We left Ocracoke by ferry to Hatteras around 9:00 a.m. Our choice was leave Ocracoke by ferry to Swan Quarter (which is a four hour ferry ride) and then drive home or we could travel approximately one hour to Hatteras by ferry and drive home. We chose the latter because it would take us through Rodanthe. I haven't read any Nicholas Sparks'. I have seen a few of his movies, which I did love -- Nights in Rodanthe being one of them. So I wanted to see the inn. I kept telling Nathan I wanted to take pictures to post so Brenda could see it. I had seen where there was a movie trail, so to speak, that you could go through Rodanthe and see several of the sites that were in the movie.
Oh, well, on to Rodanthe. Long story short, the road was flooded. We were on the road completely stopped for over four hours. They had moved the inn since the movie and you couldn't go down where it is now because of the tide. The tide had come in and literally flooded the road and sand was head high. They were sandbagging and scraping to help people get out. Deputy came by and told us basically "get a room" and not 'cause we were smooching. He said IF anyone gets out tonight it will only be 4-wheel drive vehicles. There were several long minutes where all the men were out of their vehicles walking up and down the road or huddling, as if devising a plan, but no way to move a tide. We were informed there would be a small window of opportunity when the tide would go back in that we might could move. So, we turned around and headed back toward the ferry thinking we could get on, go back to Ocracoke, stay there for the night and then to Swan Quarter the next day. I was disappointed no Rodanthe movie trail, and no pics for Brenda. Well, we didn't make the ferry. So we turned back around got back in the long line of traffic and we were able to creep through the "window of opportunity". Must note also here during this ordeal we turned around to eat. There were only two restaurants open because it was not the season for tourism. Well, needless to say the restaurant was packed with "fisherman" stories but I don't think there was a fisherman within a mile or two. Okay. So that's the scenario. But the delight is the situation in itself. Because we were crawling through Hatteras we stopped to watch the kite surfers (I'm not sure exactly what it is called) but the kites pull them through the water. We also stopped in a lean-to of an artist studio and met a sweet artist who made jewelry with her pregnant daughter. I bought a sticker that her daughter actually designed and copyrighted and sold as a baby fund that says "SPREAD YOUR CHEEKS" with a big smiley face on it. When I brought it home no one was thrilled with it, but me. The following pictures are the kite surfers. we watched. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the "fisherman's den" which I affectionately renamed the restaurant or of the artist -- who by the way taught me to pronounce Rodanthe. I had always said Row-danth (phonetically) -- it is actually pronounced Row-dan-thee. Learn something new every day on a road trip :-)
The following pictures are when we were finally able to travel. It was dark, as you can tell, by the time we were able to drive. If you look to the far right of the pictures, the white area is sand that had been moved. In many places, though I don't have pictures, the sand was over six feet high. What looks like rain on the road is actually the tide. Natives in the huddles told Nathan this is becoming a normal occurrence for the past few years, that there is actually less beach and many of the homes that were built with beach frontage, needless to say are dealing with this at times. It was still interesting to learn these things and just realizing how powerless man is, but it's also comforting to be reminded of that. Only disappointment, no pics, for Sweet Brenda or me!!! But it's another excuse to go back, aye, Mate -- I mean, Nate?
No comments:
Post a Comment