A visit to Nags Head, N.C.

I drove my parents to vacation in Nags Head this summer. My sister and her husband joined us there.

We rented a cottage close to the beach. Being from the mountains, I wasn't used to living in a house built on stilts. It seemed that the house continually rocked. Other than that, we were in a nice cottage and close to the beach.

Nags Head is one of the more populated areas of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and we soon discovered that we liked the beaches more in some of the other areas. Roanoke Island was nice and we particularly enjoyed the performance of The Lost Colony in the outdoor amphitheater.

We spent one whole day at Hattaras and the next on Ockracoke. We rode the ferry that transports your vehicles across across the sound. Depending on the time of day, you should be prepared to wait in line for at least an hour.

There is a mini-mall of gift shops and such as well as an information center and a rest area.

After crossing over to Ockracoke, we found that the beaches were much less crowded and a better place to look for shells. We must have walked many miles on the beaches looking for shells. We also saw some of the wild ponies, but I was quite disappointed to find them in a rather small fenced area. I have since heard that some of the other islands are better places to see the ponies. If we ever get to go back, we will probably stay on Hatteras or Ockracoke. (Take a look at Howard's Pub)

We found out that there had been some controversy over the Hatteras lighthouse. Due to weather and shifting sands, the lighthouse needs to be moved in order to preserve it. The last report that I saw said that it would be moved in one piece to a more suitable location.

Dad has dreamed of chartering a fishing boat with a few other people and actually catching fish. He fished every day we were there, but didn't really catch anything that he could keep. We did spend some time crabbing, and caught enough to have with dinner. We found a nice seafood buffet and pigged out there.