Portsmouth Island: heaven

    September 13, 2012

4th of July, sitting in the river, we all agreed a trip to Portsmouth was in order.  Here we are!  Stuart and I were on the 11am ferry from Atlantic, NC to Portsmouth Island, the north island of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.  He and I were sharing one of the 10 cabins available for rent, at the Long Point Cabin Camp, with our friends Stephanie, Rick, Jennifer and Allan.  Water, electricity and a stove, and bunk beds for six people.  Sam and Tim were living in their BurVan, Randy and Maryann were in their truck camper, Karen and Worth in their Big Green truck camper.  Worth and Karen had loaned us their four-wheel drive jeep, giving us treasured transportation on the 25 mile-long sliver of an island.   Worth and Karen were the Welcoming Crew at the ferry, and after quickly unloading our gear at the cabin, we met on the beach for a sandwich lunch.

By late afternoon, most of the crew had arrived, and we proceeded to corral the chairs in the shade of a truck, and enjoy the beach.  There are no roads on the island, and water is only available at the ferry landing. 






Yep, that's my SIL, hiding behind Worth and Rick...I took this pic just after the jeep self-destructed, at the far end of the island.
















           Friday, we loaded up and headed 18 miles north to the abandoned PortsmouthVillage.  The Park service maintains the village now, after the last resident left in the early 1970's.  Unfortunately, the Lifesaving Station/museum was closed.  It's a very nicely presented exhibit of life on the Outer Banks in the late 1800's/early 1900's.  The Visitor Center was closed, too.  But, the skeeters and 'green head' flies were in service!  Boy, they were terrible!  The jeep ran hot on the way across the flats, at the north end of the island, and ran hot again on the way back to the beach.  On closer inspection we learned why:  the radiator had self-destructed.  168,000 miles, no wonder.    As the 12 of us stood there staring, someone asked what should we do.  The answer:  Corral the trucks, break out the chairs and drink some beer!  We cooked some shrimp and burgers, and had a large time.  After several beers and lots of shrimp, someone pointed out that we were 18 miles from the ferry, in the sand, with a broken down vehicle, and it was getting close to sundown.  So, we tied the jeep to Worth's truck, and slowely headed the caravan south, thanks to Allan for riding the brake behind Big Green!  Almost 3 hours later, we all arrived back at the ferry landing/cabin camp, without any other mechanical troubles.

We parked the jeep, and enjoyed 2 more days on the island.  Our friends  made room in their vehicles for Stuart and me to travel the island and enjoy the sights.  The biggest consideration on the island is ice:  there is no electricity, therefore no refrigeration, and coolers take a LOT of space.  The fishing was not so great, as you can see here, but we didn't care.






We enjoyed a Last Supper at the cabin, with this nice sunset and lots of good food and beer.  Duh.










Worth and Karen, on the ferry heading home.  It was a really great weekend.  We spent time with friends, at one of the most beautiful places on the east coast:  Portsmouth Island.