Rodanthe & Ocracoke Island, NC

We've finished our week on the outer banks of North Carolina, but I really didn't pick a good spot for us.  The KOA is a resort RV park and nice enough, but it's located between Nags Head & Cape Hatteras.  While the location is perfect for sitting on the beach, fishing or kiteboarding, it's a drive to see things we wanted to see.  Walks weren't all that scenic, and the bicycling not all that great.  Many areas in the Rodanthe area looked as if it was build for the "Life After People" TV series.  Probably didn't help that we were there pre-season, either.

Ocracoke Island:  Tip -  if you're traveling to Ocracoke Island, motorcycles or tour buses are the way to go.  If your spending any length of time at Ocracoke Island, walking, bicycling, or renting a golf cart is the way to see the place.

Our trip from the KOA down to Ocracoke Island seemed significantly longer than I remember.  The ferry that I remember as being more or less efficient, seemed to be a way longer trip now.  The ferry channel now goes around sand bars that didn't exist before Hurricane Irene.  I'm guessing the ferry trip is about 50% longer than 10 years ago.   Also, I don't recall a "priority" system for loading the ferry 10 years ago, either.  Today, residents and commercial traffic get on first.  And it doesn't matter how long other people have waited.  Yes, that rule sounds reasonable until you realize you've been waiting for a couple of hours while those two tour buses that showed up 5 minutes ago get on the ferry ahead of you.  And a tour bus takes the place of 6 to 10 cars.  Add an over-the-road 18-wheeler plus a couple of truck-trailer service rigs, another RV that's been waiting longer than you, the guy from Pennsylvania who's had enough of this stuff and breaks line, and the inevitable half-dozen or so residents who have lined up since the last ferry, and almost no one else gets on...except motorcycles & bicycles that easily fit anywhere on the ferry.  And the guy from Pennsylvania who broke line - I don't know what the guy did, but he talked his way on ahead of us.  I think we wasted a total of about 4.5 hours of our round trip just waiting on the ferry.  I can only guess how bad that wait is when the place is busy.

If you're thinking about taking your RV to Ocracoke Island, remember that the tree limbs on NC 12 in town are about 12.5 feet off the road.  We followed an over-the-road 18-wheeler that hit all of them trying to get to the next ferry south.  He eventually moved to the left (northbound) lane of NC 12 to try to miss them.  Based on a ferry employee we talked with, the rig's height was 13 feet 6 inches.  And we got to follow him back north, too!  (Apparently, the rig was too tall for the southbound ferry out of Ocracoke Island.)

Otherwise, our picnic lunch at the Fort Ocracoke memorial and 45 minute bicycle ride though the residential area were great.  We even got lost for a few minutes.

In other news: Since our visit to the outer banks, we've relocated to Spotsylvania, VA.  Got here today.  Dropped the bicycles off for some much needed service.  Here for three weeks is the current plan.  Until next week, David

Outer Banks, NC

This is our first trip to the outer banks since we retired.  Hurricane Irene has come & gone since we retired, and the damages/changes can still be seen.  Some serious road & bridge work is ongoing.  It appears at least one inlet between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound is missing (probably filled in with sand).  I remember a bridge that now I can't find.  I have to assume the current temporary bridge north of Rodanthe is where that bridge use to be.   Can't tell as I think there use to be parking areas where people use to park & fish - even launch boats - around that bridge that I can't find.  I may be confusing it with the Oregon Inlet bridge.  Otherwise, business are open and things seem to be going fine for the folks here.

It's still off season here in the North Carolina outer banks.  We're staying at the Cape Hatteras KOA & here for a week.  Recent RV Park reviews were giving the KOA really good reviews, so we decided to stay and see how it's changed.  It's completed a full renovation, and the new facilities are up to resort standards.

Since arriving we've made one trip to Nags Head for diesel & groceries.  Also one dinner at Atlantic Coast Cafe (excellent blackened shrimp that rivals Gulf Shores, AL), and one short walk on the beach.  Looks like we'll go to Ocracoke Island one day (with or without bikes - yet to be determined).   Don't know what else (besides more beach walks).  One plus: It appears the weather is changing for this area, and we may miss most of the rain for the next week or so that the southeast is getting.  That's a welcome relief as we were pretty much thinking we'd be wet most of our time here.

Anyway, that's it for us.  Everyone have a good week.  Our plans are to be in Fredericksburg, VA this time next week.  David

Weekly Update

Remote controlled sail boat racing at James Island County Park

We're fine and gotten around to a few places.  The pollen is in full force, so the california duster gets a lot of use.  Attended Seacoast Community Church for Easter.  We've made several trips to James Island County Park to walk the paths there, and gotten in a couple of visits with Freeda.  Even gotten out to see the play "Catch Me If You Can", too.  Oh, and visited the Angel Tree - packed with people, too.

People have confirmed that we've arrived just at the start of tourist season.  Won't do that again if we can help it.  If all goes well, we'll drive up to visit Pete & Mary tomorrow.   At least that's the plan.  Later, David

Paddling with the dolphins

Donna took a sunrise kayak excursion with Coastal Expeditions this morning.  She reports having a great time, but was disappointed that the dolphins wouldn't pose for a selfie.   The company runs several kayak trips from various locations around Charleston, SC.  This one launched from Folly Beach, SC and was a three hour tour of the estuaries and bay areas at Folly Beach.  Enjoy her pictures!

Johns Island (Charleston), SC

A family kayaks on the lake at James Island County Park

We're here for a couple of weeks around Easter.  We hope to visit a few friends and see more of Charleston & James Island.  We had a great visit while at High Point, NC and took a leisurely two days to get down to Johns Island, SC with an overnight stop in Columbia, SC.

For this stay we're at the Oak Plantation RV Park.  It's our third choice in RV parks when in the Charleston area.  Nice park, but a bear to make a left turn on US 17 towards most of the places we plan to visit.

So far we've eaten dinner at Bessinger's BBQ, gotten to downtown Charleston (parked the truck at the oversize vehicle lot next to the visitor center), and had lunch at Hominy Grille (worth the visit).  Donna also scheduled her a sunrise kayak tour from Folly Beach for tomorrow.

Today, we tried to find a way to James Island County Park that I felt we could comfortably get the trailer through & miss all those lovely, low-hanging oak limbs Charleston is know for.  James Island County Park is our first choice in campgrounds while in the Charleston area.  It has a shuttle to take you to the Charleston visitor center and excellent walk/bike paths.  And while we did stay there in early spring of 2011, I felt we'd pushed our luck to have missed all those tree limbs.  I didn't find anything all that "open", but we did see an 18-wheeler traveling down the road in the opposite direction we were going.  Wish we could have followed it and saw how it did.

Anyway, we're glad to be here.  Our visit is just starting.  More later.  David