the bikes needed attention on this day, but mine was the worst. I peddled but the chain wouldn’t catch and would just go round and round. Mike finally decided he needed to remove my tire and do some more work on it back at the boat.

Since my bike was out of commission for the day, we tried to walk around and explore. We went through the museum and then to the British Cemetary. Back during WWII these 4 British soldiers were killed off the coast of North Carolina, while helping fight German U-boat attacks off the coast. Britain promises to bury British soldiers on British land, but rather than ship the bodies home, they permanently leased this small portion of the island and buried their dead here. It was interesting and kind of sad that the soldiers are actually so far from home. It seems to be quite the destination in town, so they have lots of good thoughts sent to them from Americans. In a bigger cemetery right next door, I saw a family that lost 3 children in the same month. I’m guessing it was a yellow fever outbreak, because that seemed to be quite common in this area during the late 1800s. There are over 80 cemeteries on Ocracoke!!

The town was kind of busy and things were kind of spread out, so walking wasn’t very fulfilling and we were getting frustrated and bored. Mike is always a problem solver, so he decided to rent us a golf cart for the day which is a common method of transportation on the island. It was a perfect solution to not having bikes!! Maybe even better!

After we got our wheels we were free to roam and explore! We headed to a restaurant that had “shrimp hour” instead of “happy hour.” Mike and Tobin were thrilled!! Hayley and I had chicken wings and Colin boycotted all of it.

Next we tried to get to the beach, but it was outside the main part of town where golf carts are allowed, so we had to turn back. Bummer. We found our way to the 1718 Brewery where we tasted some good brews while the kids played bean bags and ran around on the porch like monkeys.

We were really anxious to get out to the beach at Springers Point, where Blackbeard the pirate is said to have spent his last few days before losing his last battle to the US Navy just off the coast in 1718. We picked up a pizza and headed out there.

Apparently Blackbeard spent his last few days “drinking and making music” along this stretch of land, historically famous for housing pirates, as it is close to the Pamlico Sound but also great for concealing oneself. Some say there is still treasure hidden through this area, as Blackbeard’s treasure has never actually been found.

We didn’t find any treasure, but we did get some beautiful sunset views. Most of us ate pizza while Hayley just dropped hers in the sand (again and again). It was a beautiful spot and seemed pretty magical to think about it being a pirate hideout. Tobin thought it was magical because it is also now a crab sanctuary.

One of our last adventures of the day lead us to the lighthouse. It was stunning, but we were disappointed that we couldn’t see the sunset from here. The park rangers don’t keep the lighthouse open for you to walk through, so we just had to admire it from outside.

Mike fixed my tire overnight, so the next morning started off with a bike ride. It was still a little busy and the area through town only had a narrow bike lane right next to the road, so it was a little tense. Soon a bike lane opened up, separate from the road, so that made our ride much more comfortable. We stopped at the beach to take in the sights before turning around.

We stopped by the Blackbeard museum because we just can’t get enough of this pirate!! It was well worth the $4 per person to walk through the exhibit and learn a bit more about his life. I was amazed to learn he had only been pillaging and plundering on his own for 2 years when he was killed. After the US Navy killed him, they hung his decapitated head off their bow sprit as a warning to others. Gross!!

We met up with Mike’s parents who drove and took the ferry down from Nag’s Head, NC. We had lunch on the water, overlooking INNTW, and then went exploring some more. Grandma and Grandpa went to the museum and lighthouse with Hayley while I went cruising with the boys around town in our golf cart. Later we met up at the brewery.

After a stop at the brewery, we sent Grandma and Grandpa on their way with a very excited Hayley. She was thrilled to spend some time as an only child with Grandma and Grandpa. The rest of us went back to the boat where the boys fished while we watched a beautiful sunset. They caught a few little babies like this, but the fun thing is it doesn’t matter what they catch, as long as they’re fishing.

Thanks for reading and following along on our adventures!!