Our last day on the Outer Banks was divided between two outings, one south of Nags Head and one north. In the morning it was a trip south to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Bodie Lighthouse. In the afternoon a jaunt north to the city of Duck to explore the boardwalk along the Currituck Sound. The afternoon trip featured some souvernir shopping at some of the boardwalk's many little shops.
The Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is located on the north end of Hatteras Island just south of Nags Head. It comprises almost 6,000 acres of land and over 25,000 acres of water, and encompasses both the land next to the Croatan Sound as well as the ocean beach to the east of the main road. It extends from the Oregon Inlet to the town of Rodanthe, a distance of 13 miles.
We parked at the Refuge welcome center and set out on a walking trail to an observation platform one-half mile away. It was a sunny, almost-cloudless morning, warm with not much of a breeze, and not many birds out in the open, but still a very enjoyable hike through some very pretty coastal territory, albeit some of it manmade. Here are some pictures from our little walkabout.
A pleasant -- if a little warm -- walk out and back, but unfortunately not much avian action. We spent 15 minutes in the (air-conditioned, yes!) welcome station, bought a bauble or two, then headed north to the Bodie Lighthouse just over the bridge spanning the Oregon Inlet.
The Bodie Lighthouse (pronounced "body," which is the way the name of the island was originally spelled) is an operational lighthouse run by the National Park Service. It was completely renovated in 2013; prior to that it was deemed unsafe for the public to climb. There is an extensive boardwalk through the Bodie marshland and forest, but a foreboding sign at the start warns the public to remain on the boardwalk lest they encounter one of the many poisonous snakes in the area.
We decided to skip the boardwalk.
After leaving Bodie we stopped by our room at the First Colony Inn to dump our souvernir purchases and splash some water on our faces, then headed north towards Duck. Our first order of business, it being the noon hour, was to find lunch. The area around and above Nags Head is quite developed, and we found plenty of the usual fast-food suspects. Once again, we wanted something a cut above fast food. Nothing struck our fancy for a mile or two, then we spotted a Five Guys. We'd never eaten there, but had heard good things about it, so, our searches having turned up nowhere else we wanted to eat, in we went. And glad we did. We had really good burgers and more fries than we could eat at two meals. And having satisfied ourselves gastronomically, we again headed north.
The town of Duck boardwalk extends the entire length of the city on the Currituck Sound. The most northern part of the boardwalk comprises the Waterfront Shops, and this is where we spent most of our time. Of especial interest to us was a pet store (who would have guessed?) called Outer Barks. We left with an armload of stuff.
Here are a couple of photos I took on the Duck boardwalk.
The afternoon was waning, so we hauled our shopping bags to the car and headed back to Nags Head and the First Colony Inn for a little wine, then off to dinner at the Basnight Lone Cedar Cafe.
We had a wonderful time on the Outer Banks, and might even make it back some day. We left the next morning and headed to Asheville to spend the night with my sister Peggy, then headed to Atlanta with our dog Abby the next day.