Tuesday, December 1, 2020

OBX 2020 - South Hatteras

I was up early Monday morning just because my body is used get getting up early and because I'm sleeping in a bed that isn't mine.  I climbed the spiral staircase to the highest part of the house to watch the sunrise.  It was cloudy so there wasn't much to see but it was beautiful still.  And I was able to do quite a bit of blogging to stay on top of things.  


Everyone started getting up and moving around so Maggie and I decided to go out and pick up some muffins and donuts.  


There was a line almost out the door when we walked in.  They had a wide variety of muffins and scones and we wanted to try them all.  We expected them to have donuts and that's what we told the boys we were going to get them.  I got Liam a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese and we waited way too long for that little bagel.  - and by the way, he never ate it :(


Since we told the boys we were bringing back donuts, we drove a little further south to Duck Donuts.  


And it was worth it!  These donuts are made to order.  The guy in the orange shirt plops the dough into the fryer when an order is placed and hands however many ordered over to the guy in the blue shirt who then tops them with whatever combinations you ordered.




Hudson and Kane got strawberry with sprinkles.  Liam, Reid and Brooks got chocolate glazed with Oreos and marshmallow drizzle.  "Declan" meaning Maggie and I got a Maple glazed with bacon and caramel drizzle. They were hot a fresh.  Reminded me of horseshow donuts. 


Right outside of our bedroom there is this hammock.  Kane and I took an opportunity to relax and talk about 6 year old life. :)


Our plan was to spend all day on the beach.  The weather was beautiful.  High of 70. Pretty windy. Water temp was low 60's!  I knew that Reid and Kane would feel the water and not get in.  Boy was I wrong.  They weren't allowed to get all the way in because the current here is just too rough.  But they jumped waves while Liam watched from afar -smart kid! 



The three musketeers. 


Being the last child, for the most part this kid is pretty relaxed unless hungry or tired. He sat in the sand and played or wandered around trying to act like the other big boys. 



The crew working on getting a kite up.


Ryan and Liam


Nana, Reid & Kane


Reid


Kane


Ryan dug a hole and buried these two


They would run to the top of the dune and run back down.


On top of the dune looking down toward the house. 


For dinner we had steaks that we brought from home because when Spring Street spoils you then you take Duke steaks where ever you go.  Ryan ran down to a local seafood monger and picked up some shrimp, scallops, tuna steaks and a local fish called Sheepshead.  


Tuesday morning, October 6th, Maggie cooked everyone omelets for breakfast.


While everyone else enjoyed the weather and view.



Today it was Reid and I who relaxed on the hammock and talked about 6 year old life :)



Today we decided to travel down to the South part of Hatteras island and sightsee.  First stop was the iconic Cape Hatteras lighthouse.  




We weren't able to climb it due to Covid :(


The lighthouse is not in its original place.  It was recently moved due to threatening beach erosion.   It took 23 days to move it  2,900 ft which placed it at its original distance from the sea.





After taking pictures at the lighthouse we took a walk through the Museum of the Sea.  There was a Park Ranger at the door to answer questions and monitor the museum guests as well.  Here the boys are being sworn in as Junior Park Rangers.  They were given a booklet to complete and badges once the booklet was completed.


After that we were starving.  We found this place on our drive further south.  Not a lot of things are open and there is no such thing as fast food down here.  We saw a Subway and a DQ and thats it.  At Tavern on 12 we enjoyed trashcan nachos, crab cake sliders and pizza!  


Our next stop was the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.  Here we learned about the many shipwrecks that have happened along this island and bits and pieces of artifacts that have been recovered.  Ryan gave the boys a history lesson before we came here about the Enigma machine.  They thought it was so cool.


Masks are required everywhere!



After the museum we hopped on the hour long ferry to Orcacoke.  




Wild monkeys!



This is the route they take which seems way out of the way to me.  It looks like there is a crab spawning sanctuary that they maneuver around.


We made it to Orcacoke!


The blue dot at the bottom is where we were. 


So beautiful


First stop was at the Pony Pen.  There were many horses brought over from settlers.  They try to keep them in their natural habitat to keep them "wild". There are restrictions placed on these horses.  These particular horses have 188 acres to roam but there were multiple pens that they we in.  Not sure how that keeps them "wild" but who am I?




Next stop was the Orcacoke Lighthouse.








Then off to see the British Cemetery 


We promised the boys ice cream so we made a pit stop at the Slushy Stand



Across the street was this beautiful view.  So pretty and peaceful


We found this inside the Slushy Stand and had to get it.  It didn't taste the same! 


Beautiful orange moon over the ocean as we travelled back to Hatteras island on the Ferry


We got to the ferry on Orcacoke at a little after 730pm assuming the next one would be at 8 since throughout the day they are every 30 minutes.  I look online and the next ferry isn't until 9. We had to wait a little over an hour in the car until the next one came.  We were so happy to get off that ferry!!! We still had an hour drive back to our house!


Follow along for part 3 - OBX 2020 - North Hatteras