Immediately over the bridge is the 6,000-acre Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, where more than 400 species of birds have been recorded . Across Highway 12, visitors can see the remains of the Oriental, a steamer ship that sank off the coast in 1862. There are scant other attractions in the seven tiny communities that make up Hatteras Island: Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, and Hatteras Village. Buxton has the famous black-and-white Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and a no-frills restaurant called Buoy's that serves fantastic hush puppies; Frisco has a Native American Museum; and Hatteras Village has the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, which chronicles the coast's shipwrecks.
There, behind the buildup, open, pristine Outer Banks
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Many visitors speed through these villages to catch a 40-minute ferry ride to Ocracoke Island, the southernmost tip of the Outer Banks. This 16-mile island offers simple pleasures: kayaking, canoeing, biking, visiting the "pony pens" that house wild horses. Ocracoke Island feels like a throwback to a long-ago time, and I loved its simplicity, its relaxed pace, its modest cottages with screened porches and weathered shingles.
We stayed at cozy Blackbeard's Lodge, the island's oldest hotel and one of its few year-round accommodations. Only four of the 35 rooms were rented, and the nightly rate was $50 rather than the usual $95. The smattering of open restaurants included Howard's Pub, where we had grilled mahi mahi, and Jason's, which enticed us with its homemade chocolate chess pie and Delaware peach crisp.
As with the rest of the Outer Banks, the depopulated island felt like our exclusive playground, and left us with a warm spot for this coastline in the quiet winter months.
Contact Sacha Pfeiffer at pfeiffer@globe.com.
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