A ferry steaming from Ocracoke toward Cedar IslandYesterday we drove from Morehead City to Nags Head, N.C. Well, we drove part of the way and we rode on car ferries the other part.
Miss Patience docked in a little harbor Down Eastin Carteret County, North Carolina
To get to Nags Head up the Outer Banks, you drive about an hour from Morehead City (which is already the jumping off place of the state) on curvy roads through salt marshes and little unincorporated communities with names like Williston, Davis Shores, Stacy, Otway, and Sea Level until you arrive at Cedar Island.
The little fishing harbor in the village of Atlantic, N.C.There you board a car ferry for the 23-mile crossing to Ocracoke Island, which takes 2¼ hours. It was windy and a little chilly out there yesterday, but the sun shone brightly. The ferry, which can take 50 cars, was full.
A shrimp boat trawling the waters off Portsmouth Island, N.C.From Ocracoke Village you drive about 12 miles and then you take a second, shorter ferry ride over to Hatteras Island — that's a 45-minute trip itself. And then you drive about 60 miles from Hatteras Village up through Frisco, Buxton, and Rodanthe (three syllables please) to Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills, where Orville and Wilbur successfully first got their motorized airplane off the ground about 100 years ago.
The ferry we took from Cedar Island to Ocracoke wascalled the Carteret. Its home port is Morehead City.
First in Flight, that's the motto on North Carolina car license plates. I know I fled many years ago! Ha ha ha! But I always enjoy coming back.
1 comment:
Hi Ken,
This entry reminded me of my own first trip to the Carolina shore a year ago last summer. We stayed in Duck, just a block from the beach in one of the McMansions, although ours was puny compared to some that could sleep 30 or more. One day, we drove all the way down to Ocracoke at the southern tip (including the ferry at Carteret, I believe),and I remember thinking, This is like Cape Cod times three. Very beautiful, indeed, although now you've whet my appetite to look a bit further on the mainland.
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