Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 24, 1994 TAG: 9404280004
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: F8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELIZABETH GUNN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A dog belonging to one of the fliers chases his owner's figure each time it passes overhead, the impromptu game setting up a counterpoint of zany joy that ripples through the crowd watching below. Even the trudge back uphill that follows a flight is a pleasure for the viewers, for the shapes and colors of the wings are beautiful against the sand.
At Jockey's Ridge, on North Carolina's Outer Banks, the same winds that once bore the Wright brothers aloft now make the place a mecca for hang gliders. Several shops on the island offer lessons, and rent and sell the gear, as well as regular kites of all shapes for the less adventurous. Jockey's Ridge State Park has even built wooden platforms below the dunes for spectators. (The 22nd Annual Hang Gliding Spectacular, scheduled for May 6-9, attracts about 50 hang glider pilots to Jockey's Ridge. Admission for spectators is free.) Along with fishing, which has always been basic to both work and play in these islands, wind-driven activities dominate the area: hang gliding, sailing and parasailing go on all the time.
The Outer Banks wrap around North Carolina's coast like an incredibly long, skinny, protective arm, with Cape Hatteras at the bent elbow. Inside the arm, Pamlico and Albemarle sounds mix the fresh water of outflowing rivers with sea water pouring in the many inlets, forming a marine-life nursery for the whole eastern seaboard.
Outside, big breakers roll unchecked out of the mighty Atlantic onto a broad, flat shore. Behind the beaches, the dunes rise steeply, with patches of sea oats dotting their slopes, and a whisper of blowing sand slipping along the crests. Yearly, along this seemingly fragile but enduring strip of ever-shifting dunes, a vast panorama of interaction between earth, sea and sky plays out, and people come here to watch it, and to play in the wind and waves
For centuries a refuge for small groups of fishermen and an occasional pirate (including Blackbeard), the Outer Banks still have a wild, castaway feel. Even on busy weekends a stroll may take you to a stretch of beach so empty that, looking back, you'll see only your own footprints on the sand. At sunset, when pelicans and terns wheel over red-gilded surf rumbling out of an empty sea, thoughts of Robinson Crusoe surface naturally.
The three islands, while similar, are far from identical. Ocracoke, at the south, is the emptiest, and feels most remote. Hatteras, the long middle island, has seven small villages scattered along its 60-odd miles of highway, each with clusters of beach cottages facing the sea, but has plenty of open spaces between communities. And northernmost Bodie Island, site of the Wright Brothers National Memorial, is a busy commercial strip along its southern stretch of highway, but nearly empty on its northern, roadless end.
The community of Ocracoke is an old fishing village, now mostly devoted to tourism. The houses and motels lining its narrow winding streets are gray-shingled, or unpainted cedar. Deep-sea fishing boats are lined up waiting in several marinas; if you came for a fishing vacation, you can start right here. There are several restaurants and motels, too, but the town is small, and the overall impression is of a quiet, faraway place. Hammocks are prominently displayed on a number of balconies, and you see people strolling quietly, reading books, napping. Cicadas are singing. Right away, in Ocracoke, you start to chill out.
Ocracoke and Hatteras islands, together with Pea Island and the lower tip of Bodie Island, make up the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. Except for the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is run by the Fish and Wildlife Service, it is all administered by the National Park Service.
Ocracoke campground, three miles north of town, operated by the Park Service, is typical of the four Park Service campgrounds that exist in the area; cheap and basic, with cold showers, outdoor grills, no power at campsites. There are two private campgrounds in the village, and more than a dozen more throughout the islands; they vary, of course, but most offer all modern amenities, including full power and water hook-ups, pools, jacuzzis, clubhouses with kitchens, even sometimes rentals of bikes, wind-surfers and other toys.
At the north end of the 14-mile road along Ocracoke Island, a free ferry leaves for Hatteras every half hour. Hatteras is about 60 miles long, and no more than a mile wide anywhere. There are three tiny villages, Frisco, Buxton and Avon, then three larger, totally tourist-oriented communities, blending into each other along the dunes, named Salvo, Waves and Rodanthe. North of Rodanthe, the 24 miles of remaining island is dedicated to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, where thousands of migrating birds stop each spring and fall.
