Since dad and Brenda live on their boat while at Ocracoke, we rented a great house to stay in. It was a block from dad's dock and right in the middle of the cute town. It came with bikes with kid seats, which we all loved. We biked all over the place, to breakfast, coffeeshops, the library, the post office, the lighthouse, and the ice cream stands.
Of course sailing was on the agenda. We went out twice during the week. The first day was a little choppy for some first time sailors, but no one got sick. The second time we took a sunset sail with just the jib halfway up, no main sail. It was like floating in a pool, so calm and still. They will be ready for PopPop's sailing school soon!
Other days we found so many fun things to do. The beach at Ocracoke is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and we spent one day there digging and swimming in the tidal pools.
A great activity in all the National Parks is the Junior Ranger program. Kids can fill out a workbook of games and earn a badge from the park. During the summer (and year round at other parks) the rangers put on programs about the wildlife and history of the area. All age kids can participate, so of course the grown up kids earned ours too. The ranger programs included seashore wildlife and the history of pirates in the Outer Banks. Blackbeard anchored on Ocracoke for a while and was caught and beheaded in the waters nearby.
One of the programs we attended was an outing to cast for blue point crab. Kyle and PopPop caught a few, but the kids had an easier time scooping up the hermit crabs in the shallows.
Here's the gang with our badges and patches after taking the Junior Ranger oath. We need to make it to the Smoky Mountains and get our badges there too.
Ranger Bob does a great job keeping the riff raff out.
We visited the lighthouse a few times, but you can't climb up anymore.
We all had so much fun! Hopefully we can do it again soon!
1 comment:
Come back soon and anytime , Ranger Pop Pop
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