Off road

I love to walk around Ocracoke. I especially like getting off the roads (or at least off the paved ones), and walking through lesser known spots, small neighborhoods, and wooded areas. Today I noticed a small opening in the trees along a side street near where I live. I had never noticed that opening before, even though I've walked and biked past this spot many times. It's good to keep your eyes open for new things, especially when in familiar territory.

Anyway, of course I had to follow the trail to see where it led. I found a small family cemetery (Austin and Ballance were the two names on all the headstones). There are more than 80 such cemeteries on Ocracoke, tucked into many different areas. I walked past four - that I know of - on my short walk this morning! Some are in wooded areas like the one I saw today, others are in the back and side yards of houses. There are several on Howard Street. The most famous cemetery on the island, of course, is the British Cemetery, but there is at least one other on British Cemetery Road (you can read about it here). My new house is on Cemetery Road, so named because the Community Cemetery (the largest one on the island) is at the end of it.

Here's a picture of the one I saw today.



Keep your eyes open, around here or wherever you are. You never know what interesting things you might find!