Ocracoke Day 2

This is such a fabulous place to visit! In a month or so, the sun-worshipers will be here for vacations, but it was nice to see the island without crowds. We rode our bikes around the island and stopped into a few of the shops. I picked up a few things for Olivia (of course) and we bought fish and shrimp at the local fish market.

The sunsets and sunrises (yes, I actually saw one) are beautiful here. The birds came back yesterday afternoon, including a family of geese. They stayed off to themselves from the other geese and the papa was very protective of his little brood.

The highlight of the day was a concert by Molasses Creek, a folk band from Ocracoke. They were doing a benefit for the Ocracoke Preservation Society. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening! You can check them out at their website:
Molasses Creek

These geese show up in the afternoon - guess that's when the bugs come out.

The Goose family.

Beautiful sunset - the photo doesn't do it justice.

I did see a sunrise!

Lots of pretty cottages.

The light house and keeper's cottage.

Sorry that the stained glass doesn't show up well.

An antique shop called "Ditzy Dames".

There are lots of quaint inns here on the island.

I had to do it!

Ocracoke

Whew! When we started out from Oriental to Ocracoke, the water was nice and smooth. By the time we got here, it was rocking us a good bit. If we moved around on the boat, we had to hold on for dear life. Ryder took up her place under the dinghy, then decided to go inside and nap on the sofa.

I've already made friends with some Canada geese, ducks and a few seagulls. I fed them some bread crust. Our neighbor at the dock here told us that there is a free concert tonight. The plan is to explore the island today and go to the concert tonight.

We are hoping that the weather will be good for us to leave here on Friday. The plan is to go to Bellhaven next and meet Sara, Ryan and Olivia (yay!) They will stay with us Saturday and Sunday nights.

Somewhere along the way, I set the camera to black and white without knowing it. Sorry about that. It has been rectified.

Goodbye to Oriental

Leaving Oriental

Land is a vague bump on the horizon.

One of the ferry boats that serves the Outer Banks.

Coming into Ocracoke.

The ferry dock at Ocracoke - right next to us.

Coming into the harbor.

Ryder has a new "do"

We spent the day doing the never-ending laundry and grocery shopping. Our bicycles are coming in handy. For the last 3 stops or so, we have tried to get Ryder groomed - with no success. The local groomer was willing to do her on short notice, and Steve rode 2 miles on the bicycle with Ryder in the basket. She took it like a champ and came back beautiful! If you are coming through Oriental, Lisanne will pick up and drop off your pet if she can. If she can't, her Oriental Pet Parlour is close enough for biking or a long walk.

There are 5 other boats here on the Great Loop. Most of us are on our way to a "Looper" event in Norfolk, VA.  You might even be able to see the white AGLCA flags in the boat photo.

The parrot mascot decked out for Easter

The restaurant at the marina

6 "Looper" boats in a row

So cool! a marine consignment store

Coffee shop across the street

This one's for you, Rebecca

A beautiful pup in a basket

Ryder rockin' the bandana

Midges, bears and moving on

Hello all!

It might have been the temperature, or the phase of the moon.... who knows? But New Bern was covered in midges overnight! Unlike Savannah's gnats, they don't bite - but they are a real nuisance. Steve tried to wash them off the boat this morning (the baby ducks were eating as fast as they could) but mostly they just moved to somewhere else on the boat.

We went to church at the beautiful Christ Church this morning. They use the 300 year old silver once a month, and last week being Easter we missed it by a week! The people were very friendly and the music was wonderful. They have a band at the 9:30 service.

Yesterday, Steve found a few bears that we missed when I was with him. I went out this morning and found most of them, along with some pretty parting shots of New Bern.

We traveled a short distance from New Bern to Oriental, where we will stay two nights. This is called the "Sailboat Capital of NC" and there were lots of them out there today. The Neuse River is very wide and the scenery is beautiful.

What a gorgeous church!

Covered in midges!

Mural on the bicycle store.

This was the home of a merchant in the 1790's. We had dinner here.

The New Bern waterfront

More waterfront

Sleeping in.

A good day for sailing.

Oriental, NC