Part III: Ocracoke

Hi-ho, hi-ho it's off to Ocracoke we go! The final leg of our journey was about to commence and I don't think Ocracoke knew what was in store when the Sanger's and BLT's arrived!

On the way down to Ocracoke we drove down Highway 12 which drives through the Outerbanks and is a beautiful drive, especially when the sun is shining! We took two detours on the trip to see a few lighthouses.

First up, Bodie Island Lighthouse and Keeper's house


Next up on the lighthouse tour was the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse


We continued the trip to the ferry docks where we queued up in line for our trip over to Ocracoke. While we were waiting we thought it might be a good idea to break in the boards that Scott and I got for Heather and Jason to see if they might have a little "home field advantage". You see there is finally a team that we all agree to route for, besides we were cheering for the Durham Bulls but we got blamed that they didn't win, so we knew that we were going to get some Duke boards for them.



The lines starting to move onto the ferry so we did a quick Zamboni clean up and onto the ferry we went.

A few pics from ferry



Once on the island of Ocracoke, we drove to our B&B villa for the duration of the trip, The Castle B&B.


After settling into our digs, we headed out on our beach cruisers for a guided tour of the island. First stop was lunch though since we were all starving! A recurring theme starting from lunch which was that Jason and Scott were wearing Boston and Yankees gear, respectively. People kept asking, "You two are friends?". We had a good laugh with all the commentary around that. So here is a photo op of the two boys in their gear.


We explored the rest of the island that afternoon with stops at the lighthouse, Blackbeard's beach for some shells, crab hunting and a few pictures.

After working up a sweat on the beach, well not really, but some parched mouths, it was time to grab some coffee at Ocracoke Coffee Shop. This place was packed but had some damn good coffee. Heather and I ordered the drinks in which the guys wanted the mother of all frappachino like drinks. The lady asks if we want whip cream on them and Heather says no and I say yes. Fast forward now to drinks in hand and Jason asks where his whip cream is and Heather says, "I didn't order any for you." That started what Jason called the downfall of the coffee since he went back and asked for whip cream, they had to change the cup his drink was then in which had chocolate sauce down the side and now said new cup did not. Needless to say, Jason is enjoying the mother of all frappachino drinks WITH whip cream as well as Scott. Heather and I settled with iced coffee...see simple. The relaxing life we had!

We headed back to the villa in order to prep for our dinner festivities on the beach. We loaded up in our car with firewood in the trunk, beach chairs, blanket, beer, wine, and our dinner to be cooked on the fire.

The guys set out to find a bit more driftwood, if possible, since after getting all the wood from our car to the beach, Jason thought we would need more since it would burn pretty quickly with the ocean breeze.



The fire was started and we were settling in quite nicely!


Hazy view of the sunset



Hot Dogs were being roasted on an open fire!



We were starting to get some admirer's of our campfire. If you click on the photo you will see some crabs that wanted to come join our little party we had.



Smores time with our Escazu chocolates we bought in Raleigh.


Here is where things start getting interesting since we didn't have a flashlight, there are crabs all around us and we are starting to take photos. See they don't look too bad a little blurry at times but not too bad.





This is where I think the guys were trying to pull a fast one on Heather and I. This is a string of photos that I put into a video to show the constant movement that Heather and I were doing so that we could not get eaten by the crabs.

The next day, we had a nice day at the beach and then got back on our old trusty bikes and headed out for another coffee. Yes the guys both got another mammoth frozen drink with whipped cream on top and chocolate chips.

After that I wanted to go check out the British Cemetery so we headed further down the road and I put on the breaks when I saw this place, Zillie's. I popped the bike in the rack and went inside to pursue....or the guys did.

After a glass of wine/beer on the porch of Zillie's and some 6-packs to go....is that legal? We headed off for the British Cemetery.

We pulled into the cemetery and in about two minutes after that Jason says, "I don't think this is my bike." We are all standing there like "huh....you STOLE some one's bike", he quickly rode off back to Zillie's to retrieve his bike while we walked around the cemetery.

One recovered bike and time to head back to get ready for campfire number 2.

Scott and I headed to the general store for stuff for dinner while Heather and Jason went to pick up some fresh fish for our fish taco dinner. After we buy the groceries but forgot the firewood, Scott and I head back in and ask to buy a few bundles of wood and the cashier asks us what we are up to and this is where the problem starts

Scott says: Just having a fire on the beach tonight.

Cashier: You know they are banned right now due to the heat?

Scott: Since when?

Cashier: Awhile, just like the rest of the OBX beaches.

Scott: Oh, ok. Thanks for your help.

After we got back to the villa and broke the news, we felt satisfied that we had a nice 6 hour fire the night before and that not a sole in sight said anything to us!

So we improvised with fish tacos on the charcoal grill at the villa. We pulled it off well with a sundowner on the deck, fish tacos for dinner and a game in the villa afterward.

Day three, was a repeat of Day 2 but with Heather and I going out shopping at the local stores and the guys watching the baseball and taking a little nap. We caught back up with them at home and then headed back out for Zillie's then home for a sundowner again with a few photo ops, where we tested out the timer on the camera!

After a nice meal out that night we bid farewell to our bikes and called it a night. We had a bite to eat in the am and headed out for the ferry back over to the Hatteras. We said our goodbye's until next time. We had a wonderful trip with Heather and Jason and absolutely agree that Ocracoke is one of the best places on earth.

I am finishing this post up on the night that they are evacuating Ocracoke as Hurricane Irene is supposed to be making her way up the coast. I sure hope they don't get hit hard.