The Beach in the Fall Part Three

While very disappointed with the excessive building along the coast of the Outer Banks, we were delighted to find that the Cape Hatteras National Seashore still provides miles of unspoiled beaches and marshes to explore. It is a place of wonder and beauty.

Here are some shots during respites from the rain.

The ocean attracts me like a magnet no matter what the weather. I think part of it is the ever-changing nature. While our mountains do indeed change their garb it is a slower process. The sea changes from minute to minute and I love it.

I was delighted and surprised to find (of all things) a persimmon tree. I recall gathering persimmons (or 'simmons as my grammy called them) and helping Grammy make persimmon bread and persimmon puddings. Every single year my brother would dare (I mean D-Double-Dog Dare) me to bite into one that wasn't quite ripe. And yes, every single year I did it knowing full well it would "turn your mouth inside out." (Hey, you can't just walk away from a D-Double-Dog-Dare, now can you?)

A sunrise on the ocean was a rare occurrence during our visit. The sky is red and predictably we had more rain that day.

Our trip to the Outer Banks was a good one, despite our disappointment in the over-developed shore and the rain. The place holds very special memories of earlier times and helps to ground us and to remember where we came from. Our next beach trip will more likely be to the Georgia Golden Isles, another special place.

Life was made more difficult for the leaf lookers (peepers) and everyone else when a major rockslide closed all lanes of Interstate 40, the major artery from western NC to the north. The landslide is in neighboring Haywood County just a few miles from the Tennessee border. All lanes will be closed for several days (to several weeks) until the slide is stabilized. After that the traffic will likely be re-routed on the east-bound lanes with one lane of traffic in each direction (if we're lucky). Makes travel much more difficult since there is hardly a reasonable detour.

Photograph from the Asheville Citizen-Times

The lookers are already struggling with a Blue Ridge Parkway closure. An unstable area has closed the BRP between Asheville and Mt. Pisgah at mile markers 399.7-401.1. This is a heavily traveled area in the fall and will likely be closed for months.

I hope your Monday starts on a good note and signals a good week for you no matter what you will be doing.

The Beach in the Fall Part Two

Neither my husband or I were sufficiently fortunate to be born into wealthy families. We married when my husband was an intern back in the days when interns were paid very little. I made more money as an RN than he did. We each brought student loans and car payments to the marriage.

Every year we took our vacation in the off season. Why? As the Christmas Spirit told Scrooge, "Because it's all they can afford." We loved the quiet and charming coastal towns of Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Rodanthe and Ocracoke. We stayed in one of the few motels and spent the week on the beach. We drove our Jeep on the sand of the National Seashore and spent the days there, my husband fishing and I reading or walking along the shore. Didn't cost a thing except the drinks and sandwiches we brought with us. It was indeed a wonderful time.

We had not been to the Outer Banks since 1985. We expected to find major changes and we definitely did. Houses dot every inch of ocean-front, even in places I recall to be inlets so many years ago (and will no doubt be inlets again some day). We did indeed find the motel where we stayed, but the nearby fishing pier was lost during Hurricane Isabel. Since it is owned by the State, it is being rebuilt. Private fishing piers lost through hurricanes cannot be rebuilt.

When we last visited, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was on the ocean itself and already in danger of being swallowed up by the sea. It has since been moved further inland. (You should see a video of the move. Absolutely incredible!)

It was dark and raining when we visited the lighthouse on this trip. It seemed quite odd that it is no longer sitting on the shore.



This is the Bonner Bridge, a two-and-a-half mile long structure that rises and curves and crosses Oregon Inlet to the National Seashore. Built in 1963, the bridge is old and constantly being repaired. It's scary as the dickens, but you have to cross over it to get to the peaceful and beautiful pristine seashore.

We did not have the best weather during our week. This particular morning showed two positive signs; 1) the sun rose behind the clouds, and 2) the sky was not red.

Sure enough! Sun came out and we had a sunny day...the only one of the week.

We drove up to the Currituck Lighthouse which is in such a lovely setting.

The weather resumed its cloudy, scattered showers pattern the day we went to Ocracoke. The island can be reached only by ferry. My husband took this photograph of the other ferry crossing in the opposite direction.

This is the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Why is it that people are absolutely determined to walk right in front of your camera?

I was dismayed to find the Ocracoke Village has really lost a lot of its charm. Everything is geared to the tourists and there are "tourist trap" type shops everywhere.

I couldn't help stopping to photograph this market sign in Rodanthe. I'm not at all certain what the risky business might be...the start-up of a market, or the chances you take in buying their fish.

If I sound a bit bitter about the massive construction on the shores of the Outer Banks, it's because I am. There hasn't been a major direct hurricane strike in quite some time and folks appear to have forgotten what the seas can do. A direct hit will cut new inlets and wipe out a lot of the houses.

Oh, but they do have insurance which I help to underwrite. Yep, my homeowner's insurance is more costly because I help share the cost of insurance for the houses on the beach.