North Carolina/South Carolina Trip Part 2: Outer Banks and the Lighthouses

I’m going to pick up where I left off last week, in regards to my December 2015 North Carolina trip.

Today I’m going to talk about the portion of our trip that was dedicated to the Outer Banks. In all of my planning, I hadn’t factored in my sister fear of bridges. And God bless, driving to the Outer Banks does require some bridges, and she was driving. A few deep breaths later, we made it. 

Roanoke River Lighthouse in Plymouth, NC

Before I forget, I should mention that…On our way TO the Outer Banks, we stopped in Plymouth, NC, to see the Roanoke River Lighthouse. They had a beautiful waterfront area.

After our jaunt basically from the Northwest part of the state through Chapel Hill, and to the Outer Banks, we were pooped. We got to the Kill Devil Hills/Nags Head area that night and set up camp. And by “set up camp,” I mean: We found our hotel and lugged our bags up to our rooms. We don’t camp. We are not camping folk (written as I laugh at the prospect of the Sheffield girls “roughing it.”).

One thing I would like to mention to those of you who might plan a trip to the Outer Banks…If you are planning to go during the off-season…even though it’s less crowded and less traffic and all of those good things, there are many businesses that are only open during the peak season. Restaurants included.

We wound up finding a local restaurant called “Rooster’s Southern Kitchen.” Now, y’all, I’m going to have myself a “Foodie Moment” for a hot minute. This girl was in heaven upon getting a salad topped with fried chicken that had been brined in pickle juice. Oh. My. Word. That was possibly the best fried chicken I have ever put in my mouth. The dessert was also out of this world. I had a Bananas Foster cheesecake; my mama had some cinnamon donut thingy topped with ice cream; and Rheba had a brownie topped with chocolate covered bacon. At that moment, calories didn’t count, and spanx were just what the doctor ordered. It was incredible.

The Sheffield Girls take on the ferry.

Where we were staying, in the Kill Devil Hills/Nags Head area. For those of you interested in visiting, this was the perfect central location for us. Our first day in the Outer Banks, we decided to head South to see the lower-half of the Outer Banks. We went to Hatteras and caught the ferry to Ocracoke Island. Rheba, Mom and I had never been on a ferry, so that was quite the experience in itself.

Ocracoke Island Lighthouse

We got to Ocracoke Island, and drove several miles until we found the lighthouse. Of all of the lighthouses we saw on the trip, this was the plainer of the lighthouses that we saw on this trip. After visiting the lighthouse, we trekked back across the island to see the wild horses. Having a very horsey person with us (Rheba), the horses made us giggle a bit. When I heard the term “wild horses on an island” I guess I just pictured horses running wild on a beach. Well, they were NEAR a beach (across the road from one, actually); however, they were in a fenced in area. I’m positive that they were descendants of wild horses’ way back when…but I think they might have been a little domesticated when the fence went up around them. Alas, that is my lowly opinion.

Up top is the Ocracoke Island Beach.  Below is the "wild horses."

We hopped back on the ferry and headed back towards Hatteras. It has been a pretty overcast day, but the sun began peeking through as we drove towards Buxton. This made for some gorgeous photos at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton, NC

I will need to describe Highway 12 a bit to y’all. Highway 12, which is the direct road that we took from Nags Head to Hatteras and back that day, is a winding 2-lane road with fairly high sand dunes on either side of the road. Upon driving it, we quickly learned why early evacuations are stressed during an impending hurricane. While I know that many of the homes are unoccupied for good portions of the year, I realize that the height of hurricane season is during the peak months. I cannot even begin imagine the masses trying to evacuate all at once on Highway 12. That 50-something mile trip seemed to take so long that night as we were heading back towards Nags Head, and the traffic was nearly non-existent. The clouds grew darker as a summer squall started closing in. As the wind picked up, the sand from the sand dunes danced across the road in front of us. We ended up stopping to eat, while we waited on the storm to pass.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, NC

The next day, we traveled North with Corolla in our sights. Corolla actually has several attractions, though. They have the Wild Horse Museum (their wild horses do run free); you can see the old Corolla Schoolhouse which was estimated to have been built somewhere between 1890 and 1905; there was an amazing little local bookstore across the street from the Wild Horse Museum when we visited; and of course, there is the lighthouse.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

The lighthouse in Corolla is called the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. It’s rather unassuming. Close pictures were hard to take because of all of the trees around it, and the Lighthouse keeper’s house being in front of it.  We got some the best we could close-up, then took more from a distance.

Duck, NC

Possibly one of the prettiest, uncommercialized areas in the Outer Banks was Duck. Duck was just so pretty to me. In fact, I told mom to pull off the road once so that I could get a picture of the shore. The water was different in the Outer Banks, it was such a deep, rich blue. That was something I couldn’t seem to over.

Bodie Island Lighthouse in Nags Head, NC

Cynthia Kay in front of the Bodie Island Lighthouse

We made our way back down to Nags Head, where we visited our last lighthouse on the Outer Banks, The Bodie Island Lighthouse. This was my favorite of all of the lighthouses we saw. I just loved it. It seemed no matter which filter I used on my Instagram, and no matter the angle, the photos just turned out perfect.

Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse in Manteo, NC

On our way out, back towards the main land, we stopped at Manteo, at the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.

Oak Island Lighthouse at Caswell Beach, NC

We stopped for the night in some little town, and the next morning began our jaunt to Caswell Beach. There, we found our final light house of the trip, The Oak Island Lighthouse. Out of the three of us, I believe my sister got some of the best photos of this lighthouse. If you notice that this one looks more modern, it’s because it is. It was only built in 1957. The Caswell Beach was very nice. From a certain point, you could look out across the water and see Old Baldy, the oldest of the lighthouses.

If you look closely, you can see Old Baldy in the distance from Caswell Beach.

**Author’s note: We could’ve taken a boat ride across the water to Old Baldy for like $75 a piece, but then we would’ve had to hike to it. Not only are the Sheffield girls a bit cheap, we also are not hikers.**

Next week, sometime, I will cover the last leg of the trip…which covers Monck’s Corner, Charleston, and Fernandina.