Getaway to Hatteras Island, NC

Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina’s famed Outer Banks, is romanticized in book, song and film – and less populated than most of the OBX. September is a particularly good time to visit – IF there are no hurricanes coming.

Friday...
Get away early, head southeast from Richmond, take the Chesapeake Expressway into North Carolina, and you’re on Hatteras by late morning.

Notice:
The Pea Island Nature Reserve, with dunes, ponds, marshes, many species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians – and 365 species of birds. The reserve, along with the much larger Cape Hatteras National Seashore, keep most of Hatteras Island free from development. (www.fws.gov/peaisland/)

Stop:
The Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. The station, a forerunner of a U.S. Coast Guard facility, has been restored to the day when surfmen heroically rescued stricken sailors. Most notable was the fiery rescue of 42 British sailors following the 1918 sinking of the Mirlo, a tanker blown up by mines set by a German U-boat. (www.chicamacomico.net).

Stop:
The Rodanthe Fishing Pier (originally and often still called the Hatteras Island Fishing Pier), one of three piers on the island. You needn’t fish to appreciate the pace of pier life; for $1, you can walk on out. If you saw “Nights in Rodanthe,” you’ll remember the party scene filmed here. (www.HatterasIslandResort.com)

Lodging:
For no-frills bargain, the Salvo Inn Motel (we’re serious when we say no-frills). For nicer digs, the Outer Banks Motel (get one of the rooms on the beach) or the Comfort Inn, both in Buxton. (www.ncbeaches.com/OuterBanks/Salvo/, www.outerbanksmotel.com, www.outerbankscomfortinn.com)


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Saturday

Stop:
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. A no-brainer. If you’ve never been to Hatteras, you HAVE to visit the 208-foot-high, spiral-striped structure that is the nation’s tallest and most distinctive lighthouse. In shape? Climb the 268 steps for a spectacular view. (www.nps.gov/caha/)

Notice or Stop:
Cape Point. Just south of the lighthouse is the “elbow” of the island. Walk the beach, sunbathe, fish or surf – and gaze out at the treacherous Diamond Shoals offshore. They don’t call this “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” for nothing.

Stop:
The Frisco Native American Museum and Natural History Center. Here is a surprising array of artifacts not only from Hatteras but around the U.S. (www.nativeamericanmuseum.org)

Lodging:
Stay another night in Buxton or head down to the Sea Gull Motel in Hatteras Village, near the island’s southern end. A longtime Hatteras family runs the motel, which was partially rebuilt after Hurricane Isabel destroyed it in 2003. (www.seagullhatteras.com)


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Sunday

Walk:
The peaceful Hatteras Village harbor and triangle area. The village once sported thriving commercial fishing and charter fishing industries, now eclipsed by tourism. Make sure you see the Burruss Red & White Supermarket, long run by a longtime Hatteras family, and the next-door historic weather bureau station and visitors center. (www.hatterasonmymind.com)

Notice:
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, near the Ocracoke Ferry at the island’s end of N.C. Highway 12. Viewed from its end, the structure appears to be an overturned ship. The museum, closed on weekends, is worth making a return trip. (www.graveyardoftheatlantic.com/)

Optional:
If you have time, take the 40-minute free ferry south to Ocracoke Island, a quaint village bordering on the sound and not the ocean – and thus unlike the rest of the Outer Banks.


If you don’t have the time, don’t worry. Once you visit Hatteras, you’ll be back.

 

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Ray McAllister, editor of Boomer Life, is the author of three North Carolina coastal books, including the newly published “Hatteras Island: Keeper of the Outer Banks ” For more, visit www.RayMcAllister.com.