The Outer Banks Day 4

     This morning I allowed myself to sleep in. Natalie was agreeable to this plan. We snuggled until 8:30. I put on a heavy jacket over my pj.’s, opened the door and it was warm. How nice! I took Nat on a quick walk around the complex for her to do her business and came back to the cabana. She was not happy that we had not gone to the beach instead. She let me know this when I began ascending the stairs to the deck by balking. She looked up at me and sent me this message, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” “No, darling, we will do it later.” I’ve been calling her darling since last summer because she is just that – darling.

     It was a mundane morning. We ate breakfast. She washed her belly and feet. I vacuumed a ton of sand off the floor. I cleaned up and dressed. I stopped by the Dancing Turtle for a latte before driving down the road to catch the ferry to Ocracoke. Nat curled up in her crate.

     A ferry leaves for Ocracoke Island on the hour every hour.  We were early. At 11:00 we drove onto the ferry and departed shortly after. I stayed in the van a good while and deeply regret now that I didn’t get out to take pictures. There were a flock of seagulls (real seagulls not the singing group) at the end of the ferry looking like they were going to attack. I couldn’t help thinking about Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. I was somewhat spooked. They looked like they were flying in place.  They were there for the longest time. They wanted food. It was eerie. I am almost tempted to take another ferry ride to get pictures. There weren’t seagulls on the way back.

     It is about a 35 to 45 minute ride to Ocracoke. The trip went by quickly. Ocracoke Village is at the other end of the island which is about 13 miles. Ocracoke Island is owned by the US Park Service but Ocracoke Village is not. It is quaint. The Decoy Shop was not opened. I wanted to go there because the Toronto couple recommended it. I did go the lighthouse but it was closed so no trip to the top for me. I drove around for a while before stopping at Howard’s Pub which had been recommended by a number of people. I had a crabby lunch. I had a heavenly crab and corn chowder followed by a fried crab cake sandwich with homemade Idaho fries. Excellent!!! The wait staff was great and super friendly.

     We returned back to Hatteras via ferry. There was a nine minute period of time that the ferry idled in the channel. I thought that I was going to have an adventure to blog about but nothing exciting happened. Nat slept and I read more of Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. (I finished it later. Awesome book!. A little outdated but the thoughts and message are still the same.) Had a great hour of walk/run on the beach with Natalie.  It was sunny, warm with a mild wind at our fronts on the way back.

     Nat’s epicurean thumbs up (or in her case, dew claws) for today went to crab cakes and garlic bologna sandwiches with mayo and baked Tuscan Herb chips. My little darling is tuckered out and asleep. I am about to join her.

     I am very tempted to change my Facebook status from single to having a relationship with The Outer Banks. J