Here, everything in the whole town is within walking distance of everything else and all people use bikes or golf carts as their main form of wheeled transporation. When you get off the ferry boat on the northern end of Ocracoke island, you drive through about 8 miles of empty island before come across the town of Ocracoke at the island’s southern end. I had no idea what to expect from Ocracoke Island but I did NOT expect it to be a magical fairy-land/small-town idyll/island paradise all rolled into one. This particular ferry from Hatteras to the northern end of Ocracoke doesn’t even cost any money so all you have to do is pull your car up to the little ferry line parking spaces, wait for someone to wave you on board, sit in your car for an hour, and wait for someone to wave you back off directly onto the road.
So it was onto the ferry boat for me! I was surprised at how little pomp and circumstance there was around taking this ferry trip. Ferry Ride!Īnd now onward to another island! Ocracoke Island, the southern-most island in the Outer Banks chain, is accessible only by ferry. The beaches out under the Lighthouse at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore are also beautiful and packed with surfers.
Anyways, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, built in 1870, is actually the tallest in the country as has the nickname “America’s Lighthouse.” You can climb it from the end of April through October and getting to the top is the equivalent of climbing the stairs of a twelve story building. When you think Outer Banks, you picture this Lighthouse! Right? At least I do….The Wright Brothers and THIS lighthouse were the only mental associations I had for the Outer Banks before getting here.
Magic bean coffee bazaar movie#
I kind of felt like I was in some spy movie every time I carried my guitar and equipment back and forth from my room to my car.Įven in the off-season, you can’t beat these stormy ocean views! (Oh and btw, I heard about this place in my Roadtrip USA book, of course.) Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Magic bean coffee bazaar plus#
I got a great deal on a room because March is still off-season – plus there was some construction happening in the area – but little did I know that I would practically have the whole place to myself (it was me and the caretaker and two cats I think). I wanted to get in at least one classic motel experience on this trip and how could you top one that is right on the ocean? The Sea Foam Motel, built in 1948, has been a favorite return location for many families who book regular reservations every summer. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places so I think it deserves its own little section in this post. I never told you all about the place I have been staying for the past few nights in Nags Head. The chill little piano solo in the middle of the track just gets me every time too. In 1971 the legendary Nina Simone, a North Carolina native, released a cover album featuring title track Here Comes the Sun, and I am thinking now is a quite fitting time for me to play it! I think I could listen to Nina’s version of this song over and over and over again and never get sick of it. Plus, I have made another concrete shift into a more southern climate (aka palm trees), so today I have found a representative song for the playlist. It was officially the first day of spring just a few days ago. It has been a packed few days, so now I’m playing catch-up and have two legs of my trip to post up here in one day! When I left NYC I had things pretty minutely planned out, but these past couple of days have brought about some last-minute and unexpected (good!) surprises….so I’ll get going on telling you all about them……