Ocracoke

We spent much of the stretch after Charleston just powering through.  We were all a little miserable to be honest so we made a decision to slow down and make sure we enjoy these last months as part of the trip and not just a long run home. With that new attitude we arrived in Okracoke on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Ocracoke is only accessible boat but there are large ferries bringing a constant stream of tourists so it is quite a busy place. The big claim to fame here is its history of piracy.  Blackbeard met his end here by way of 25 stab wounds, 5 bullets holes, and eventually beheading with a broad sword.  Pirate kitsch is all over the island which had me wondering – how much time needs to pass before a terrorist becomes a romantic figure? Will Timothy McVeigh be considered a hero in 200 years? Will Disney make a family film series about him?

This well on Ocracoke is rumoured to be the original well that made the island attractive to pirates.  

They are tall like grown-ups but they still play like little kids

Ocracoke is a fun laid back town. People wander around barefoot and the local coffee shop is full of dogs.

Yes, that is the paws of another dog on the table you can see on the bottom right.

Ocracoke was also full of these geese that looked like Canada geese but with thick necks.  Google tells me they are likely Cackling geese.

From Ocracoke we took a small tour boat to Portsmouth Island to visit an abandoned town.  We paid for the boat but the actual island visit is free. Portsmouth Village was founded in 1753 as a port where cargo was transferred from large ocean going vessels onto smaller boats which could cross the shallow Pamlico Sound to the mainland. Mother nature caused the beginning of the end of Portsmouth with hurricanes that opened up a larger inlet further north at Hatteras and shoaling which began to close up Ocracoke Inlet. More hurricanes requiring continual rebuilding hastened the village’s demise. From a peak population of almost 700 in 1860, the village boasted only 3 by 1971.  In 1978 the village became part of the US National Seashore and part of it has been preserved as a park.

On the island you can visit several of the homes, the schoolhouse, the general store and post office, the church, and the lifesaving station.  A warning to anyone considering a visit – it is VERY buggy.  We were loaned mosquito shirts complete with full head coverings and I’m not sure we would have visited the whole place without them.

While we were up in the lookout at the lifesaving station and had cell service, Sam received word of his entrance scholarship to UW. He assures me this is no big deal but Reg and I are pretty proud.

The Portsmouth Village uniform

One of the last occupied houses in the village

Not too different from the composting head we use on the boat now!

Riley hanging out on his phone enjoying the antique surroundings.