Outer Banks, North Carolina

Outer Banks Day 2: Hatteras Island

August 24, 2021

We road tripped from the Jacksonville / Camp Lejeune area up to the Outer Banks in April and had a blast exploring these barrier islands!! Make sure you check out our 5 day itinerary and read about our 1st Day on Ocracoke Island before reading this post about our 2nd Day on Hatteras Island.

On Day 2 we checked out of The Castle BnB and drove north towards the other ferry port on Ocracoke. On the drive up we stopped at the island horse stables and then spontaneously decided to stop at Ocracoke Beach. The ferry to Hatteras is free and runs every hour. We made it on the 12PM ferry and arrived at Hatteras Island at 1PM.

We should have gone straight to lunch or at least stopped at the popular Dancing Turtle Coffee Shop. Instead we decided to visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum first because it’s right next to the port. We ate late breakfast at the BnB but when we left the museum we realized most restaurants closed at 2pm. Kat’s Deli (also on my list) was closed for some reason. Thankfully we found that the Tavern On 12 in Frisco doesn’t close for lunch!

Afterward we visited the Hatteras Lighthouse, also known as America’s Lighthouse, as it is the tallest lighthouse in the country and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world! Sadly the lighthouse was closed for renovation this summer, so we didn’t get to climb it. After touring the small museum we headed to the original location of the lighthouse on the beach. The Hatteras lighthouse was moved in 1999 due to beach erosion and the whole ordeal was super cool! You can read more about it here.

Then we headed to check in at The Inn On Pamlico Sound and WOWZA this place is amazing!! It is pricy… especially in the summer but if you visit during the off season like we did the price isn’t too bad. Military members also get 15% when booking on their website. We stayed only 1 night and we. did. not. want. to. leave. The place is gorgeous and the food was BOMB! The restaurant was sadly closed that night, but the free breakfast was exquisite.

Before our trip we purchased an off-road vehicle permit to be able to see the sunset at Cape Point, the easternmost beach on Hatteras Island. We got all the necessary equipment but we were stopped by a tow truck driver who recommended we didn’t try it with out 4WD Subaru Forester… as apparently a lot of cars get stuck. It was a super bummer, but at the same time I was glad we didn’t have to deal with getting stuck. We did get to see the sunset from the parking lot outside the beach access (lol) and caught that last bit at the inn. If you have a Jeep or a large pick up truck I’d definitely add this to your list.

Ok, I’m done catching you up on Day 2… now enjoy scrolling through the photos I captured on this day.