4/15/15 to 4/20/15 Ocracoke Island and Manteo on Roanoke Island

4/15/15 to 4/20/15          Ocracoke Island and Manteo on Roanoke Island

Below is a picture of the Ocracoke Island waterfront. We stayed at the National Park Service docks. They were a truly great deal. For once being old was a benefit. We got our slip at 50% off.

 

Ocracoke Island is accessible only by water. They have several ferries that transport occupants and vehicles back and forth (see below). This is a very family oriented island with lots of nature walks and parks. We saw many school groups touring the island. It’s really laid back and there are bike, moped and golf cart rentals everywhere.

 

There is an eclectic choice of places to eat including the below. We ate at Dajio’s on my birthday. It was a truly memorable dinner.

 

We had lunch at Howard’s Pub and Raw Bar. It is supposedly the oldest Pub on the Island. We stopped there on our bike ride to the other side to see the Ocean.

It was wonderful to end the day on our deck enjoying a cocktail and the view of the Ocracoke Lighthouse.

On 4/18/15, we headed further north to Manteo on Roanoke Island (between the Outer Banks and the mainland). We spent our first night at the free town dock. The next day we had to move to the Town Marina. This town is again a delightful shopping and eating oriented town. However there are numerous town parks and museums.

 

Roanoke Island is the site of the first attempted English colonization in America. Early settlers arrived in 1585 on the Elizabeth II (below).

 

There is a huge Festival Park that has dramatizations throughout the summer presented by various colleges in North Carolina.   They also host several festivals and band concerts. There is also a great playground right on the waterfront.

 

And of course, they have their own lighthouse here too. The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse is at Manteo. Lighthouses are my one collectable. I take photos and collect actual lighthouses so you will probably here about and see more of these in the future.

 

4/11/14 through 4/15/15

4/11/15 to 4/15/15

We left Myrtle Beach officially starting our loop at 12:00 noon on April 11, 2015. We have decided to use a different route back up the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) since we used the straight route on our past 3 trips.

Our first destination was Carolina Beach, NC where we spent the night on a mooring ball (anchored out). We didn’t have our dingy yet so we couldn’t go adventuring, but it looks like a really neat place. One I might like to explore one day.



Our next destination was to be in a protected harbor called Mile Hammock Bay, NC. We had to scrub that idea after several attempts to get the anchor to hold failed. So we headed on up and wound up at Casper Marina in Swansboro.

 

Check this picture out. This is one of the inlets from the Ocean. The waves you see on the other side of the cars is actually the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Next stop was Oriental, NC. This is a colorful little spot where we spent a couple of days. We also had to do our first repair. We had a water line to one of the sinks burst. I can only hope the future brings nothing bigger, but I do know better.  Anyway below are some pics of Oriental. Needless to say we met some real nice folks at the TIKI BAR.

 

 

We are now on Ocracoke Island, NC. We had one rough trip across the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound. We were going through 4 to 5 foot stuff. By the time we got into port most of the unsecured stuff in the boat was on the floor. We were taking some serious water over the bridge. I don’t want to do that kind of trip again, but you have to be ready.

This is Ocracoke Island, NC and I’ll have more pictures and stories about Ocracoke after we get to explore.