It was raining when sunrise was supposed to welcome us to the day, so instead of venturing out right away, we used the opportunity to repack in anticipation of tomorrow’s flight home. It happens quite often that this act of preparation happens a day or so early so we don’t feel pressured by everything else that has to happen on a fly day. Over in the breakfast nook, we took some time to hang out and chat with some other guests, waiting for the weather to clear.

Once we did get going, we drove back up the island in search of a beach to explore, but it turns out that Ocracoke is not really made for parking cars, and we’re not made for rain. Okay, Caroline is, but I can’t risk walking somewhere I might dissolve.

There are no tours open to the public here at the Ocracoke Lighthouse, so we must admire it from outside. No complaints, though, as we’ve already seen so many others while we’ve been here in the Eastern United States.

Finally a parking lot, bathrooms, and even a boardwalk instead of the more common off-road vehicle access.

Our plan is to catch the last ferry back to the mainland at 12:30, so all there is to do is hang out and walk along the ocean.

The wind blows, and we just keep walking along.

Until Caroline can no longer resist the urge to doff the shoes and claim the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina as her own.

I’d swear we’d seen these exact pelicans over in Santa Barbara, California, last year, but Caroline is certain that we’ve never seen the lead pelican, so maybe I’ll concede that one. The other two bringing up the rear, though; I know those birds for sure.

These two birds also seem familiar, especially the blue-collared booby on the left.

We found some nice specimens of seashells along the ocean, along with a pristine shell that Caroline pointed out was a whelk.

Our ferry is late due to a pilot dealing with a dead battery, but it will be here, we are assured.

The ride across the channel is nearly 2.5 hours, which not only affords us the entertainment of feeding the birds that are flying along with the bread a lady is sharing with us but there’s also the opportunity for me to grab a nap. Caroline tried to sleep a bit but was too distracted by all the things that were far more interesting than the back of her eyelids.

We landed in Swanquarter, North Carolina, and by now, we were hungry but there was nothing out this way. By the time we reached Jamesville, we spotted Mackey’s Ferry Peanuts, and this being North Carolina, we were certain we’d score some more boiled peanuts; sure enough, we did, but we got a whole lot more.

Chris is the owner of this peanut stand (it’s a lot bigger than a peanut stand!), and not only did he give us an enthusiastic recommendation for Shaw’s Barbecue House over in Williamston, but he taught us how to make boiled peanuts:

• Soak peanuts overnight in water
• Pressure cook using 3 cups of salt per 5 pounds of peanuts for an hour
  or put them in a slow cooker and cook on high for 12 hours
• Add more water and let sit overnight

The rest of the day was spent driving to Hagerstown, Maryland, our pit stop, on the way back to Pittsburgh.