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Cape Hatteras, North
Carolina |
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Hatteras Island History The trends of the year 2002 have proven that Americans are looking to the simpler things for entertainment and joy: time with family members, communicating with nature, outdoor recreation and quite time, pure and simple. There is probably nowhere on earth better suited to this attitude than Hatteras Island. Whether you're on the island for an entire week's vacation or a simple afternoon visit, Hatteras has the simplicity you're craving. Hatteras Island provides for solitude, with 50 miles of beach stretching from Oregon Inlet to the north to Hatteras Inlet in the south. Undeveloped land is the ultimate in simplicity, and 85 percent of this slender barrier island is unadulterated federal property, where long reaches of rugged dunes, wild-blown brush, wide beaches, and soundside wetlands are forever protected from development by Cape Hatteras National Seashore (established in 1953) and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Outdoor recreation is a key component of the Hatteras experience and the island is most appreciated by people who spend a lot of their time in nature. Fishing, surfing, wind- and kite-surfing, kayaking, biking, swimming, bird watching and strolling the beach are just some of the activities people enjoy on the island. While solitude and relaxation are part of the Hatteras Island experience, the island does provide all the amenities necessary for a comfortable vacation. The island has superb restaurants, shops, accommodations and historical attractions, even a movie theater, but it's all balanced in a way that makes the island feel refreshingly simple. Rising up out of the island's landscape are seven unincorporated communities, each with a character all its own. From north to south, Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village sit along the edges of N.C Highway 12, the island's main artery. About 12 miles from the northern tip of the island, the first developed area you approach is the Tri-Village area of Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo. It's impossible for the untrained eye to tell where one village ends and another begins, but the locals can tell you. These village are quite and unpretentious, and vacationers are treated to true local flavor. Rodanthe is the liveliest of the three small communities, with the most vacation amenities, shops, and restaurants and the island's largest amusement park. Rodanthe is home to the picturesque 1874 Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station, which has been restored and houses exhibits on shipwrecks and lifesaving and features a live lifesaving drill on Thursdays at 2 p.m. Waves is a sleepy residential town, with a great deal of vacation rental properties on the ocean side. There is no sign marking the entrance to Waves because surfers stole it every time they put one up. Salvo is predominantly residential, with several vacation rental offerings. The village was named for the salvo (simultaneous firing of cannon) it was given by Union soldiers in the Civil War. A National Park Service day-use area just south of the village is perfect for tranquil soundside picnicking and recreation. The village of Avon rises up out of the flat landscape 10 miles south of Salvo. Avon was originally called Kinnakeet, a name that is still used by true natives. The name changed when the village got a post office in 1883. There are two sides to Avon, the modern vacationers' side near the ocean, and the Old Avon Village area, where the locals live in quaint older cottages with island charm. Avon has the island's only large chain grocery store and movie theater as well as many commercial offerings. Just south of Avon is Canadian Hole, the most popular wind- and kite-surfing spot on the Outer Banks. Situated at the widest part of the island, Buxton is the hub of Hatteras Island. The island's only school, Dare County branch offices, restaurants, hotels, and stores make this a busy place. The 200-foot-tall Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the focal point of the village. The point of land that juts into the sea at Buxton is called Cape Point, and it's one of the best places on the Outer Banks for fishing and surfing. Buxton Woods, a rare maritime forest, provides some of the few shady places in the area. Explore this fascinating ecosystem on the Buxton Woods nature trail. Just south of Buxton, Frisco is perfect for a quite vacation. Tiny Frisco includes parts of Buxton Woods and has a popular pier and beach access area. A couple of great art galleries are in Frisco, and the nationally recognized Frisco Native American Museum is a serene wonder stocked with authentic artifacts and educational displays. At the southernmost end of the island, Hatteras Village is a picture-book fishing village, home to several marinas filled with commercial and recreational fishing vessels. Hatteras Village has several motels, restaurants, and shops to accommodate its many visitors. The much-anticipated Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, at the southernmost point of the village, will open in 2003. The ferry to Ocracoke Island leaves from the southern tip of Hatteras Village. Between these villages are stretches of open spaces, where you can find a quite beach or soundside spot to claim as your own.
I spent a week here the latter part of June, 2002. I had been here a couple of times a number of years ago and liked the area very much. It seemed perfect for biking: long stretches of straight roads WITHOUT HILLS! This part was true, but the week I chose followed four days of heavy rains, so the area was pretty soggy with the forecast of more showers and thunderstorms for the next few days. The first day I biked from Frisco Woods Campground (where I stayed the first three days) to Hatteras where you can catch the free ferry (a 40 minute trip) to Ocracoke Island. Sure enough, I got caught on deck in a shower. I was the only cyclist and all the other passengers had hightailed it to their vehicles and stayed dry. I was still undeterred until we docked at Ocracoke. I then asked how far it was into town and was told 13 to 14 miles - the town of Ocracoke is on the other end of the island. Well, the sky was still threatening, so I decided to stay on the ferry for the return trip and try the next day. Again, on the way back, another shower and I still had five miles to cycle back to the campground. It didn't rain again that afternoon, so I did dry off on the road and thought I'd do the trip early the next day. Listening to the forecast on the radio Saturday morning, forecast was showers and thunderstorms again for that day, Sunday and through Tuesday (the day I was leaving the area). I decided to forego the bike ride to the town of Ocracoke until another year. Ocracoke Harbor was once home to Blackbeard the Pirate who was killed here in 1718. I did spend the two days cycling and sightseeing, but shorter trips where I could get in out of the rain if necessary. The second day I decided to cycle up to Avon and back. While the forecast was rain in the afternoon, I did get caught in another rainstorm about 10:30 when heading back south from Avon. At least the first half of the ride was pleasant!
For nearly two centuries after the settlement of North Carolina, hundreds of ships met their fate along the treacherous coast. So, in the late 1700s, funding was appropriated to build lighthouses, the first was on Cape Hatteras in 1802. The Ocracoke Lighthouse came next in 1823 and is one of the oldest continually operating lighthouses in the United States. After the Civil War, the government realized that the Hatteras Light was too short, too faint and too unstable. Construction of five new and improved lighthouses at 40-mile intervals began along the Banks. The 150-foot Cape Lookout Lighthouse near Morehead City served as the model for the future lighthouses at Hatteras, Currituck, and Bodie Island. In 1870, the original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was replaced by the current majestic, candy-striped structure. At 208 feet, it is the tallest in the nation. In 1999, the National Park Service embarked on a 12-million-dollar project which moved he lighthouse, threatened by erosion, 2,900 feet to the southwest to preserve it from the fate of its predecessor.
Wright Brothers Memorial, Kitty Hawk
The Lost Colony Symphonic Drama at Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island. A 400-year-old mystery haunts Roanoke Island. Here, 117 men, women and children lived for a short time - then vanished without a trace, leaving historians with a mystery that has never been solved. The Lost Colony is their story, told summer nights in a dazzling spectacle of song, dance and drama, beneath the stars at Waterside Theatre, 1409 Highway 64/264, Box Office (252) 473-3414, email: info@thelostcolony.com web: http://www.thelostcolony.org 1-800-488-5012
Roanoke Island Festival Park
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