By Cathy Burford

Yes, the Queen Mary really did set sail – twice!  Attached a picture just in case it seemed unfathomable…We spent the last two nights on the Outer Banks of NC, Hatteras to be exact!  For those of you who have never been there, get a map & check it out – the tiniest finger of land, at times narrow enough to throw a rock from the Atlantic to the sound.  Highway 12 goes right down the middle.  According to the locals, right now it offers the best fishing anywhere.   Crab, marlin, tuna, mahi, and just about everything else you can think of.  The bobbing boats were too numerous to tally, and in addition to that people were fishing off bridges, the beach & even in the canal that we backed up to in our RV park.
The drive from Williamsburg to Hatteras was a long one & William was tired when we got to Hatteras Village.  Then the unthinkable happened, for as he was about to drive to our campsite, the Queen just refused to start!  It gets even weirder…because here we are in a tiny little village at the end of the tourist season and as luck would have it, the local parts store actually had a 135 lb replacement battery.  After changing that out, Wm decided that we needed an extra ‘chill out’ day in Hatteras.  Sometimes I’m convinced that the man upstairs is just looking out for us all.  I mean…what if this had happened as we were trying to exit the ferry?  Had a Cosmo on THAT one.
I drove the 10 miles to Hatteras Light & trekked up the 269 stairs to the top- incredible view!  This particular lighthouse has a long & extremely important history, but even it wasn’t able to save the 600 ships/boats that lie in this area known as the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’.  This area was also known as Torpedo Junction during WWII when German subs sank our tankers & cargo ships.  Must have been coming out of Norfolk, VA.  Scary.
We road our bikes to the ferry terminal, marina, and beach yesterday.  The beach here is very clean & great for shelling.  You can drive your cars on it & the water was the perfect temperature for strolling.  Great day!
Caught the 6am free ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke , they say if you can drive it on the highway, it can ride on their ferry system!  Saved us hours of driving… The island of Ocracoke is only about 20 miles long & I stopped to see their famous ponies, but the little darlin’s were in the far pens & I couldn’t even get a good look at them.  There is an airstrip there, so I’m thinking that this would be a fabulous place to come for a week & hang out.  Ocracoke Village is like a tiny Key West, very unpretentious.  The Ocracoke Ferry takes 2 1/4 hours & gets you back to the ‘mainland’ at Cedar Island.  This ferry isn’t free, but it’s still a bargain when you factor in the cost of diesel these days…
Arrived in Myrtle Beach NC to 91 degree weather.  I think this warm stuff is just following us around

Headin’ off to look for some Shrimp & Grits…

Yours from the road,

Cathy & Wm