Monday, June 1, 2020

Ocracoke: There and Back Again

A delightful three days in Ocracoke truly helped my nerves. Here are a few random photos of my time there with my friend Mary.

Views of the 1823 lighthouse, from the deck of the house where we stayed:

 And a bit closer:

It's 75 feet tall and its walls are 5 feet thick.
I also painted a small watercolor as a gift for the home-owner:

We went to the beach once:




We ate at a Mexican food truck:


We painted on the deck during one of many rainy times:

But mostly we both loved riding around the village in the golf cart, stopping at various shops. I had loads of fun shopping for little gifts for the kids, and books for the grandkids.

I also bought myself a new breakfast coffee mug bowl. It's massive.

Here's a very cool coffee table centerpiece candle, made of oyster shells.

I would make one, if I had oyster shells.

Ocracoke was not too much damaged during Hurricane Florence in 2018, but it was decimated by Hurricane Dorian last fall. A 3-foot wall of water inundated the island, stayed for a few hours, and then left. Here's a lovely shop on a sandy, wooded path in the village, with high water markers for many hurricanes back to 1985. At first I thought, "Oh, Dorian's not there! It must not've been too bad!"
Then Mary said, "Um, look on the wall."
That's Dorian, back there. SO much water.

People tend to raise their homes way up after repeated flooding (if their insurance company allows them to). 
 Here's the Methodist church.
I got a picture of Oscar's House, where Adam and I honeymooned nearly 31 years ago!
They have extended on the right, making a shop. We stayed in the upstairs bedroom above the front porch, where those two little windows are. New owners have finally relieved our old hostess of her labors. The cedar siding looks nice and new.

Ocracoke is a unique village that defies time, defies disaster, and welcomes everyone.
 Old cemeteries along the sandy lanes in the village center.

3 comments:

Granny Marigold said...

I'm surprised you only stayed 3 days. I thought you'd stay longer. Sounds like you had a good time though and that's the main thing. I like your lighthouse painting. When we used to travel we'd visit lighthouses wherever we could find them.
I can't imagine the terror of living through a hurricane not to mention the awful mess once it's left.

Una said...

Lovely to hear about your relaxing break. We are allowed short drives but cannot stay overnight anywhere. People are going stir crazy, sad to say.

Lisa Richards said...

Sounds like a peaceful retreat. So nice to have a painting friend. Those are hard to come by!