Outer Banks and MORE!

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

Carova Beach 

The only access to these homes is this sandy beach road.

Controlling the dunes with these fences!

We drove this beach for about 7 miles; literally a sand road on the beach.  Why?  We were in search of the wild horses of Corolla.  Unfortunately we didn't find any...

This is a photo of the wild Colonial Spanish mustangs that roam the northernmost Outer Banks.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Cape Hatteras KOA

Our trailer was right on the beach, protected by a sand dune.  The wooden fence to the left is a boardwalk to the beach.

Hurricane Irene wiped out this KOA in 2011 so everything has been replaced; sign shows the high water line.

Rent a "cabin" at the KOA right on the beach.

View of the beach from our trailer doorway during a 40 mile per hour windstorm.

The road the day after the windstorm - plowing sand just like we plow snow!

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Fishermen on the Outer Banks transport their poles and coolers on their front bumper!

Beach Houses

Look at the garages!  Even the garage is on stilts!

Most houses are like this one with parking underneath the house.

Many of the houses have decks like this so there's an ocean view.

Whoa... who lives in this house?

Pea Island

Every day we would drive past the ponds and inlets on Pea Island.  We saw so many different kinds of birds - we could identify some of them; Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, American Avocet, Sandpipers (at the KOA too!), Snow Geese, Canada Geese, and the Black Duck.  This picture is mostly Tundra Swans.

Brown Pelican, we also saw the American White Pelican.

Nutria

Rowan, I saw a real Nutria, a mother with 3 babies!  I know it's hard to see them in the pictures because they're hiding from us in the grasses.  We first saw them sunning on a little beach but they didn't stay there long enough to get a picture. 

Roanoke Island

I thought this was interesting as we're driving down the highway.  The Lost Colony was founded on Roanoke Island and the first British child, Virginia Dare, was born here in 1587.  How do we know this?  Her grandfather went back to England for fresh supplies and when he returned 3 years later, Virginia and the other colonists were gone.  

But my favorite North Carolina sign was in the middle of nowhere, it read: COON HUNT with an arrow pointing the way!  North Carolina has something for everyone!

North Carolina Cotton Fields

Sculpture at riverside park in Kinston, North Carolina.

Skylight Inn

Jane and Michael Stern wrote Skylight Inn has the best Carolina barbecue!  A reporter once wrote it was the best in the nation, so the owners added a Capitol dome to the top of the building. We tried it and liked it but Carolina BBQ is very vinegary so it's an acquired taste; it comes with coleslaw and cornbread.

Wood pile out back for roasting the whole pig!

We 've seen several farmers selling collard greens from the back of their pick-ups but this was the first Collard Shack.  Collards are a Thanksgiving staple in the South.

North Carolina Birdhouse

We saw another state license plate today - #49!  Hawaii!  We only have one left to find... Alabama.