November 2, 2020

Ocracoke…Finally!

Ocracoke Campground Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina

Good morning!

It felt like winter when we got up this morning. It was 45 degrees and blustery. I decided to forego my morning walk…I did not want to be cold! We packed up and headed for the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry Terminal. We had to drive through six inches of water standing on the road. The wind was blowing water from the sound up into all the small channels. Yards were swamped and so was Route 12.

Today was long…longer than we expected by a bunch…sometimes it happens that way! We got to the terminal at 9:15 and the attendant told us that they had shut down service because of high winds and waves…we were welcome to wait…Good thing we have no schedule and no reservations. Good thing we had our own bathroom and snacks and books and stuff to do!

We got a little excited at noon. They were going to load priority vehicles and if there was room for us, we would also be able to cross. We could see as they loaded the huge dumpster truck with his trailer that we were not going to make it…maybe at 2 though! We were happy then to get on the ferry!

I had expected that the ride would be rather rough…but it wasn’t bad at all…at first…then the boat was a rockin’ as the ferry pitched to the left and right. I am certainly glad that we didn’t travel across when it was rough! The ocean water was splashing onto the front deck.

It was 3:30 before we got to our campground and got checked in. Tim decided we should take the Jeep into town and find some carryout for dinner. We found the Ocracoke Oyster Company and ordered.

Tim had fish tacos and I had a fried oyster salad and we took our meal to the beach to watched the sunset. It was a nice way to end the day!