A 45 minute ferry ride and we found ourselves in the very inviting village on Ocracoke Island. It hosts the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina, which is still fully operational by the Coast Guard -- that's code for "no climbing allowed".
Our destination, however, was specifically geared toward
Captain Blackbeard. Charming with the ladies, he was likely from a noble family, but a blood-thirsty pirate none the less. He desired a menacing look so he'd weave hemp into his braided beard, light the strands and then blow them out causing his head to "smoke". Imagine?
After 2 years of terror on the seas, he was finally captured here on the island, and it was such a
momentous occasion that they severed his head and tied it to the bow of the ship. The rest of his body was tossed overboard where legend says "the body continued to swim around the ship 3 times". Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was actually discoverd at the bottom of the sea several years ago and they're still bringing booty up today. Need I mention the gift shop thrill Little Man experienced here?
Yesterday Pilot had shown us the roof of his favorite place to eat on Ocracoke, the Jolly Roger. We found it easily enough and ate a leisurely lunch outside on the deck, watching pelicans fish. We chatted about how if Tomcat were with us, we'd probably choose to stay here -- the town was just so cute. I loved the feel of the place, but we had to get moving as we had a 2 hour ferry ride ahead of us and a 3-4 hour drive beyond that.
Meandering over to the ferry dock, we were stunned to find we'd missed the 2 o'clock ferry by 5 minutes and the next, final ferry was at 5 o'clock. The other ferry came every 20 minutes so we assumed this one would be the same. Bummer, bummer, bummer! Simply staring at the man in the ticket booth, I begged his forgiveness while I calculated the math: arrival time in Myrtle Beach is now 11pm and I'm already tired. What could we possibly do for 3 more hours -- the sun was hiding behind rain clouds again -- that we had't already done?
Well, we did visit the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina; we drove to some wild ponies; we ate ice-cream; we ate fudge; we lingered in the General Store; we bought souvenirs for Peanut's class; we wandered through a few art galleries; we picked up some penny sticks for the ferry ride; and then we waited... and waited... and waited... for what would turn out to be an e t e r n a l night on the road with more flashing blue lights in the rear-view window...
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