On the Road Again

Family members disperse from our annual holiday stay at the beach house on the Outerbanks area of North Carolina called Corolla.  The others head home to South Carolina and Virginia, while we head off to further explore the Outerbanks, heading south on highway 12.   

Our first stop is the beautiful Maritime Forest of Nags Head Woods where we spend hours making our way along the maze of trails lined with Loblolly Pines, Red Bays, Dwarf Palmettos, Red and Water Oaks and American Holly, to name just a few of the trees present in this rare, old growth forest.  The vast stabilized sand dunes of Jockeys Ridge State Park greet us with their pale yellow hills and valleys, and we easily lose ourselves as we trek across the dunes and in and out of the surrounding forest.  Peaceful Buxton Woods, the largest Maritime Forest on the Outerbanks, is a welcome retreat.  Quiet, save for a few birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind, these woods are on stabilized dunes and are very important in helping to maintain the fresh water supply to the nearby towns.  Winding our way along Highway 12, we pass the Hurricane-ravaged communities of Rhodanthe, Waves and Salvo.  The highway is littered in places with sofas, mattresses, jacuzzi tubs and garbage.  Locals share that the road opened up just two weeks ago, and we stop to watch workers fill gigantic sand bags, being used to build retaining walls, an attempt to keep the ocean and sand off the highway.  Missing our afternoon ferry due to the shoaling effect of low tides, we take to the pristine, shell-strewn beaches of Cape Hatteras and enjoy solitude and a gorgeous sunset.