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