Friday, October 21, 2016

October 21, 2016. Hatteras Village to Atlantic Beach, NC. 15 miles.

This was almost a rest day. We started out on the Hatteras to Okracoke ferry, lining up at the ferry dock at 7:30. Fortunately we were loaded onto the 8:00 ferry, as we'd planned.  There were several large trucks carrying building materials for restoration after hurricane Matthew, and being local businesspeople they were given priority in loading.


The ferry left the dock a little after 8:00. As soon as we were in motion most of us left the vehicles. Bill and Fred stayed in the driver's seats for the one hour ride.



While we were en route Kathie looked at her phone and told us that the weather was going to change drastically overnight. Tomorrow the high is only going to be in the mid 60s and the wind will be about 20 MPH from the WNW. We may have to change our route!


We arrived at Okracoke Island about 9:15 and unloaded the bikes for the short ride to Okracoke Village.



We lined up for our pre ride photo with the ferry docks behind us and a bulldozer beside us. Heavy equipment is everywhere, cleaning up from the hurricane.


We finally saw a few "Bankers" horses in a pen being cared for by the National Park Service. I still have not seen any in the wild.


Fred and I rode our bikes down a boardwalk to look at the ocean and the dunes. This island is mostly National Park land. It is open to 4-wheel drive vehicles and hiking and camping. Mostly it is unspoiled beauty.


We saw the Okracoke Island lighthouse as we were entering Okracoke Village. Now I have seen four Outer Banks lighthouses, although I have not been in any of them. I sure missed my chance that first day of riding.


While at the lighthouse Kathie spoke with some cyclists who said that the morning ferry from Okracoke to Cedar Island had been cancelled due to mechanical issues with the boat. I told Bill about that and we decided to get in line early for the 1 PM boat even though we had advance reservations.


We went to lunch, but by the time the food arrived Bill and Fred had already left to get our vehicles in line at the ferry dock. We loaded and the boat left right on time. It was a 2 1/2 hour ride on very calm seas. When we arrived at Cedar Island we got a look at the motel that was closed--this was where we'd originally planned to stay. We feel very fortunate that it's closed and we found other accommodations.


We got our rooms at Atlantic Beach and walked to dinner at a nearby restaurant. There were people on the beach flying kites, including the one below.

 

We had a great dinner, and then everyone came back to our room to discuss tomorrow's route. We decided to change direction due to the high winds, which have already begun. We decided we don't need to beat ourselves up with a wicked crosswind across open fields and marshes. This is supposed to be fun after all!

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