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.
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| Leaving Swan Quarter |
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| Cormorants |
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| Our first beach day began with lots of clouds... |
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| ...but the sun poked through... |
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| ...and drove almost all the clouds away. |
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| E's a sandcastle kinda guy... |
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| ...while his friend E prefers running with pelicans. |
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After a few hours of wading and building sand
castles in wind and sun, boys needed to rest. |
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| 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. |
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| On the sound side of the island, sandpipers run in the water; they're more cautious on the ocean side. |
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| Orion and Taurus over the beach |
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| Harbor view |
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| Wishful thinking |
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| Lighthouse |
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| Like father, like son |
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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. |
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| When we left Ocracoke, the sky and ocean were almost indistinguishable. Then the sun broke through... |
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| ...and the clouds cleared away. Several dolphins waved to us, but none agreed to pose for this photo. |
