Heading to the Outer Banks is a summer tradition for nearly every family in Virginia & North Carolina. For years I've been going to Nags Head, Corolla, or Frisco. Once or twice I've been to Ocracoke. Never before, though, have I tried staying at Cape Lookout instead - that will change forever after this trip to the National Seashore!
Finding a remote stretch of beach to enjoy by oneself is always the challenge, but at Cape Lookout that scene is abundant! With miles of beach to drive on and only a handful of visitors, finding your own piece of paradise is a breeze ;-)
For this trip, Rebecca and I invited another couple, Lindsay and Chris, to join us. We each drove separately, then consolidated gear into the Crosstrek before taking a ferry to the island.
The park has cabins for rent at a very reasonable rate and there are (2) ferry services available to transport a vehicle, along with several other ferries offering passenger transport. We used the Davis Shore Ferry Service and were extremely pleased with their friendly attitude along with the ability to order firewood, water, or ice to be delivered with one of the scheduled ferry stops. The best part of the ferry ride was watching the captain dock on the Cape Lookout side. His control of the large boat was amazing as he pivoted it around a set of pylons and gently spun the vessel 180 degrees into port.
When we first arrived, we met the volunteer, Doug. He was as amiable host, willing to give us the lowdown on the beach, cabins, and even working with us to upgrade from one cabin to another when we discovered that we'd accidentally reserved what was regarded as "the dumpiest" cabin (#21). Once we'd settled into our new digs (cabin #24), Doug came by to see how we were doing. We joked with him for a bit about how that decision may have saved the weekend, to which he agreed, adding "no one has a good time in 21."
Once settled, we loaded up the Crosstrek for a drive down the beach. The car did rather well, although its power is a bit lacking. Keeping momentum in second gear was a bit difficult, so eventually I decided to lower the speed and simply cruise in first gear instead. Traction, however, was no issue at all. Eventually I aired UP the tires to provide less rolling resistance which helped with the engine's lack of torque. All in all, though, I'm still confident that the Crosstrek will be a fine offroad vehicle, especially now that it's fitted with knobbier tires and the 2" lift.
On Saturday morning I headed to catch the 8am ferry to the mainland, then borrowed our friend's car to drive to Morehead City where I'd reserved a kiteboarding lesson with Blown Kiteboarding. Around 10am I'd arrived and we set off to a sandbar in the Bogue Sound. My instructor, Ayub, was easy to follow and learn from. He went over the dynamics of the wind, controlling the kite, and combining it all to propel oneself out of the water. It was nice having the wakeboarding experience under my belt, which allowed me to focus entirely upon finessing the kite control. At one point I was heading towards the sandbar without much clue how I'd stop. The only "panic" move was to release the handle, so I did. At that point, though, I had too much momentum, so I instinctively pumped the board and ollied over the sandbar. Ayub's panic quickly turned to relief when he saw me clear the obstacle. Later he shared stories of other first-timers digging into the sand and catapulting face-first into the ground.
After the lesson I returned to Davis Shore and boarded the ferry for Cape Lookout. When I returned, I found Rebecca, Lindsay & Chris at our cabin, about to return to the beach after a short break. We hung out by the water for a few hours, returning to prepare dinner. Later that night we returned to the beach for a fire while we watched the moon rise before us.
On our final day, we cleared/cleaned the cabin before setting out for another drive on the beach. I'd speculated on the possibility of driving to the lighthouse at the southernmost tip of the island then taking a ferry from there, but found that the only ferries at that point are passenger crafts. With that said, we had a couple hours to spare before we were scheduled to meet the Davis Shore Ferry, which we used to relax by the surf.
Leaving was not easy, but we'll certainly be returning in summers to come.
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