Ocracoke

We went to Ocracoke Island with friends for Thanksgiving break. We don't visit the coast very often, maybe every 2-4 years or so; but we wanted to get away over break, far but not too far, and after much late-in-the-game searching, we finally landed on Ocracoke. Only one of the eight of us travelers had ever been there before. We left pre-dawn on Wednesday, driving three-plus hours through pouring rain and wind to Swan Quarter, where we arrived, full of adrenaline, with 5 minutes to spare before the ferry departed for the 2.5 hour scoot across the sound. Ocracoke was spectacular, and well worth the trek.

Leaving Swan Quarter

Cormorants

Our first beach day began with lots of clouds...

...but the sun poked through...

...and drove almost all the clouds away.

E's a sandcastle kinda guy...

...while his friend E prefers running with pelicans.

After a few hours of wading and building sand
castles in wind and sun, boys needed to rest.

J and I came across a dead turtle at the northeast end of the island. J reported it the next day to the Park Service.

On the sound side of the island, sandpipers run in the water; they're more cautious on the ocean side.

Orion and Taurus over the beach

Harbor view

Wishful thinking

Lighthouse

Like father, like son

We ran into friends from home as we were getting on the ferry back to Swan
Quarter. They had left their car in SQ and were travelling by little red wagon.

When we left Ocracoke, the sky and ocean were almost indistinguishable. Then the sun broke through...

...and the clouds cleared away. Several dolphins waved to us, but none agreed to pose for this photo.