Outer Banks

It's been a long drive. I left Lewes early in the morning of 9/2 and it was 5 PM by the time I crossed the Virginia to NC. I was pretty tired by then. Then Arby's in Moyock said "best burger in North Carolina" and I felt an immediate lift of my mood. I haven't lived in NC for ages -- Harris Teeter was still named Big M and Food Lion was Food Town when I was here -- but it still felt like home. It is just a psychology, to be sure. There is no difference between Virginia and North Carolina that one could discern without looking at the signage and yet you feel different when you know you are in one and not the other. It's like Christmas. There is no difference between 23rd and 24th. The sun is at about the same place in the sky and nights are as cold. But eyes are aglow on the night of the 24th in anticipation.

After the usual morning routine at a McDonald's just down the road from China Buffet in Lewes/Rehoboth, I stopped at Rehoboth Ave, walked around for a while and then visited Rehoboth Beach. Then I followed the Coastal Highway to Ocean City, MD on my way to Norfolk, VA. Along the way were more beaches -- Dewey, Bethany, Fenwick -- and Assateague Island that straddled Maryland and Virginia. I stopped there and spent an hour in Assateague Island National Seashore after renewing my America Beautiful Pass there. It expired in July and I'd needed a new one since I'm stopping at more national parks on the way back to West. Assateague Island looked a lot like Tawas State Park with the strip of sand bar stretching out into the water. They are fused together in my memory; I can't tell if I'm remembering Tawas Point or Assateague Island. 

It was getting late in the day by the time when I crossed the Chesapeake Bay and arrived at Norfolk. I thought maybe I'd stay in Norfolk and explored the city. But there wasn't much to do in Norfolk; I was done after the Naval Museum and USS Wisconsin. So, I pressed on to Outer Banks and arrived at Kitty Hawk at 7 PM. I walked around in Kitty Hawk beach for a while and then bedded down at the Tesla station in Kill Devil Hill. I don't remember where I ate for dinner. I might have bought groceries at Harris Teeter where the Tesla station was located in. 

The following day was another long one sweeping through the Outer Banks starting from Jockey's Ridge. Jockey's Ridge, like just everything in Outer Banks, is a gigantic sand dune from coast to coast. It is probably the tallest and largest one in The Outer Banks. From the top, you can see both Roanoke Island in distance and Atlantic Ocean. I hiked from the entrance to all the way to the inland shore. 

Roanoke Island, a stone's throw from Jockey's Ridge, was a disappointment. My search for the Lost Colony took me all the way to Elizabethan Garden, but it appeared that they turned the Lost Colony into a theater that was closed. I had spent enough time on the Island by then; I turned around and came back out to the Outer Banks. Then the long march to Ocracoke Island commenced.

I had to pull over when I saw a large white sand bar on the Atlantic coast as I crossed Bonner Bridge to Pea Island. I parked on the Oregon Inlet and then walked over the dunes to the wide open beach on the coast side. It was one of the beach beaches in Outer Banks.

I no longer remember where I got stuck. It could be somewhere on Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Or maybe it was on Ocracoke Island. I poked around as I drove down the narrow strips of Outer Banks and walked around the beach a few times. Then I pull off to the side of the road not knowing that it was a quick sand. There was no getting out of it without towing. The Honda in front of me was stuck too and a tow truck arrive to get it out. The driver wanted $150 to get mine out while he was there. I hesitated and he was gone. They must be making a killing rescuing the vehicles there. A cop and good Samaritan stopped, struggled for about 30 minutes and finally got my car out. The wheel well cover came off in the process and I had to drive taped up for the rest of the journey. 

It got to Cape Hatteras Ferry Terminal at 4 PM. I remember it was 3 PM when I stuck -- I was watching the time so see if I can make it to the ferry -- so it I must had stuck on Cape Hatteras, not Ocracoke. There, an agent told me that the last Ocracoke ferry might have been cancelled. It was too late and I couldn't have made it anyway even if it wasn't cancelled. But it was an excuse I could use to spend the night on Ocracoke Island. I think I checked out a motel when I got to Ocracoke, only to find the rate exorbitant. I spent the night in the parking lot of Ocracoke Campground. 

I spent the evening at the beach. Then I took a bath in a secluded spot, ate my dinner of instant ramen cooked in my frunk, and then climbed on the back of my car. A sheriff came by at night and knocked on my window. I told him that I couldn't make it out of the island because the ferry was cancelled and there was no campsite available. He apologized for waking me up and moved on.

I took the 7:30AM ferry out of Ocracoke. It was a long ride to Cedar Island that took 2 hours. Then it was a nonstop march to Raleigh, and it was past 2PM when I got to my sister's house. They were out of town, but I got in through the backdoor and spent the next day resting.