On Hatteras, most of the tourist amenities are residential houses, or "cottages," almost invariably gray-shingled and built on stilts. They look fragile and spindly, but have weathered many a hurricane, including a glancing blow from Emily last year. Families and groups rent a cottage, often rendezvousing here from various parts of the country. They move in and stay for a week or two, keeping house in a casual way, eating out when they feel like it, and migrating up and down the one road every day, to sample the recreation features of different parts of the Park.
Between the small communities are miles of broad, beautiful beaches. Walkers and runners stay happy here, as do surf-casters, waders and happy adults using small children as an excuse to build sand castles. Some people bring chairs and chaises onto the sand, set up a small impromptu camp, and sit staring out to sea, reading, picnicking and snoozing, for hours. Hatteras affords a choice, all along its length, of the big breakers muscling in on the ocean side, or the calm sea stretching to westward on the Sound side.
In the water, vacationers play on surfboards, waverunners and windsurfers, rented at one of the shops nearby. Farther out, every kind of boat, from kayaks to yachts, including every kind of craft that can be used for fishing, pass by. Kites are ubiquitous overhead, for the steady breezes of the Outer Banks make kite-flying a reliable pleasure, and a great way for adults to entertain children - no crying here about kites that won't fly.
The sleek sportfishing craft of several marinas cluster under the high bridge at Oregon Inlet, and stretch all the way up Roanoke Sound to the village of Manteo. Above the inlet you're on Bodie Island, where Nags Head, about midway between Oregon Inlet and Kitty Hawk, is the largest village. There are beach cottages, several motels and many restaurants. Fresh seafood is, of course, a specialty on the Outer Banks, and generally ranges from excellent to outstanding, especially the bluefish.
A few miles north of Nags Head, the Wright Brothers' Memorial, at Kill Devil Hills, is on the site of the first flights. It packs a surprising emotional punch; the story, so familiar since childhood, of the first attempts to fly, becomes thrilling again when you see the pictures of the two quirky bike repairmen drudging away on their impossible dream. The little hangars (replicas of the originals) where Orville and Wilbur lived and worked on their machines while they were getting ready to fly, are touching in their simplicity. And the field where the first flights are marked out with four stone markers, each flight a little longer than its predecessor, conveys the excitement that they must have felt on Dec. 17, 1903.
The brothers were precise about what they meant by "the first powered flight"; it was the first time in history that "a machine carrying a man raised itself by its own power, sailed forward without a reduction of speed, and landed at a point as high as that from which it started." The first flight lasted 12 seconds, and went 120 feet. The small museum has displays of the Wrights' flying machines, as well as many firsts in flight and pictures of famous pilots. It makes lively browsing, and should not be skipped, but the drama is outside on the flat green field where the revolutionary action took place.
The Kitty Hawk area features several points marked Regional Beach Access, where cars and all-terrain vehicles can drive onto the beach. Surf-casting is practiced with a passion in these areas; 4-wheel-drive vehicles equipped with racks for several fishing rods often sit just out of the surf, their owners surf-casting nearby, often with several rods baited up at once. Tailgate picnics are the norm. Touring the beach on ATV's is allowed within the strict published rules about not damaging dunes or vegetation, and one shop offers guided ATV tours of the undeveloped beach above Corolla, where the road ends.
Some things are the same on all three islands. The speech of lifetime residents (you will not meet many) is a nearly impenetrable blend of Southern drawl, Old English accents and something else that must have arrived with the pirates and sailors from several Out Islands. Fishing, besides being a business for a number of local residents, is a competitive passion for countless others. Fishing tournaments go on year-round; their dates, and the regulations and addresses of weighing stations, are constantly published and available at all the marinas and tackle shops.
Amenities on the Outer Banks are designed primarily to satisfy the vacationing family, or extended-family-type group. Cottages offer relaxed, affordable living, and activities range from quite adventurous - hang gliding, diving, parasailing - through medium active - swimming, surf-sailing, kayaking - down to more contemplative pursuits such as solitary bike rides and beach walking. And because the setting is a glorious open vista of sea and sky, grandmas and tots can enjoy strolls and shelling while more active members satisfy their fantasies aloft, or in the water. The burned-out over-achiever who's been working too hard and just needs to sit on the beach, read a book, or watch birds fly, can do exactly that and no more, without feeling out of step.
A long list of night clubs, most of them clustered at Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills, satisfies inveterate party animals, and there's even shopping, mostly for crafts and T-shirts. The historical interest provided by the Wright Brothers Memorial is frosting on the cake.
It's the sea, the sand and the remarkable consistent winds that keep visitors coming happily to the Outer Banks.
by CNB