Outer Banks, North Carolina

Outer Banks Day 1: Ocracoke Island

July 23, 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!! The first leg of the trip was driving from Jacksonville to Cedar Island, which takes 2 hours. We left the house at 5AM, got to see the sunrise and the enjoy the lovely scenic drive! From Cedar Island we took the 7:30AM ferry to Ocracoke Island, which takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. This ferry is just $15 and it has to be booked online in advance. You also have to arrive 30 minutes before departure to get a secure spot on the ferry. We docked on Ocracoke at 9:45AM and we had until 4PM to explore the island before our check-in.

Most blog posts I read recommended not staying on Ocracoke Island. Instead taking the ferry really early, spending the day, then getting on an afternoon ferry to Hatteras. It’s up to you! We had 5 days set aside for this trip so I decided to book a stay. And I’m really glad we did, because it was our favorite out of all the areas in the Outer Banks! Both the island and the B&B we stayed in were super quaint and charming.

If you or your spouse are active duty military make sure you check out my Outer Banks Road Trip Itinerary for a tip to get a discount on your stay at The Castle Bed & Breakfast in Ocracoke Island.

The first thing we did when we arrived on the island was get coffee and bagels at Ocracoke Coffee Company. We then visited the adorable Ocracoke Lighthouse. By far my favorite place on the island was Books To Be Read!! I was actually pleasantly surprised by how many independent book stores they have in the Outer Banks (listed them in this Instagram post), but this shop blew my mind!! They had a huge selection of books and I ended up buying The Baddest Girl On The Planet by: Heather Frese, which is set on Hatteras Island!

We had a light lunch at Eduardo’s Taco Stand. Then tried visiting a couple of shops by the port but it was a Sunday and most were closed. Although by the end of April they were already open for the season!! We did go into a small candle shop called Sea Break that was open, got ourselves and our friends a souvenir candle.

We decided to walk to the historical British Cemetery, then we went to 1718 Brewing Ocracoke for some mid-afternoon beer tasting to kill time before checking into the B&B. After winding down for a couple of hours we decided to walk to Springer’s Point to see the sunset and then basically ran back to the B&B to grab the car so we could make it to dinner at Howard’s Pub before they closed. Do not recommend that, lol!

Anyway… enough words, get ready for ALL the photos.