I was here for over a week in April 2014, and remember it being cold, rainy, and foggy, except when it was just cold and windy. However, the Outer Banks does not disappoint. This was just a last-minute day-and-a-half drive, but it was still cold and rainy.
These next few photos show the drive along the islands just before the Outer Banks and the long bridge to get there.
Once you get on Hatteras Island, you realize that these Outer Banks are really just sand bars that are just a bit higher than the ocean.
Add wind to a sand bar, and you get a blowing sand bar.
Hence the equipment to keep the sand off the highway.
I noticed that the area is a lot more built up than it was in 2014, but these types of homes and rental condos are still typical. There are just more of them.
You can see from my GPS how narrow these sand bars really are. I think I would want to evacuate very early in case of a hurricane, especially since there is only one main road from the island, and it is to the north. At the south end of the island, there is only a ferry, so not much escape that way.
More sand.
I did find several places to pull over and walk to the beach. This one was big enough for my vehicle and had a nice walkway, so I stopped for a few minutes while it was not raining.
Notice that there were not too many people in bathing suits. There were some surfers getting into their car, but they had wet suits on.
Most of these big homes seemed to be condos or duplexes, based on extra garages, but it is hard to tell. Most are on stilts to keep them out of the waves during storms.
I drove all the way down to the very tip of Hatteras Island and parked near the ferry docks. These ferries are free and go to Ocracoke Island, which is just a few miles north. It is a beautiful place, but no time this trip to go that far.
I took my motorhome on this ferry back in 2014, and it was the most terrifying boat ride I have ever taken. For one thing, there was room for only two rows of cars along each side of this small ferry. My rig took up the entire side. Also, the ferry goes on the non-ocean side of the island (Pamlico Sound), but as you pass the two-mile long-open gap between the islands, you get the winds and waves of the ocean. There were 5-6' high waves that day, and my rig really rocked back and forth. I put on my coat and buckled myself into the driver's seat of my motorhome, clutching the steering wheel until we got past the gap.
I was told that there is now a sandbar, so that the ferry has to go much farther inland, so the trip is much less rough. Whew!
This is Cape Hattaras Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. and the second-tallest in the world. I climbed it back in 2014, but no time this trip. Besides that, it is closed for renovations and will be closed for the next two years, so no climbing the 269 steps to the top.
There is an interesting National Geographic program on how they moved this lighthouse 2900 feet in 1999 because the land it had been sitting on had been eroded.
And the lighthouse keepers' home. There were three lighthouse keepers and their families stationed at the lighthouse at all times.
Onward to the Blue Ridge Parkway tomorrow!!
No comments:
Post a Comment