For our 3rd Wedding Anniversary, Mike planned a short trip to the Outer Banks. We stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast called the "White Doe." Staying at a B&B is quickly becoming an annual tradition for celebrating our Anniversary! I love staying at the B&B, relaxing and enjoying the surroundings to be explored.
We arrived on the Outer Banks ("OBX") Saturday afternoon which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from home. The first stop was at the Visitor Center just as you cross over onto Roanoke Island. The gentleman working at the Visitor Center definitely helped us plan what we wanted to do for the weekend. After leaving the Visitor Center we stopped for lunch then made our way towards our first tourist stop of the weekend.
Our first stop was Currituck Beach Lighthouse on the very northern part of OBX north of the town of Duck. Currituck Beach Lighthouse is one of the few lighthouses that you can climb. Mike and I enjoyed the climb to the top. The
lighthouse is red brick without any paint on the outside. The view from the top was beautiful if not extremely windy! The photo on the left shows the lighthouse keepers home and in the background is Currituck Sound.
Below are the stairs that we took to make our way up to the top of the lighthouse. As you get to the top they become more narrow. The center photo is Mike at the top of Currituck Beach Lighthouse. It was a cool, windy day! The last photo on the right is of me at the top of Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Have to love the blowing hair! It was definitely challenging taking photographs at the top of the lighthouse with the blowing wind.
The White Doe Bed & Breakfast
After an enjoyable trip to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, it was time for us to find our Bed & Breakfast and get registered for the weekend. Mike managed to keep the B&B name and location a secret from me up until the day of our departure. The B&B was located in Manteo (pronounced Meh-nay-o. The "T" is silent) on Roanoke Island. This is the website for the White Doe Inn: http://www.whitedoeinn.com/. It was a very quaint and friendly! We stayed in the Roanoak room.
Each morning, breakfast was served in the formal dinning room or out on the outdoor terrace if the weather was nice. Breakfast was a wonderful time to meet the other guests and chat while enjoying a 4 course breakfast. The "4 course" breakfast consisted of (1) fresh fruit, (2) Grits (we passed!), (3) Main Course, (4) Dessert! Our 1st morning found the fresh fruit to be wonderful and dessert was superb with it being an Orange Swirl Cheesecake . On our 2nd morning, the fresh fruit far exceeded the 1st day and the main course was outstanding stuffed french toast and dessert was also a nice Key Lime Tart.
For our second day of adventures, we took the southern route to visit the lighthouses located along the southern point of the OBX! We decided our first stop for the day would be the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse since it was the other lighthouse that we could climb. The weather for Sunday called for cold, wet, windy and possibly stormy day. We knew we needed to do Cape Hatteras as soon as possible.
After leaving Cape Hatteras Light Station, we continued our drive south. We were hoping to take the 40 minute ferry across to Ocracoke Island. Our original plan was to stop for a quick lunch however our "lunch stop" was anything but quick with us being at the restaurant nearly 2 hours. By the time we were done it was just after 2pm. We were uncertain whether or not we would make the ferry and assumed the ferries ran only on the hour. Regardless, we decided to drive down to the ferry landing and see if we could get the ferry across to Ocracoke Island. To our surprise, the ferry ran every 30 minutes and we were in time for the 2:30 pm ferry crossing. The ferry was a quick 40 minute trip! In no time, we were on Ocracoke island. We just drove the car right onto the ferry where directed by the ferry operators then turned it off and set the parking break!
Once we were on Ocracoke Island, we drove to the small fishing village of Ocracoke to see the lighthouse. Ocracoke Lighthouse is the oldest, operating lighthouse in North Carolina. It is a quaint, small white lighthouse standing at 75 feet tall and was commissioned to be built in 1822. In 1868, the lighthouse was cemented and whitewashed giving it the appearance it has today. The light shines 14 miles over the ocean.
Ok... So what is a trip to the coast without at least a few stops at the beach? Not a complete trip! Of course we had to "enjoy" the beach! Needless to say, the beach was not a very welcoming environment this weekend visiting OBX... With the stormy weather, it was cold, wet and very windy on the beach. There was also LOTS of blowing sand. We did have the beach all to ourselves with not a sole to be seen for miles!
What I enjoyed the most about the OBX beaches is that there were wide expanses without any development... No HOUSES, NO HOTELS, NO BUSINESSES! Even with the yucky weather, the beaches were beautiful.
Bodie Island Lighthouse
On our last day in OBX, we stopped at our last lighthouse that we had yet to visit called the Bodie Island Lighthouse located within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse isn't open for climbing but it is in a beautiful setting set along the coast towards the sound side of the island. The day started out beautiful and partly cloudy yet still windy!
I think the Bodie Island Lighthouse is probably one of my favorites especially since it was less commercialized with a nice walking and nature trail provided. Admittedly, the blue sky may have helped!
Finally, we had to make a quick stop to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. There really wasn't enough time to do everything and completely take in the whole memorial. The Memorial is a wonderful tribute to the first days of motorized flight. It was cool to see the location of the 1st four flights that the brothers took and where they landed in relationship to each flight from the point where they "took off." The first 3 flights didn't go far yet they were a major accomplishment. The 4th flight was over 300 yards and just under one minute in flight!
Mike and I had a wonderful time on the OBX. We look forward to many more future trips to the area to explore, enjoy the beach and new adventures!
Pam
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