We were utterly unsure about the house we had rented in Ocracoke. It had always been the plan to rent a home in an interesting community from time to time as we travel but it isn’t an easy process and failure is the default outcome. We tried in Mexico and lost our hundred dollar deposit when the place turned out to be a room in an apartment complex for travelers or backpackers utterly misconstrued in the advertisement. Lesson learned.
Ocracoke has been wildly successful by contrast. We were prepared to have to put up with shortcomings and overly rosy online descriptions but instead Ocracoke Island Realty came through with exactly what they advertised. $160 a day including everything: WiFi, cable, washer/dryer, parking, heat and abundant hot water. The house is decorated in beach style and is well worn making it comfortable and pet friendly. A tiny single bathroom yes, but with two bedrooms and we use the spare to lay out our clothes and laundry - oh the space!- …
A first laundry room with modern effective machinery ready to give our van bed a deep clean:
Our bed is exceptionally comfortable and the kitchen suits Layne perfectly. She has bought some of her favorite meals to cook and is enjoying spreading out in the unaccustomed space:
“I’ll be ready to get back on the road,” she says but she is enjoying the change. Outside the cottage is similarly expansive. In summer this place would be brilliant.
In the afternoon you can sit out in the sun, out of the wind but overnight lows below 40 degrees have a tendency to chill the air especially when the northwest winds are blowing.
There is a hammock deployed in the shade for summer use, a couple of kayaks and a bicycle. The bicycle has no lock and it took me a moment to remember I’m not in Key West anymore. In a village of 700 with no road outlet, bicycle theft is pointless.
I watched Argentina win the World Cup, a win they deserved in an excellent game but I find cable television tedious with all the advertising. I prefer watching streaming on our iPads, never mind the small screen.
We took a two and a half mile walk (measured by Layne’s exercise watch as I abhor such electronic intrusions) around the village to get to the grocery store a quarter mile away and though we did see two other couples walking dogs in the distance we were alone.
There are two main paved streets with much of the commerce on them. So between Irvin Garrish Highway and Back Road runs Howard Street, unlaced shaded and lovely.
I tried to recreate the 2013 picture with Cheyenne this time with an uncooperative Rusty.
And we shuffled up the shady street enjoying the afternoon.
Layne recognized a house for rent she inquired about, below. She got no reply and we took the other one which we prefer for it’s privacy it turns out. The contact info is there if you’d like to try your luck. It has parking and it looks very nice.
A village of 700 permanent residents with 300 rental units. It’s an odd thing but Ocracoke is not administratively part of the rest of the Outer Banks peninsula which is in Dare County. Ocracoke is in Hyde County and I recall a conversation from a decade ago wherein it was pointed out that Ocracoke is the economic tourist engine of largely rural and impoverished Hyde County and it is a source of irritation that taxes earned here get spent on the mainland.
Mind you, I’m not sure where they would spend the money in a village of 706 occupying 775 acres attached to a 14 mile long island which mostly falls under National Park designation…They have a Sheriffs deputy on patrol in a large 4x4 truck painted a menacing black. They have a volunteer fire department with a splendid fire house in the village. They have government subsidized ferry services. The highway is well maintained and the village is neat and tidy.
And pretty as a picture.
We stopped to buy a kite, an idea Layne first thought was nuts but to which she warmed and I joked we were alone in Ocracoke. The employee looked at me severely. Oh no he said there are other people about. I retreated to the docks properly chastened.
He could have fooled us.
