Outer Banks continued

This trip along the Outer Banks was far from what I'd imagined.  I had envisioned pretty islands and lots of beach and nature so I was unprepared for: 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK4846826JQ

But it wasn't all vacation rentals and strip malls.  Much more than I would have expected but there was some very pretty scenery and many interesting historic sites.  
https://www.google.ca/search?q=outer+banks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=EAA_WNjuDoSH0wLE_LiICA
 
Heading south from Kitty Hawk, one of the first things we encountered was a Dept of Transport sign warning of a mandatory evacuation of Ocracoke Island where we were headed.  Undaunted, we continued south, a steady line of cars heading the opposite direction in the northbound lane.  It was still sunny and warm and increasingly windy.  We stopped at Roanoke Island, the first English settlement in the Americas where the first English birth in the New World was recorded.  And then the colony just disappeared.  

A pretty and historic place, Roanoke Is was very quiet what with the approaching storm.  

We did some sightseeing there, then proceeded south past Cape Hatteras and the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" where more than 5,000 ships have sunk in these waters since record keeping began in 1526.  There is a small, free ferry that connects Hatteras Is with Ocracoke Is. but the ferry crew was hesitant to allow us to board.  They said they were taking people off the island, not on to it.  But, in the end, they allowed us on, one of three cars going our way and we had a very nice hour's  crossing to Ocracoke.  

Then a drive down that island to where we caught the ferry back to the mainland. 

Finally we made landfall at Cedar Island and found lodgings in Morehead City, and some great tacos! 

The Outer Banks

From Wikipedia:  The Outer Banks is a string of peninsulas and barrier islands separating the Atlantic Ocean from mainland North Carolina. From north to south, the largest of these include: Bodie Island (which used to be an island but is now a peninsula due to tropical storms and hurricanes), Hatteras Island, Ocracoke Island, Portsmouth Island, and the Core Banks.^[4] Over time, the exact number of islands and inlets changes as new inlets are opened up, often during a breach created during violent storms, and older inlets close, usually due to gradually sifting sands during the dynamic processes of beach evolution.  This sounded like an interesting area to explore so Kim and I made the four hour drive stopping for lunch in Edenton on the Roanoke River I believe it was.  

 Like so many of these small towns in the South, Edenton was slowly dying; shopfronts boarded up, not much activity on the streets.  But there were still some well maintained stately old homes and interesting sights as we continued east after lunch. 

To add an element of uncertainty and potential danger to this trip was the impending arrival of Hurricane Matthew.  Undeterred, speaking for Kim mostly, we headed in the direction of the approaching storm and stopped for the night at Kill Devil Hills, the site of Kitty Hawk, the birthplace of flight.  

All the talk there was about the hurricane, the uncertainty of when and where and how bad and how long.  The wind was picking up but the sun still shone and it was still warm.  Next day dawned sunny and warm again.  Still windy and Matthew was still on the way.  

A new museum of the Wright Brothers and their accomplishments had been built at Kitty Hawk and, being a flyer herself, Kim was interested in seeing it.  It was pretty interesting and highlighted the preliminary research and development that went into their invention.

The hill from where they launched

On into the storm................

North Carolina - Plantation and Peppers

Kim suggested we kayak down a stretch of the Deep River since the water level was high enough and it was flowing well.  The day we planned to do that was another warm, dry day, a good day to cut hay and when conditions are right for cutting hay, a hay farmer has just got to cut 

so Kim left me in the hands of a guy who lives on her property and we headed off down the river for the three hour trip.  

A very different sort of paddle for me on this slow moving brown river, thick forests on either side, not a soul around.    

We returned to beautifully cut hay drying in the sun.

Creations of some of the denizens of this field prior to cutting.

Kim gave me a tour of the property and introduced me to the Palmer family who lived here in the early 19th century.

 

The slave's graves

 

Effing turtles