1984 East Coast: Chincoteague and Outer Banks (2/19-20/1984)

Sunday, February 19, 1984

I was first in the bathroom to find the toilet wouldn’t flush and that only a little water came out of the tub faucet, and nothing from the showerhead. So I took a squat shower like in India. No luck for Kathy, who washed up in the ink. We turned in our key and I told the girl at the desk there was no water pressure. She knew, and said it was back now, did we want to go back to the room to take showers? Nah. We left at 8:00 and I drove this time, heading down US 13. We entered Virginia, and before we knew it we were turned onto Virginia State Route 175 to Chincoteague Island. We passed a NASA area and its closed Visitor Center, then crossed a causeway to enter the resort town of Chincoteague. We passed through town with its crushed seashell parking lots, and started across a bridge to Assateague Island. Off in the distance we saw a great blue heron walking in shallow water and shaggy horses. We drove around the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Around a curve we saw a herd of deer.

Cervus nippon/Sika Deer

Cervus nippon/Sika Deer

Cervus nippon/Sika Deer

We stopped along with many others to photograph them, and gave them the last of our crackers. There was water all around, so plenty of water fowl, with Canada geese, Mallard ducks, and grackles. We identified Whistler swans. We reached the sand dunes and parked to walk over to the beach to see the surf rolling in.

Assateague Island beach

Assateague Island sand dunes

Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge

We returned to the car and drove out to the mainland. There were joggers in the refuge. Out near the NASA center, we saw a possible Peregrine falcon on a fence post. We got gas on US 13 and headed south again.

We found a Burger King at 10:30 to be just in time for breakfast. We continued onward, paying a $9 toll to go across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It turned out to be a nice sunny day. There was a long lines of seagulls flying alongside the bridge, the appropriate side to go north as if flying along with the traffic.

We drove on to Norfolk, using I-64 to bypass the city. Then headed south on US 17. This went through the Dismal Swamp, and once we entered North Carolina, we traveled along the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp National Park. It was indeed swampy in some places that we could see, although mostly it was undergrowth. There was a canal to our right and some areas that were cleared out. We knew we were in the South when we saw the signs for pecans.

In Elizabeth City, we headed east on US 158, passing shacks and stands offering ham. Once we reached the ocean, we headed south. The road took us over to the outer banks, first reaching Kitty Hawk. There were a lot of new beach houses being built. We saw a Brew-Thru, a drive through beverage store. We drove through ourselves and the walls were lined with beverages. A girl came out to give us our two Dr. Peppers. Only 50 cents each! We drove on the Big Kill Devil Hill, a 90’ hill in the middle of flat land where the Wright brothers did their flying experiments and had their first successful flight. On top of the hill was a large memorial.

Big Kill Devil Hill and Wright Brothers Memorial

We drove down along the dunes of the Outer Banks, passing through Nags Head with two gigantic sand dunes, and then on a bridge over Oregon Inlet. We were now on VA SR 12. Some of the sand dunes had long grasses growing on them, and looked like furry camels humps. There were also old abandoned telephone poles leaning haphazardly in every direction in a crooked line. There were stunted palms and century-plant type plants. In one large field of geese, half were recognizable as Canada geese and the rest were dull white (Snow geese?).

We stopped at a parking area and walked over the sand dune to the beach.

Kathy goes beachcombing at the Outer Banks

Outer Banks sand dune

Big breakers were rolling in.

Breakers rolling in

Human footprint

Surf backwash channel

Gull prints

Crab claw

Broken asphalt

More gull prints

Sea oats

We went beachcombing for a long way, and were done about 17:00. We continued along the Outer Banks until the sun set. We came to the black and white barber pole striped lighthouse of Cape Hatteras, the tallest in the US, and decided to find a hotel there in Buxton.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We checked into the Cape Pines Motel, for $30 and no key deposit!

