This past weekend is what most think of as the official end of summer. Keith and I decided to hop onto the Ocracoke to Cedar Island ferry with our Jeep. Once disembarked from the ferry on Cedar Island, we would drive the 60 minutes to Morehead City to see our friends Dr. Mike and Debbie. They just purchased a condo in Beaufort/Morehead City area and had invited us to come see it. So Saturday morning we caught the 7:30 AM ferry to Cedar Island. Our other friends from Ocracoke, Russ and Michele Reynolds, also crossed on a later ferry to meet us there.
Sitting in the Jeep on the ferry as we leave Silver Lake Harbor in Ocracoke for Cedar Island. You can see boats anchored in the harbor as we pull out.
The North Carolina Ferry System is part of the NC Department of Transportation. They operate over 2 dozen ferry services that transport passengers and vehicles to several islands along the NC Outer Banks. The first ferries began running in the 1920's. Captain J B "Toby" Tillett started a tug and barge service that ran across Oregon Inlet to the Outer Banks. The NC Highway Commission recognized the importance of this service and began subsidizing the Tillett ferry.
As the years passed, the Highway Commission bought both Tillett's business and another private ferry running to Roanoke Island. By 1950 the NC Ferry System had several official routes. Today the ferry system operates 22 ferries and 10 support vessels including tugs, barges, dredges, and military-style landing craft utility vessels. It operates over 5 bodies of water and its ferries cover 1,200 miles each day. Each year over 1 million vehicles and 2 million passengers use the NC ferries. There are 3 classes of ferries in the system, the Hatteras Class, River Class, and Sound Class. The Sound Class is the largest and can carry up to 50 cars. It is specifically built to traverse the shallow waters of the sounds and withstand the turbulent waters and high winds that are common to the NC sounds.
Here is our Jeep as seen from the top seating area on the ferry as we cross Pamlico Sound toward Cedar Island. This is a Sound Class ferry.
Some of the seating area and looking toward the back (stern) of the ferry.
Once we disembarked the ferry in Cedar Island we drove to Beaufort, NC. The drive is very pretty. It is out in the country for sure. There is not much out here. A lot of open space and a few small hamlets.
In the basin at Cedar Island
We arrived in the Beaufort/Morehead City area around 11:00 AM. There were several errands we wanted to run while having the opportunity (needed a Jeep battery, hair cut, fabric, etc.). We were finished by early afternoon and headed to our friends condo for lunch. Dr. Mike and Debbie have a beautiful place. They are on the top floor of the building and their view from the deck of the sound and downtown Beaufort is fantastic.
Russ and Keith taking in the view
Dr. Mike and Debbie have 2 black labs that love the water. Here they are jumping off the dock at the condo for a swim.
Reggie and Remmie in the water.
After visiting at the condo and letting the dogs have a swim, Keith and I headed to our hotel in Beaufort to get cleaned up before dinner.
Our lovely room at the Inlet Inn in Beaufort
We all met in downtown Beaufort for drinks and dinner Saturday evening.
My pineapple/coconut mojito at Moonrakers Saturday evening
Dinner was on the screened porch at Aqua. This is one of our favorite restaurants in Beaufort. The meal was wonderful, service impeccable, and company phenomenal.
Russ and Keith at dinner
Here's the entire gang together.
Girls top to bottom: Debbie, Me, and Michele
Guys top to bottom: Dr. Mike, Keith, and Russ
It was a really nice visit and Keith and I said how easy the trip was to hop across with the ferry. We are so glad we did it. Sunday morning we all had breakfast and lunch at the condo and then Keith and I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things that the small store on Ocracoke does not carry. We were on the road driving back to catch the Cedar Island ferry by 3PM.
Loading back onto the ferry to return to Ocracoke
We had a spot under the roof this time
Russ, Michele, and their pup Millie were on the ferry returning with us.
Millie sticking her head out of the car window before sleeping for the rest of the journey home to Ocracoke. She was exhausted after visiting with her friends Dr. Mike's black labs.
The 2 1/4 hour ferry ride went quickly (mostly because Keith and I cat napped through the majority of it). We were pulling back onto Ocracoke at a little after 7PM Sunday. It was a great way to finish off the summer. Now I am ready for fall with cooler temps, lower humidity, and big fish like tuna and wahoo returning to the coast. Watch out fishes, we are coming for you.
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