Update Archive

Archive 11/16 - 11/27/2005:
11/16/2005 - (107 miles – 3 hours - L:64F – H:75F) Today we drove from Virginia Beach, VA to Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, NC. It was an easy drive and didn’t take long. The camp is all but deserted so we were able to get a truly bodacious site and one of the guys on staff helped me back into it. We’re the last site in the back row and our nearest neighbor is 6 sites away. We’re back up against a large sand dune with a trail over the top leading down to the beach. Sixty steps out the front door and we’re at the top of the dune looking out on the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. From the top of the dune you can also see clear across the island to Pamlico Sound, the Island is only ¼ mile across in this area. It’s beautiful out, warm and sunny. We went for a walk down the beach and only saw 4 other people. This is so perfect! I love it here! We sat out on the beach for a while and then walked back to camp. I’m actually worried about sunburn! I thought Virginia Beach was beautiful… this is just so much more.
11/17/2005 - (L:53F – H:54F) Around 3AM the storm that TWC had been warning us about finally hit. The winds were fierce, rocking the trailer and whistling around the outside. Not much rain, but the wind didn’t let up all day and the temperature dropped 20+ degrees. We won’t be sitting out on the beach today.
11/18/2005 - (119 miles – 5 hours - L:44F – H:50F) Boy howdy it turned cold fast and the wind is still knocking us around.
We headed out to do a partial lighthouse tour, hoping the sun would make an appearance at some point during the day, maybe warm things up a bit. Our first stop was the Bodie Island Lighthouse.
We drove up the Outer Banks all the way to the end of Route 12 and turned around where it dead-ends at the beach. Heading back into Currituck we stopped at the Currituck Beach Light, built in 1875. I climbed to the top to check out the view, and since the sun had finally come out from behind the clouds, what a view it was. You can see the Islands stretching to either side, with the Atlantic to the east and Currituck Sound to the west. It’s amazing how many people have houses out here. I don’t know what percentage of them are rentals, but there are a lot more than I was expecting. The houses are huge, too. Three story palaces with turrets all up on stilts in case the tide comes in. These people must have some serious bank.
11/19/2005 - (218 miles – 8.5 hours - L:42F – H:55F) We headed south on Rt12 to see the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. It’s the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. at 207 feet (10 of which are underground) and was built in 1870. In 1999 it was moved ½-mile from its original home because of the receding shoreline. During the summer you can climb to the top but it’s closed for the season. One of the park rangers offered to let me climb up there after hours, but the leer that accompanied the offer prevented me from taking him up on it. Yikes.
We drove over to the original site of the lighthouse and took some pictures, then drove down to the beach auto entrance. Lots of folks had their trucks parked out on the beach and their fishing poles anchored in the sand. I spoke with one of the guys out there fishing and they’re trying to catch mullet. The idea was to walk to Cape Point, but it was farther than I anticipated. I have to let some of the air out of my tires before driving on the beach, so maybe tomorrow.
Cape Point is the turbulent meeting place of the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador Current, which is one of the reasons this area has come to be known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
We drove further south to Hatteras and the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. All the signs said it was open but the doors were locked. Damn. I drove over to the Teach’s Island Bar & Grill for some take-out and then joined the line for the Ocracoke Ferry. The Ferry ride lasts about 40 minutes and takes passengers from Hatteras, around the Hatteras Inlet, to the Ferry dock on Ocracoke.
Ocracoke Island is 16 miles long and except for the village is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The only access to the island is via ferry, private boat or private plane. The population is about 600 permanent residents with the tourist influx raising that number by 1,000 or so each summer. The water just inside Ocracoke Inlet was one of Blackbeard the Pirate’s favorite hideouts. Teach’s Hole is named for Blackbeard’s favorite alias – Edward Teach – and for his favorite anchorage where he was killed in a fierce fight with British Navy troops in 1718. After disembarking from the Ferry we drove to the Ocracoke Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1823, which makes it the oldest in North Carolina, and rises up 63 feet (or 76 feet tall, depending on the source). The lighthouse is actually a harbor marker on the Pamlico Sound side of the Island and marks the entrance to Silver Lake harbor. It isn’t open to the public but you can walk up to it and take pictures.
I stopped at the NPS visitor center and then drove to the British Cemetery. The cemetery is actually considered British soil (it has been deeded to the British Government in perpetuity) and the Union Jack flies overhead. Four British soldiers are buried here. Their ship, the armed trawler HMS Bedfordshire, was on loan to the US Navy by Great Britain to help protect US shores during the early days of World War II. On May 11, 1942 the Bedfordshire was torpedoed and sunk by a German sub. All hands were lost and these four were the only bodies recovered. There is a quote by Rupert Brooke at the cemetery that reads “If I should die think only this of me. That there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.”
We drove back to catch the Ferry and headed back to Hatteras. The sun set during the drive back and it was spectacular.
11/20/2005 - (L:52F – H:63F) We caught the sunrise this morning. Wow. It was so incredibly beautiful. It’s getting stormy out, courtesy of that tropical depression working its way up the coast.
11/21/2005 - (L:59F – H:70F) I hear the drizzle of the rain…. This afternoon the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the area I’m in. Nice. I put my rain gauge out at a little after 8AM. By 4:30PM it registered 2 inches of rain. With the wind speed averaging 17mph and gusting up to 22mph I’m guessing the rainfall was higher. The temp hovered around 60F all day until around 5:30M when the temp shot up to 70F and stayed there for several hours. The sky finally cleared, and around 11PM the wind finally let up.
11/22/2005 - (L:48F – H:53F) The wind started back up around 5AM. My God, it’s blowing so hard I keep thinking we’re going to be blown off my wheels.
11/23/2005 - (74 miles – 4 hours - L:39F – H:48F) It’s finally sunny again. We did some grocery shopping today. My whole outtake on holidays has changed. I really dislike holidays. All these people start showing up, milling around, all in a rush. I find myself wanting to hide away. Lucky for me, I can. We spent the rest of the day roaming my beach. I love it here.
This evening the new arrivals to the neighborhood were out on the beach with campfires and fireworks. Max sure hates fireworks…I enjoyed watching them.
11/24/2005 - (L:45F – H:60F) Today is one of the busiest travel days of the year. I stayed home and hung out at my beach. It has been interesting watching the houses fill with people. Every evening one more house lights up with families from who knows where. I see more and more people walking the beach, fishing or driving around. Folks are arriving for the holiday weekend.
11/25/2005 - (L:40F – H:45F) I ventured out today, planning on going to the Jockey Ridge State Park and maybe take a hang-gliding lesson. The place was hip deep in people. They were everywhere. So I went and had my nails done. I walked in and the lady says how nice it was to see me again and why hadn’t I been in for so long. Imagine my surprise. Apparently I have a twin running around Nags Head.
11/26/2005 - (L:40F – H:55F) There were two schools of dolphins along the shore today. We spend an hour or so watching them surf the waves. One of my neighbors said he had seen a few whales earlier.
I went over to my neighbors place for some wine and they ended up fixing me dinner. What a great couple. We had a blast! Good times.
11/27/2005 - (L:55F – H:66F) Man, this is such a perfect camp. The per night price drops by more than half after December 1st. I think I’ll be coming back.


New Pictures: NC