NC OBX Trip: At Camp Hatteras

Friday, 15 April 2011

We made it safe and sound.  It wasn’t an overly long drive down from DC, but for some reason we feel dead tired.  I think our busy schedule earlier this week is catching up to us.  The weather forecast is iffy for tomorrow, and for once, we welcome a reason to stay home and not jump in the car and start exploring as we’re wont to do.

The nearly 300-mile (480 km) drive was uneventful.  We had great travel weather with clear skies and plenty of sunshine, and temps in the 65F (18C) range by early afternoon.  We didn’t dally along the way, but a few rest stops here and there, and a lunch stop at a rest area in the Outer Banks (OBX) all added up.  It was around 2:30p when we pulled into Camp Hatteras, just south of Rodanthe.

A straight shot down I-66 W, to I-95 S, to I-64 E, to Rte 158 E, and finally Rte 12 S.
(there were a few other roads somewhere in there as well.)

In Kitty Hawk, we stopped at the OBX Visitor Center to collect some brochures to peruse tomorrow when we sit down to plan out our time here.

This is our first visit to the OBX.

A surprise find at the visitor center was the Monument to a Century of Flight, dedicated 8 November 2003 “in celebration of the soaring of the human spirit.”   The Insiders Guide to North Carolina’s Outer Banks (checked out from the library before we left on the trip) describes the monument as follows:

… It features stainless-steel pylons placed in ascending order of height, symbolizing the steps humans have taken to reach the heavens.  Adorning the pylons are black granite slabs that name 100 of the most important moments in the history of flight.  The courtyard contains 5,000 bricks, each engraved with a sponsor’s message. …

I hope to stop by the monument again on our way back to take some more photographs using my wide-angle lens.  In the meantime, here is a collage of photos from today’s brief visit.

“oh!  I have slipped the surly bonds of earth … and touched the  face of god.”
Visitors to the monument are greeted by the words of John G. Magee, a young american
who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in England in 1941. a few months after
writing the words, he was killed in action in his spitfire over england.

Here are a few photos I took as we made our way down the narrow chain of islands to the campground.  I limited my shutter-clicking as the windshield was streaked by recent rains … apologies for the bad quality; the harsh, mid-day light didn’t help much either.  I’ll do better when we go out to explore with the toad and I can actually get out of the car to take photos.

This is one of the bridges that connect the islands of the OBX.

At first I thought this barge was dredging the sound, but now I'm not so sure.
Any thoughts?

Sand dunes abound on Route 12.

We arrived to a big, mostly-empty Camp Hatteras.  No surprise, I guess … the OBX season is just winding up.  While I went to check us in, Mui unhooked the toad since we knew that we were going to have to back-in to our site.  This campground, which stretches from the Atlantic to Pamlico Sound, is not inexpensive … but then, nothing in the OBX is.  We had reserved an oceanside premier site at $65/night for full hook-ups; cable TV extra (we opted out).  Not cheap, that’s for sure, but if we’re going to splurge, we might as well do it while we’re still gainfully employed.  (The campground does offer a variety of discounts, Good Sam and military amongst them, but we got a better deal with a 15% discount by showing the OBX Getaway Card, which we downloaded from the internet before our trip … good only during the off season.)

We’re in site 46 (see red arrow at the top).
[courtesy of the Camp Hatteras website]

Maneuvering into site 46 was easy thanks to the open space between us and the sand dunes on the other side of the road.  The level, concrete pad made it easy to get settled in no time.  The sites are fairly close together; definitely would not want to be here during peak season.  For today at least, we have no neighbors to our left, and just a 5er to our right, which is separated from us by an empty site; we’ll see what the weekend brings.

The view out the front window is of the sand dunes that block the ocean from sight.  We knew that would be the case at the time we made the reservation, so no surprise.  We actually don’t mind the dunes as they protect us from the wind.  It’s very quiet here; the only sound is that of the waves crashing ashore … love that sound.

Site 46 at Camp Hatteras.

With no trees or other obstructions to worry about, this was a good opportunity to test our satellite.  So, while I put away groceries and such, Mui got on the phone with DirecTV.  Looks like we might be missing a connection to something the customer service rep referred to as an “HD filter.”  No TV tonight; Mui’ll take another crack at things tomorrow … if he feels like it.  After all, we’re not here to watch TV.

By the time all was said and done, it was 5:00p.  We wanted to take a look-see at the beach and the ocean, so we walked across the road and used the access stairs to get to the strip of sand that fronts the campground.  The 10 mph (16 kph) wind was whipping the ocean into a frenzy … gorgeous as long as you don’t plan to go for a swim.

On the way back to our site, we took a quick walk through the campground.  Though there are more sites occupied further in, the place is really quite deserted.  Not complaining mind you.  Further exploration was put on hold as the time was nearing 7:00p and we were getting awfully hungry.  We kept things simple tonight, just heating up a couple of frozen entrees for dinner … made washing up easier too. 

Mui called it an early night after checking his email.  As for me … well, the blog awaited.

There’s free wi-fi at Camp Hatteras.  Earlier, the connection was as slow as molasses, but the speed has improved considerably since then.  I’ve been able to quickly upload photos for the blog.  Now, I’d better wrap up and post this entry and then hit the sack.