A reminder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: June 30, 2010
CONTACT: Lucy Wallace, (252) 473-3461

FERRY TRAVELERS REMINDED TO LEAVE FIREWORKS AT HOME
Fireworks are illegal on ferries

MANNS HARBOR — The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division
reminds passengers that it is illegal to have fireworks on the state’s
ferries, even in the trunk of their car. There are exceptions for
professionals performing at public fireworks displays.

Since July 1, 2004, the Ferry Division has been operating under the
U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Transportation Security Act. As part of this
act, ferry passengers may be subject to random screening. Hazardous
materials and explosives are just some of the items not allowed on
ferries.

The state penalty, if convicted, a Class 2 Misdemeanor is punishable
by a maximum of 60 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

***NCDOT***

Sushi

Every Tuesday night during the summer, Jason's serves sushi. They have several different rolls, plus seaweed salad (which I think is delicious, even though it doesn't sound like it would be). If you like sushi, check it out sometime! (And if you don't but you like eating dinner with someone who does, you can always get any other of the regular menu items instead while others eat sushi.)

Bridge meeting

Discussion about how best to replace the Bonner Bridge is still ongoing, believe it or not. There's a meeting planned for next week here on the island about the topic. Here's the email I received recently about this.

Beth Midgette, chairperson of the www.replacethebridgenow.com
committee, is coming to Ocracoke to conduct a public workshop on how
to give comment on the new preferred option for this project. There
are public hearings being held (in Manteo and Buxton) on July 6 and
8th, and the comment period ends 8/9/10. It's a busy time of year, but
we all know how important this is to our livelihood. Please make
special effort to attend if you can.

Ocracoke School Commons
Tuesday, June 29
7 pm

See background information below:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Your help is needed NOW !

Replacing the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet is long
overdue. Any further delay risks the loss of this vital
transportation lifeline to Hatteras Island, which would be an economic
catastrophe for the region.
The people have had to endure an endless series of environmental
studies and challenges designed only to stall the process while
jeopardizing public safety.
Now a new preferred alternative from NCDOT calls for immediate
replacement of the Bonner Bridge. This reasonable and practical
approach has the support of the Federal Highway Administration, The
Environmental Protection Agency, and State and Local officials.
The new preferred alternative requires public hearings that are
scheduled for July 6 & 8.
We hope these will be the last public hearings needed before
construction can finally begin.
Let your voice be heard. Take a stand in support of replacing the bridge NOW.
Public comments are urgently needed from residents, visitors, vacation
property owners,
and businesses on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, throughout Dare
County and the region.

Public Hearings will be held –

July 6th – Manteo, 7:00pm
Dare County Commissioners Meeting Room
954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo

July 8th – Buxton, 7:00pm
Cape Hatteras Elementary School Cafeteria
47500 Middle Ridge Trail, Buxton

Voice your support at these hearings for NCDOT’s new Preferred Alternative.
Key components of the new Preferred Alternative would –

· Replace the Bonner Bridge immediately with a new parallel bridge
· Eliminate the “Long Bridge” Alternative, which is impractical
and unfundable
· Use a Transportation Management Plan for future development
of NC Hwy 12
· Recommend immediate construction without further
environmental studies & delays


Remember –

On an average day, 5,000 vehicles use the Bonner Bridge. This doubles
to almost 10,000 per day on a busy summer day. If this critical
transportation link were lost, ferry service would not be able to
support the economy and tourism that has developed since the bridge
opened to traffic in 1963. Even an emergency ferry could only
accommodate 650 cars a day, weather permitting.

For More Information –
Find complete details about the hearing process at:
www.replacethebridgeNOW.com


Homeowners and visitors who cannot attend the meetings but would like
to provide comments can mail them to Drew Joyner, Human Environment
Unit Head, NCDOT, 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1598.
They may also call or e-mail their comments to Drew Joyner at (919)
431-6700 or djoyner@ncdot.gov. Comments will be accepted through Aug.
9.

It's imperative to get as many comments as possible submitted in
support of moving the project forward to a "Record of Decision" the
other alternative would be that NCDOT would have to do yet another
draft supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)
publish it, put it out for public comment, respond to public comment,
then release a Final supplement to the Final Environmental Impact
Statement publish it, put it out for public comment, respond to public
comment, then release a "Record of Decision". If the latter occurs it
would significantly and adversely affect the timeline for the
replacement of the bridge. We cannot afford any further delays!

The 2006 structural assessment for the bridge identified about 36
million worth of repairs...we are working our way through those now,
just to keep the load limits up. However, the engineers who wrote the
assessment stated that regardless of the repairs, due to the "advanced
stages of deterioration" replacement by 2016 is a "necessity". Even
if we start next spring, we are pushing that "replace by" date too
close for comfort since we are looking at a 4 year build time, let
alone if the whole FEIS rigmarole has to happen yet again.

