Vacation: Day 12 con't.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

After lunch, Jen & I walked along the main thoroughfare of Ocracoke, wandering in and out of galleries, shops and stores. Since high season was over, nearly everything was on sale. One store had a tumble table and I picked up a fleece sweatshirt and a swimsuit coverup for Alexa for $5 each. One of my favorite places to shop in Ocracoke is the Village Ragpicker. They have the most beautiful rag rugs ..... I'll be sending off for 2 of them for Elly's Christmas present.

After contributing to the island's economy, we decided to take a driving tour of the village. We began our exploration on Howard Street.

Howard Street is one of the oldest street in the village. Originally a simple foot path, in 1835 the court ordered it to be widened. Still, up until recently, Howard Street was a sandy lane - now it is "paved" with a crushed shell mixture.

Mr. Phil Howard writes in his Ocracoke Newsletter, "According to a legal petition of 1835 this public road "served the purpose of all the inhabitants since [its establishment], however the population of Ocracoke have greatly increased." The petitioners were requesting permission to lay out a public road on the North side of Cockle Creek, from "just North of Thomas Bragg's House" to "John Pike's garden" and then all the way to the Sound, about a half mile. Originally this was merely a foot path, but now it was to be widened and would include what became historic Howard Street. Apparently the Northern side of Cockle Creek had, by that time, "become thickley settled and the business of the Island both Public and Private have become much divided and where formerly there was no store, there is now three."

We headed towards the south end of the island. That's where the lighthouse stands. I've taken so many pictures of this lighthouse over the years, we didn't even stop. I felt kind of guilty. If I were Catholic, I suppose not stopping could be likened to not genuflecting at the altar.

We explored the narrow lanes and beaches along the sound. Does anyone know what kind of flowers these are? One section of a street was lined with them.

We parked the car and followed a likely looking pathway to the sound. After navigating our way around the wind-stunted trees and shrubs, exposed roots half buried in the sand, we came to a narrow little beach, totally deserted. The sound was "slick cam" and off in the distance we could see a ferry making its way to the mainland. Jennifer insisted climbing out onto a rock jetty for a photo op - I was concerned that she would slip on the sharp rocks, but she made it out a goodly way.

To be continued in next post .....