This past weekend I did a wedding on Ocracoke Island. Let me tell you, that was quite the adventure. Rachel (my second shooter for the weekend and another fabulous MHP photographer) drove in to Raleigh on Thursday night. Friday morning at 9am we began our journey east... East on Hwy 70, through New Bern, and Havelock (which I did not realize was the last bit of civilization in that direction). Just past Havelock, we decided that it was time for lunch. Unfortunately, having passed the last point of civilization, there was literally NOWHERE to stop. We drove and drove and drove, and about 20 miles from the end of the earth (read: ferry terminal) I saw a little country store at the intersection of Hwy 70 and Hwy 12. By this point we also were in pretty desperate need of a bathroom, having not stopped in the last 3.5 hours. I stopped and went in to ask the owner if there was anywhere to get food between there and the ferry. She directed us a little bit out of the way of the ferry to a take out place called White Point Take Out. No bathroom at the store...
So off we went on the way to find this place, praying for good food and a bathroom. It was in a town with literally 50 people. We drove up to White Point Take Out to find a little tiny shack smaller than my living room with 3 ladies inside making food. We also found a sign saying "no checks or credit cards accepted"... hmm, this could be a problem. See, I didn't think about having to stop in a town of 50 people for food, so I had exactly $6 on me. Whoops. But with that $6 I was able to get a shrimp burger which, once I got it, 30 minutes later, was really good. While we waited, a group of locals pulled up for lunch. Apparently you can call ahead - would have been nice to know that... but wait, we had no cell phone coverage, so we couldn't have called anyway. However, as you can imagine, in a shack smaller than my living room, there was no bathroom. So we grabbed our food, ran back to the car, and booked it as fast as we possibly could to the ferry landing. I've never been so happy to be out of the car - and luckily, there was an ATM in the little ferry store, so I could get some cash (which turned out to be much needed later).
The ferry ride was another 2.5 hours, over some pretty rough water, actually. Ocracoke itself is a cute little place. I think the whole village fits within about 2 square miles. The rest of the island is owned by the Park Service, and can't be built on. We found our hotel, the Lightkeeper's Guest House, which was an old home that has been converted into a bed and breakfast. Well, I say bed and breakfast, but really it was just half of that, because there was no breakfast. It was really cute though.
It was a great wedding, even though it poured rain and the reception was outside (under a tent, luckily). The couple was great - they were completely awesome and didn't protest one bit when I told them we were going out in the rain for pictures. I love that.
I didn't sleep well there though, and I was really happy when I got home Sunday, after another 7 hour trip, and got to crawl in my bed that night.
All in all, a good trip. One more weekend long trip coming up... this time to Bald Head Island/Holden Beach for an engagement shoot, another wedding, and celebrating Pam and JD's anniversary. We have a surprise for them - but since JD is one of the few people who reads this, I can't say what it is.... :) (Sorry JD)
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