The Outer Banks

It is now 11 o'clock at night and the last day of vacation here in Ocracoke Island. My girlfriend and I have had a wonderful trip, so I figured I'd share our experience with all of my readers. Here goes..... I hope you all enjoy!

Early Thursday morning we left home in central North Carolina to catch an ferry at Swan Quarter. The ferry ride was very pleasant, but almost three hours long. Considering we had been up since 5am, this made for a hell of a morning. That being said, we finally arrived in Ocracoke around lunch time. We checked into a wonderful bed and breakfast called Ocracoke Beach House(go to www.ocracokebeachhouse.com for more details). This place was perfect. The hosts Warren and Carol were very friendly and accomodating. The rooms were clean and quiet, and the best restaurant on the island(Cafe Atlantic) was right next door. On Friday evening we had the pleasure of dining there. I had the special that night, which was grilled mahi-mahi over asparagus covered in a light lemon-parmesan sauce. My girlfriend got a seafood platter that included clams casino, mussels, shrimp, tuna, and one or two other items. It was huge! To top off a great meal, we split a piece of chocolate peanut butter pie for desert.

Now that you've had a small taste of the food and accomodations, let me tell you about the beaches. There is no place like Ocracoke....not even elswhere on the Outer Banks. The beaches of Ocracoke provide the perfect peaceful vacation for both families and couples(however, I would go somewhere else if I was a single guy looking to party). The beaches here have the softest, whitest sand I have ever seen or felt. I spent over ten years of my life in Southwest Florida, so have a pretty good frame of reference to judge from. If I had to pick one thing that I loved the most about going to the beach here, it would have to be the solitude. There were a few times we even found ourselves alone on the beach. The nearest human beings had to have been a mile or more away. Once, we couldn't even spot a soul. It became our own private paradise. There was nothing like it. The beaches weren't always dead, but they were always quiet. There were never more than a few families or couples out at a time, and everyone was very friendly or just kept to themselves. This was not your typical tourist trap. This was like crawling into a postcard called "Paradise".

Well, I hope I've given you a good idea for your next vacation. I've got to get going now. Its time for us to go on our last midnight walk on the beaches of Ocracoke. I hope everyone has enjoyed this. Take a snapshot of your favorite vacation and send it to me(post it on this website). I'd love to hear from you!

See you next time!