Cape Pines Motel receipt

The girl in the motel recommended the Buxton Drive-In for dinner. We ordered subs, but they only had one sub roll left. Kathy changed her order to a roast beef sandwich. We played the video game Norbert as we waited. We returned to the hotel and went across the street to buy a newspaper. But they only had last Thursday’s edition. Back in the room we watched “International Velvet” and “Sophie’s Choice.” A massage for Kathy’s back.

Monday, February 20, 1984

Happy Washington’s Birthday!

We went over to the grocery store for a newspaper to learn the tide times. There are two high tides and two low tides, all at odd times. We returned to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and parked to walk on the beach.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

It was near high tide, so the beachcombing pickings were not very good. We brought along plastic bags to collect our findings that included a thing that looked like a series of connected coins (conch snail egg sacs). As we walked back studying footprints of man, beast and bird, we found a broken whisky bottle that we picked up to throw away. A pelican flew by. We then continued to the town of Hatteras to check out the ferry schedule. The Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry left every hour on the hour and it was 9:45. However, the connecting ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Point would not leave until 16:00, and it takes two hours. There was another ferry at 12:30, but it would take us too far out of our way. So we decided to drive back up the Outer Banks (it is like a dead end street!). We got the cassette player out of the trunk to keep us company. We then decided to do one more beachcombing trek. We found a five-foot fish carcass with an odd head: a hammerhead shark!

Hammerhead shark remains

What a find, even if it was half-rotted! We saw many crab bodies (missing their legs) and these strange blue bubbles, which were hard to pop, but did go “pop!”

Crab

Man o' War Jelly (blueish)

Driftwood

We saw what seemed to be a hundred plovers picking in the surf, and running along with blurred legs to avoid the surf.

On our drive back up the Outer Banks, we saw thing we missed on the drive down, like burned brush and the Salvo site of the Mirlo ship rescue where a German sub downed a British tanker. Before Nag’s Head we turned onto US 264 to cross to the mainland and head south along the main coast. We seemed to be following a canal along the road filled with perfectly calm water that reflected the pine trees and brush.

Canal reflection

Canal reflection

Kathy spotted a row of turtles on a log. By the time we turned around for a closer look, they had splashed into the water. We ended up seeing lots and lots of turtles, but they did not stay put for a photo. Whenever we stopped for turtles, we heard strange noises in the woods; rubbing, clucking, and whooping noises. Some sort of huge bird? A mating alligator? Bigfoot? This part of North Carolina reminded me somehow of the tea plantations, with the low shrubbery and occasional tall pines.

We passed more cleared out marshes, shack farms, and saw several black farmers. They had yellow jonquils blooming. We passed several forest fire lookout towers, and passed a shop selling plaster lawn decorative statues. We wondered how such a business manages, then noticed that 9 out of 10 homes in the area had such decorations! We saw a field of pigs, and backyards full of what looked like lobster traps (crab traps). We saw robins and began seeing Spanish moss in the trees.

We turned down US 17 and ended up in New Bern, NC for a meal at McDonald’s. Kathy spotted the McDonald’s from afar as we were looking for US 70. The town was full of historical markers. We headed down US 70 along the edge of the Croatan National Forest, which seemed to be built up with trailer homes, clubs (such as for men only, a self-kicking club, etc.). We also noticed most of the guys had half bald Marine haircuts, as there was a base nearby. It seemed as if everyone had a least one pickup truck; they were everywhere! We continued along the Sunset Strip to Morehead City, then out onto the island with Atlantic Beach. We drove the whole length of the island, only to find it totally built up with homes, condominiums, etc. We did find a beach access road and walked along a barren beach. There was mist rising and a cloud-covered sunset. We drove back to Morehead City and checked into the Buccaneer Motor Lodge, where the room was only $25 plus tax.

Buccaneer Motor Lodge receipt

We went to a shopping plaza to look for lip balm and shampoo, and found a place to wash the car. A quarter to vacuum out the car, and two sets of 50 cents to operate the hose for wash and rinse. Very powerful!

Back to the hotel where Kathy stretched out her back. We bought a National Enquirer to laugh at and a Cosmopolitan that had a listing of the richest bachelors to whom you could write. Not so hot, or else their qualifications could not be met!