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Seniors Like the Off Season in the Outer BanksBy Judy Wylie
The Outer Banks area was once known as The Graveyard of the Atlantic, because hundreds of ships went down in these waters, costing thousands of lives and millions of dollars of cargo. Wild ponies which still roam here came from Spanish mustangs who swam to shore from sinking ships. Surrounded by 900 miles of water, the Outer Banks has the largest estuary system in the world, wildlife refuges, maritime forests, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the tallest sand dunes on the East Coast. It’s a laid-back kind of place, and the further south you go, the more relaxed it gets. Rates are generally inexpensive, but in off-season, which runs roughly from Labor Day to Easter, you’ll find especially good bargains. The Outer Banks are commonly thought of as being in three main sections; Hatteras Island; Roanoke Island/Dare Mainland; and the Northern Beaches. Between Sand Dunes and the Sea Many of the best activities during the off season are virtually free. Surf casting, shelling on the beach, or simply walking with your feet in the cool wet sand. Wherever you drive here you’ll be close to the sand and the sea, and often the road passes right through the dunes. It’s illegal to pick the sea grass, because that’s what’s holding the dunes together, so there are “walkovers,” wooden walkways that let you cross the road and the dunes without causing harm. New dunes are planted with plugs of sea grass that look like hair transplants advertised on late-night TV.
Where There’s Wind, There’s a Way The wind here is constant, bending down the dune grasses, splaying one’s hair every which way, and causing bushes to grow at alarming angles. No wonder the Wright Brothers brought their first flying machines here to try out: the winds here are the strongest in the country. It’s also not surprising that the world’s largest hang- gliding school is at Jockey’s Ridge: Kitty Hawk Kites. We watched a training film on how not to kill ourselves when we attempted to sail across the dunes on a hang glider. “You pull the bar down to go faster, and make small steady movements,” droned the film. “It’s 80 percent relaxing” said the instructor. He forgot to add it's 20 percent sheer terror. As the winds were listed at 48.7 milled per hour that day, we settled for watching others do it, and they seemed thrilled by the experience. Saving Lives
Looking inland for action, we drove to Buxton Stables, where I met Liz Crum, who saddled up a 29 year old draft horse name Nellie, as wide and steady as a Barcalounger.
An Inn by the Seaside We stayed at the Hatteras Village Seaside Inn B&B in the village of Hatteras (252-986-2700). The oldest inn on the Outer Banks (built in the 20's), it was renovated and reopened in 1997 as a bed and breakfast with great breakfasts and a laid back personality. Off -season rates are $75 to $95. Rates in high season are $85 to $125. It’s a big rambling shingle-style inn, and each morning owner Sharon Kennedy greets you in a pretty flowered dress, along with her fluffy white dog Cowboy. After a big buffet breakfast, Sharon took us down to the beach in her four-wheel drive Suburban and to go shelling for sand dollars, watch the surf fishing, and just have the joy of driving along the sand, past other anglers and sand-submerged ship wrecks. Nearby, the off-season shopping is a great bargain. At Lee Robindon’s General Store, many things were 50% + off. I bought a sweatshirt with lighthouses on it for less than half its usual price. At the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, opened in 1938 as a refuge for migrating snow geese, it’s free to walk high boardwalks over the marshes and see snow geese, tundra swans, and ospreys nesting in high boxes. If you look down into the water you see turtles called yellow- bellied sliders. Loggerhead turtles also come to the Outer Banks to lay their eggs each year. At Hatteras Landing we ate at the pleasant Austin Creek Grill, with a view of pleasure boats and the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferries just outside the windows. Seafood of all kinds is on the menu, or you can bring in what you caught that day and the chef will cook it up any style you like for $12.95 per serving. We noticed a table of exhausted fishermen in t-shirts and jeans who had done just that; and they seemed pleased someone else was doing the work to make dinner.