Celebration

My sister just got engaged! That was worth celebrating, so we went to the Cafe Atlantic. That's a great place to go to celebrate (or just to eat!), and it's definitely our standard celebration location. Anyway, I don't have any pictures of the happy couple at our dinner, so this one will have to do. (I think we did take pictures at dinner with Jocelyn's camera, but I don't have them....so Jocelyn, if you're reading this and you want a better picture of you and Eric on this blog, send me one!)

Birthday bash and berries

Connor, John and I went to Payce's 2nd birthday party today. Connor had a blast playing in the water with his friends...



...and I learned that there's a huge blackberry patch right near Merrian's house. I wasn't quite motivated enough to go pick them, but the people who were went home with bags full of sweet, juicy rewards for their efforts.





When Payce opened her presents, the best loved one by far was the riding horse. Everyone took a turn on it and the smiles were contagious.

4th of July plans

Independence Day is a full, busy one around here. Here are the plans for the celebration on Sunday, July 4:

9 am -- Flag Raising Ceremony (with moment of silence) at Ocracoke
School circle.

10 am -- Sand Sculpture Contest at Lifeguard Beach.

10 am - 2 pm -- Classic Cars at Pony Island Motel.

10 am - 2 pm -- Ocracoke Lighthouse open for public viewing.

11 am -- Church services at Methodist & Assembly of God churches.

11 am - 2 pm -- View Ocracoke Ponies with a NPS ranger at the Pony Pen.

1 pm -- Skydiving onto Pony Island Motel lawn.

3 pm -- Old Time Ocracoke Parade

Like books?

If you like books as much as I do (or even just if you like them at all), you might enjoy the annual used book sale at the Library. I usually leave there with multiple armloads. I get some great deals and support a good cause (the Friends of the Library) at the same time. Check it out!

Here's some more detailed info courtesy of my inbox.

Ocracoke Friends of the Library's annual USED BOOK [a.k.a. Previously
Read Books] sale will be held Saturday July 3 at the Library. The
sale begins at 8:30 AM for members of Friends and at 9 for the general
public; memberships may be purchased on-site [$5 individual, $10
family, $25 business; additional donations appreciated]. The sale ends
at 3 PM, but remaining books will be on sale for several weeks during
regular library hours [Mon.-Fri. 3-7 and Sat. 9-1].

If you have paper and hardback books, videos and CD's to donate for
the sale, please bring them to the Library, preferably during library
hours.

Ocracoke Friends of the Library provides books, subscriptions, audio
books, furnishings and other support for the children and adult
school/community library, as well as books for classrooms at Ocracoke
School, Ocracoke Child Care Center, Ocracoke Youth Center and several
community reading programs. FOL is leading an effort to enclose a
section of the screen porch to provide an additional 400+ sq/ft for
the library in the next few years.

Words, words and more words

I just spent the last several hours working on an article for the Ocracoke Observer. So, I'm officially sick of my own writing. Therefore, this is the end of this blog post. :)

Melting...

It has been extremely hot and humid here for the last few days. It's usually not this hot until late July or early August, but apparently the dog days of summer have decided to come early this year. Unfortunately the room in my house that I use for my office (where I spend an inordinate amount of my life!) gets really hot in the afternoons...which makes me want to nap instead of working. The only good thing about it is it forces me to keep the blinds closed, which cuts down on my glimpses of people biking and walking by, enjoying their vacations, while I'm busy dealing with corporate America. Ah, well...that's what weekends are for. If only it weren't so darn hot!

An evening of stories

There's a new show at Deepwater Theater this year, on Monday nights at 8 PM. It's an evening of stories about historic Ocracoke, some true and others...well, you be the judge! The show is performed by Philip Howard and his daughter Amy...



...with music by Fiddler Dave.

Graduation

When your graduating class only has 4 people in it...



...each of you has a part in the graduation ceremony.

Speech by valedictorian Jordan:



Song by Aaron:



Slide show presentation by Samantha:



And presentation of the class colors by DJ.



Congrats to the class of 2010!

Hy-geraniums

I love hydrangeas. Lucky me, because there are plenty of wonderful examples around here. Here's a photo of one example, and to give credit where credit is due, it was taken by my friend Sundae.



Many Ocracokers call hydrangeas hy-geraniums. I like that, and other examples of local words. What local vocabulary do you have in your area?

Faithful friend

Here's a scene I saw recently on the beach. I thought it was sweet how this dog was waiting so patiently for his friend to finish swimming.

Let's eat!

A reader asked me to post a blog about restaurant options on the island. I apologize that it has taken me a while to do so, but here you go. I've tried to list everyone, along with a few random thoughts about each place. Let me know if I missed any! FYI, there is nothing new this year in the space that was most recently Riley's.

