Pat Garber knows an Ocracoke that few visitors ever see, and she offers it to all in this book filled with Ocracoke's beauty and wonder. Whether writing about helping baby loggerhead turtles to get a head start on life, banding brown pelicans, stumbling into a mating ritual of horseshoe crabs, or the touching reunion of a beached and wounded bottlenose dolphin with its mate, she does it with a clarity and grace that puts the reader at the scene and stresses the importance of nature not just to the inhabitants of Ocracoke but to all of us, everywhere.
Keywords: Ocracoke, Outer Banks, Lighthouse, Blackbeard, shipwrecks, beaches, British Cemetery, Howard Street.2ND EDITION, ENHANCED WITH MORE PHOTOS, AUTHOR SIGNATURE.OCRACOKE, that magical name that refers to both island and village, has always meant something special. It may have been derived from a Native American word for ?enclosed place,? fitting for the village of Ocracoke is indeed an enclosed place on the island of Ocracoke, at least as much as possible on North Carolina's OUTER BANKS. It is tucked away from the Atlantic Ocean on the Pamlico Sound ? like a pearl. It is a vacation paradise. Ocracoke, though beautiful and often serene, has rarely been entirely safe. TREACHEROUS STORMS, PIRATES AND EVEN GERMAN SUBMARINES HAVE TAKEN DOWN SHIPS offshore and made the onshore lives of islanders uncertain. It was at Ocracoke that America's most famous pirate, the ruthless BLACKBEARD, met his end in a ferocious battle with naval authorities. The pirate was shot or wounded 25 times before finally dying of a throat slashing. There is, of course, a gentler side to Ocracoke, as well. The island is home to the iconic 1823 LIGHTHOUSE that is only 75 feet tall and a photographer's favorite. Here, too, are ferries full of visitors and throngs of bicycle riders, a legendary herd of once-wild PONIES and miles upon miles of nationally honored BEACHES, the charmingly unpaved HOWARD STREET and the poignantly serene BRITISH CEMETERY. Award-winning author Ray McAllister explores them all, then goes further in search of the soul of Ocracoke, discovering what it is that pulls visitors back year after year. Along the way, he teams with Dr. Stephen Leatherman, the world-famous Dr. Beach, to advance an audacious and compelling new proposal for the island. Ocracoke: The Pearl of the Outer Banks is a delightful look at what has made Ocracoke special ? and likely always will.
Tirades and threats. Hyperbole and deception. Changing landscapes and immutable opinions. Living traditions and dead animals. The conflicts that rage around the wild horses of the Atlantic coast can be loud, confusing, and downright vicious. Wild horses have lived on these barrier islands for hundreds of years, and many people would like to see them remain. Horse advocates and horse detractors alike turn to research to support their claims, but often reach different conclusions from the same information. Engaging the reader at every turn of the page, Bonnie Gruenberg frequently breaks new ground as she separates fact from myth and exposes the roots of issues for the reader to consider. She does not flinch from probing questions: Are these horses wild or feral? Native or exotic? Were Chincoteague Ponies used in bioweapons research? Did the U.S. Coast Guard patrol East Coast beaches with Western mustangs in WWII? How does the condition of lactating mares predict environmental health? She weaves a story of ancient origins and current events, hard science and fiery passion. The result is the most comprehensive and factual reference on the wild horses of the Atlantic coast.
The Outer Banks National Scenic Byway received its designation in 2009, an act that stands as a testament to the historical and cultural importance of the communities linked along the North Carolina coast from Whalebone Junction across to Hatteras and Ocracoke Island and down to the small villages of the Core Sound region. This rich heritage guide introduces readers to the places and people that have made the route and the region a national treasure. Welcoming visitors on a journey across sounds and inlets into villages and through two national seashores, Barbara Garrity-Blake and Karen Willis Amspacher share the stories of people who have shaped their lives out of saltwater and sand. The book considers how the Outer Banks residents have stood their ground and maintained a vibrant way of life while adapting to constant change that is fundamental to life where water meets the land. Heavily illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs, Living at the Water's Edge will lead readers to the proverbial porch of the Outer Banks locals, extending a warm welcome to visitors while encouraging them to understand what many never see or hear: the stories, feelings, and meanings that offer a cultural dimension to the byway experience and deepen the visitor's understanding of life on the tideline.
Wild horses, once vital to the Outer Banks livestock industry, remained on Ocracoke after forces of "progress" had obliterated them elsewhere. Pony pennings lasted until the 1950s; the world's only mounted Boy Scout troop, until the 1960s. Reduced to a roadside attraction, the herd nearly died out. Recovery has been slow, and the prognosis is uncertain. Bonnie U. Gruenberg has studied, photographed, and written about wild horses for more than 20 years. Distilled from her encyclopedic Wild Horse Dilemma - Conflicts and Controversies of the Atlantic Coast Herds (Quagga Press, 2015), each Hoofprints Guide offers detailed information about the history, environment, behavior, and prospects of one Atlantic Coast herd in a convenient form with bonus photographs.
North Carolina's Ocracoke island has produced a remarkably cohesive community of islanders. For more than two centuries, these Ocracokers lived in relative isolation, enjoying the beauty and battling the destructive forces of the Atlantic. In the past two decades, tourists discovered this "unique fishing village by the sea," and the tiny island was forever altered. Alarmed at the dramatic changes in the island's character over the past generation, Alton Ballance set out to capture the story of Ocracoke and its people from the unique perspective of a native. Ballance accompanies the people of Ocracoke on their everyday activities--fishing, hunting, boating--all the time recording their stories about events and people that have shaped the island's history. They have lived through hurricanes, and they remember their ancestors talking of the shipwrecks and daring rescues that occurred off the treacherous coast. During the many years when no doctor resided on the island, Ocracokers delivered each other's babies and attended to their own illnesses, sometimes with local cures. When Ballance was growing up on Ocracoke in the 1960s and 1970s, the number of year-round residents hovered around 500. Now Ocracoke is a major tourist attraction visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year. As tourism has flourished, the island has become less isolated, and Ballance discusses the consequences of this development for both islander and visitor. The modernization that accompanies tourism has provided many benefits for the island, among them better health care and schooling and more jobs. Nonetheless, the Ocracoke of old is rapidly disappearing. This book is a tribute to that Ocracoke and her people.
The Eastern corridor of the United States may be notorious for overdevelopment, but Curtis J. Badger offers a challenge in his The Wild Coast: Exploring the Natural Attractions of the Mid-Atlantic: get off the highway and go see what the mid-Atlantic states have to offer. A companion to both Virginia's Wild Side and A Naturalist's Guide to the Virginia Coast, this new volume takes the reader on more than two dozen frequently surprising excursions through five mid-Atlantic states, offering detailed adventures for travelers wishing to explore the undeveloped territory of the East Coast. With excursions ranging from sea kayaking at Roanoke Island, North Carolina, to a visit to the hawk observatory at Cape May, New Jersey, Badger's guide promises not only factual information on birds, butterflies, holly forests, and native plants but also an entertaining narrative that captures the excitement of exploring new territory. This guidebook to both wildlife and botany will appeal to anyone journeying along the eastern seaboard, particularly those interested in trading in their offices and armchairs for a taste of the unexpected and the wild.