Lunch was at the Full Moon Café nearby, on a deck with a view of the water and the old ship, for under $10 for a cup of crab soup, a salad, and a glass of wine. Later we walked off lunch at the Elizabethan Gardens, a 16th century garden planted as a living memorial to the lost Roanoke colonists. Late spring visitors can see the waves of azaleas in bloom. More Lodging Bargains Other good lodging in the Outer Banks in off-season include the Cape Hatteras Motel in Buxton, 800-995-0711; www.capehatterasmotel.com Rates for off-season are $48 to $131, in season they are $112- $195. The Castaways Oceanfront Inn in Avon, (800) 845-6070 has rates of $69-$79 off- season, and $109 in-season. The Hatteras Harbor Hotel, (252) 986-2565 is on the harbor, has off-seaon rates of $51-85, in-season rates of $61-95. The Comfort Inn South in Nags Head has off season rates of $46-$109, and in-season rates of $159-259. Many other properties have steep discounts also, some as much as 50%- 60%.. You can find more information on what to do and where to stay in the Outer Banks at a great Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Web site, www.outerbanks.org You can also order an Outer Banks Getaway Card for seasonal discounts on lodging, restaurants and retail shops online. Very Best Bargains The second-best bargain in the Outer Banks is at the movies. The Roanoke Theater on Roanoke Island in Downtown Manteo is the last movie house in America where the $3.00 ticket price includes the movie, a soda and a candy bar. But the very best bargain in the Outer Banks is going crabbing. You only need to bring a rope and a fishing net, and then pick up a couple of raw chicken necks at the Foodline store, buy a crab pot in a fishing gear shop, tie a milk jug to mark the spot and sun yourself until the jug bobs and it’s time to bring the pot up. Now that’s the best value in the Outer Banks. For a complete list of activities and lodgings contact www.outerbanks.org |
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The Outer Banks of North Carolina, a chain of barrier
islands midway on the Atlantic Seaboard is lively with families and couples
out for a romantic escape during the late spring and all summer, but when
the tourists go home and the sand dunes are peaceful again, it’s a great
time for good travel values for seniors.
Another almost free activity is exploring lighthouses. Two hundred years ago the first lighthouses were built
to warn ships of the treacherous waters. Cape Hatteras Lightouse, built in
1803, was solidly on land when it was erected, but over the last 200 or so
years the sea lapped at its spot of land and almost devoured it. In 1999,
the lighthouse was moved ½ mile inland, inches at a time, to make it safe
for at least a couple hundred more years. Each lighthouse built along this
treacherous coast was painted with a different pattern of stripes so ships
would know which was which during the day. At night, the unique pulsing
pattern of the light told a captain which lighthouse he was seeing. 
Everything on the Outer Banks shows the wear and tear
of strong winds. Once on Hatteras, we drove to Nags Head,
and a weather beaten cottage that held Sam and Omie’s restaurant, opened in
1935 to serve fishermen. They obviously needed a stiff cup of coffee to
keep their minds off the 500 sunken wrecks off shore. We ate delicious crab
sandwiches and slurped up bowls of thick chowder.
In 1874 the Outer Banks nearly caused an international
scandal. The U.S. was getting pressure from foreign government and insurance
agencies because shipwrecks off this coast were causing so many lost lives
and abandoned goods. The government then built 23 Life Saving Stations,
like the one at Chicamacomico Station, now a museum. The men
who staffed them were called surfmen and they constantly walked the beach
looking out to sea, on a 24 hour basis, ready to rescue ships or sailors
whose ships were smashed on the Banks. They saved many lives. We stood in
the small wooden station with its fanciful Victorian touches, looking out
to sea realizing how brave they were. As we gazed, we were at the farthest
point out into the Atlantic Ocean, 40 miles from the mainland. Due south was
Cuba, and due West was Morocco. 
We rode for an hour through open
woodlands full dogwood, holly, oak, willow and bay trees, along soft sandy
trails. More advanced riders can sign up for a three-hour ride along the
beach and surf early in the morning. 
On Roanoke Island explore Roanoke Island Festival Park.
We climbed on board the 16th century sailing vessel, Elizabeth
II, and were amazed at how small ocean-going ships were then. It’s hard to
believe it could have crossed the Atlantic Warren McMaster, an historical
interpreter garbed as a crewman, explained the life of a seaman.