Ocracoke Pictures

Ten days in the Outer Banks’ village of Ocracoke. On the 27th we drive to the Hatteras ferry and drive up the island chain. 

So here are a few pictures of Ocracoke.

I’m going to be happy to be on the road and in the meantime the house is comfortable and heated and we have nowhere else to be. 

I feel bad for these few hundred people hanging on in their isolated Village but they seem to like it! 

Once upon a time the ponies wandered loose on the entire island. 

The reason given for fencing them in is that the paved road increased speeds and put them at risk. They seem pretty happy in their large share of the island away from the village. 

Plenty of beach and no one there. We bought a kite in the village and want to fly it in the breeze here. 

Fourteen miles of mostly straight perfectly paved highway is all the driving you get between ferries. It’s about twenty minutes along the beach at the 55 mile per hour speed limit. We’ve been walking around the village with GANNET2 taking a break. 

Our first day while waiting for the rental house we drove up to visit the ponies. 

There is a short wooded stretch on the highway. A small wood. 

Entering the village from the north on Highway 12, the Irvin Garrish Highway:

Howard’s Pub is closed. The craft brewery is open. 

The seafood place is closed and opens Boxing Day (December 26th). 

Night photography in Ocracoke is a real challenge. Rusty likes to wake me early, between four and five in the morning. He comes alongside my bed as he used to when we lived on Cudjoe. Then he yawns. Loudly. Until I get up and get dressed…

The trouble is that the village is pitch dark. There aren’t many street lights and I stumble around under the trees with a flashlight. We both like night walks but Ocracoke is not great for night photography. Unless you photograph the stars because the night sky is obviously astonishing. 

I gave it a try! A few pretty porches…

Layne wanted to buy fresh fish but they were closed. 

Bummer. 

Imagine all these bikes rented in summer. This place must be crazed. 

Ocracoke is focused on summer tourism.  Lots of lodging choices then. 

Unlike Key West there really were pirates here. Blackbeard was hunted down and killed in the bay behind Ocracoke. 

The kite store: 

The Anchorage Inn and marina is for sale. 37 rooms, 36 boat slips, a swimming pool and a bait shop for seven million bucks. Go for it. 

Ten years ago when we were looking for a room they didn’t take pets. They’ve got smart since then. 

The pond that creates downtown waterfront used to be known as Cockle Creek. Silver Lake sounds more appealing to tourists. 

It appealed to us. I love being a touron. Here today, gone  tomorrow! 

I recall Dajio as a good place to have a romantic dinner. We were looking forward to going back, however of course it’s closed. It changed hands last year for one point five million. All change on Ocracoke and though not as ghastly as Key West, real estate prices here are high and highly paid work is scarce. 

“All” should read “any” to be more accurate. But the point remains. 

Golf cart rental anyone? Again imagine all these carts on the streets? They aren’t allowed up the highway outside the village fortunately for all. 

Ten years ago Eduardo's was a food truck in front of the grocery. Now that’s become a sandwich truck (closed in winter) operated by someone else and Eduardo’s is a restaurant and souvenir store complex nearby (closed in winter). Great tacos as I recall.  

Locals pretty much ignore the limit in winter. Keep your eyes open as idiot tourists walking are fair game apparently. Like we say in Key West, this ain’t Disneyland. 

We’re cleaning and sorting GANNET2 as always. I kind of miss driving. Am I weird? 

It’s cold here, below 40 before dawn each morning when Rusty drags me out so it’s good to have a warm place to live.  And he likes it too.

Renting Ocracoke

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.