Ferries, Rain and Fog!

Quick trip to Hatteras for the weekend. Turned into multiple misadventures with the NC Ferry System. On our way to Hatteras, we discovered that the road was still impassible on Hwy 12 with out a 4x4; rerouting our trip so we could crossed over on the ferry from Swans Quarter to Ocracoke. Making that change in our travel plans led us to discover the unique restaurant, the Hyde Away Cafe. Following a nearly 3 hour ferry ride we were starved! Once on Ocracoke we were all set for dinner at Howard's Pub and made a bee line there - but it was CLOSED; instead we back tracked and ate at the Topless Oyster. After catching the 9:00 p.m. ferry to Hatteras we finally made it to our hotel. Yippee!!

Saturday we headed north on Hwy 12 to find out just where the trouble with the road was and I did get a photo of the construction working to restore the road.

We got hung up in traffic on Hwy 12 for a little while this afternoon. According to local residences the dump truck ran over a passenger vehicle - the driver suffered at minimum a broken femur and broken arm. She had been med-flighted out prior to our arrival at the scene.

Our second mission was to go back to Ocracoke to explore and take photos at the Ocracoke Lighthouse. As we arrived at the Hatteras ferry we were informed that a fishing boat had run aground in the middle of the channel; blocking the ferry traffic in the channel. There would be no trip back to Ocracoke, the ferry operator told us that they were not expecting for the ferry to resume operation until after high tide (around 9:00 p.m.). On a happy note we did find out where the Emergency Ferry was operating out of and it looked like a promising way to return home on Sunday.

As the day broke with a slight drizzle in the air and pelicans perched on the piling in the marina. After gathering our belongings together and getting the car parked, I headed off to the marina to capture a few of those pelicans on 'film'.

Then we went off in search of the Community Center and the Emergency Ferry in Rodanthe Beach, which turned out to be a very easy find. I did spend some time while waiting for our departure to snap a few shots around the area. I'm glad I did for once we board the ferry the rain began to come down. 

All intentions I had of doing any work went completely out the window, with the combination of the chilly air, warm blanket, and the sound of the rain against the car roof sleep was only moments away. That two hour ferry ride passed by in minutes for one minute we were leaving one dock and the next arriving at our destination.  It was about that time that the fog settled in and gave us quite a fit for the rest of the journey.

All in all however, we found a number of beautiful areas to shoot and hopefully were able to capture some unique views of the island.

Outer Banks Road Trip Photos