My personal favorite top three:
- Cafe Atlantic (everything they put on a plate at the Cafe is good, starting with the fresh, warm bread through the salad with homemade dressing, varied entrees, and most importantly their fantastic desserts!)
- Flying Melon (it's all good here, too - terrific brunch, somewhat of a Cajun/New Orleans flair)
- The Back Porch (wonderful romantic ambience, great food (some French-inspired cuisine, but plenty of variety) and terrific desserts)

There are several others, in no particular order, including "snack" type places as well as full-meal restaurants:
- Dajio (delicious entrees, shrimp hour, patio and indoor seating)
- SmacNally's (casual, outdoor dining on the harbor - burgers, seafood, etc.)
- Jolly Roger (burgers, seafood, Mexican items - waterfront right on the harbor with gorgeous sunset views; live music Sunday nights)
- Howard's Pub (seafood, steak, raw bar, 200+ kinds of beer)
- Jason's (fabulous pizza, Italian specialties (pasta, lasagna, etc.) in a casual setting, sushi on Tuesday nights)
- Jimmy's Buffet (all you can eat seafood buffet (there are also non seafood items), live music some nights)
- Creekside Cafe (casual: salads, sandwiches, wraps, live music on some nights)
- Fig Tree Bakery & Deli (sandwiches, ice cream, candy)
- Ocracoke Coffee Company and Island Smoothie (mostly beverages, but they also have bagels with several kinds of cream cheese and other spreads/toppings including my personal favorite, lox (smoked salmon), plus a delicious granola fruit & yogurt bowl)
- Pony Island Restaurant - casual, great breakfast (try Pony Potatoes!), daily specials
- Ocracoke Pizza Company (pizza, obviously! take out only, occasional Greek nights)
- Thai Moon (fantastic authentic Thai food - takeout only, cash only)
- The Slushy Stand (mostly ice cream and smoothies, but they also have muffins in the morning I believe)
- The Station (gas station - sandwiches, pizza, that sort of thing - good for fast pickup if you're headed to a ferry)

Okay, I'm officially hungry now...

The power of story

I don't remember my childhood. I don't mean I don't remember what I had for breakfast on my first day of school, or who my second grade teacher was. I mean I don't remember my childhood. I remember two events from before I was eleven years old. That's right, a grand total of two.

Tonight, my Mom and I went to Deep Water Theater and listened to several talented storytellers who had attended Donald Davis' annual storytelling workshop this past week on the island (I attended that workshop myself a couple of years ago; it's wonderful). Anyway, two of the tellers, Sheila and Kindra, told wonderful (although very different) stories about their childhoods, and I was enormously blessed by both. I had a moment of jealousy at not only their ability to remember their childhood experiences, but at the experiences themselves, which were full of love and joy. But it was just a moment, and I chose to let that feeling go. It was much more rewarding to simply enjoy the stories, to marvel at the wonder that can be found in childhood, and to learn from their joy (and from the sadness in one of the stories, too).

This is the power of story - sharing truth and experience in a way that moves the listener, because he or she can relate, even if - like me - he or she can't relate in the usual sense of "oh, yes, something similar to that happened to me, too, I remember..."

First Opry

The Deep Water Theater summer performances started this week. I attended the first Wednesday night Ocrafolk Opry with my mom and thoroughly enjoyed all the performances. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera so I have no photos to put with this blog. Sorry!

Anyway, the shows this season are as follows:
- Mondays - You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet! - Strange Stories and Quirky Tales of Ocracoke Island with Philip and Amy Howard
- Wednesdays - Ocrafolk Opry
- Thursdays - Molasses Creek

All shows start at 8:00 PM; doors open at 7:30. All tickets are sold at the door, and since seating is limited shows do fill up, so get there early. Enjoy!

Music and bingo

Mandolin Orange (aka Emily and Andrew) stayed on the island for a few days after the Festival, playing at the Jolly Roger a couple of times. John, my Mom, Connor and I went to see them tonight.





Then Mom and I went to Bingo. In case you don't know about this weekly event, it's a fundraiser for the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department (OVFD) held each Tuesday night in the firehouse (on the second floor) at 7:30. The cost is $12 for adults to play all 12 games; you can also choose to purchase additional cards if you want to improve your chances of winning. There are four additional "special" games played throughout the evening as well, for an additional cost. Doors open at 7:00 and the games begin at 7:30. Seating is limited, so plan to get there early if you do go.

Festival weekend

The annual Ocrafolk Festival was a fun-filled weekend, as usual. The weather was quite hot, but the crowds seemed to enjoy the music, storytelling, and shopping for handmade items from artisans in spite of the heat and humidity. Probably the best way to blog about the Festival is simply to post photographs of the event. This year, I found myself taking some pictures of performers offstage, in between shows, so I've sprinkled those in here as well for a slightly different view of the event.