Friday, November 6, 2009

Day 61

This morning the campground hosted an end of the season breakfast. We met people from all over the east coast. One family that sat next to us was from Willsboro, NY, a few miles away from our hometown. They knew many of the same people that we did, including a couple that I babysat for. After doing some laundry, we were on our way to the village of Hatteras to catch a ferry to Ocracoke Island. First, we visited the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton, the tallest (208 feet) brick beacon in the country.

The black and white spiraled beauty was impressive. However, we were disappointed that it was not opened to climbing at this time of the year. When we got to the dock, we were pleasantly surprised that the 40 minute ferry ride was free, especially since we were towing a 5th wheel. After docking, we made our way down the 16 mile long island, going by the National Park Service pony pen. They are called the “Banker Ponies” and the theory is that they got to the island as a result of thousands of shipwrecks.

They roamed the island freely until the mid 60’s when they were fenced in to protect them from traffic and other dangers. People can help with the cost of their care by “adopting” one for $25. We got to Ocracoke ferry dock and walked around exploring the quaint little village. From a distance, we could see the Ocracoke Lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse, built in 1798.

This is also where the famous pirate, Blackbeard ,was killed in 1718.

Our ferry ride to Cedar Island and the mainland was a 2 hour and 15 minute crossing so we crawled in the 5th wheel to read and snooze. From Cedar Island, we drove as far as Morehouse City and stopped for the night.