We are down to our last few months in the Jacksonville / Camp Lejeune area, so we’ve started putting together a list of things to do in North Carolina before we leave. In April we took advantage of the amazing spring weather and did a day trip to Shackleford Banks with friends. We drove an hour up to Beaufort (pronounced Boh-fort) and took the 9:30 am ferry through Island Express Ferry Service.
Shackleford Banks is the southern-most barrier island of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. It’s home to a herd of over 100 wild horses, possible descendants of Spanish shipwrecks, and one of the few remaining groups in North America. The island is also a great place to go seashell hunting. We spent a couple of hours exploring, got super lucky with a horse that came super close to us (which meant the trip was a total win), had a picnic, and we got back on the ferry at 12:30 pm!!
Afterward, we explored a bit of Downtown Beaufort and had lunch. Then we drove to Fort Macon State Park, which is a Civil War fort on Atlantic Beach. I’ll share those photos in another post because this one is crazy full of photos already!
^^ so glad we brought our barely-used beach wagon because it came in really handy!! ^^
^ trying to save a puffer fish… but it was already dead =/ ^ 
Be sure to buy your ferry tickets to Shackleford Banks in advance through Island Express Ferry.
The ferry trip is a quick 15 min ride from Beaufort.
Island Express Ferry Beaufort
600 Front Street
Beaufort, NC 28516
Tickets:
Adults – $18
Children (3-11) – $11
Infants – Free
Pets – $7
I also recommend checking out their Shackleford Banks and Cape Lookout combo trip! That one leaves out of Harkers Island which is 1.5 hour drive from Jacksonville. We didn’t do the combo because the lighthouse wasn’t open in April, but we will most likely be doing another day trip there before we move. Especially since that is 1 of 2 lighthouses in the Cape Lookout National Seashore that we’ve got left to see after our trip to the Outerbanks! More on that soon.
