My travel took a beating in 2020. Little did I know. Little did any of us know. True, I did manage a proper vacation to Bermuda just before the pandemic struck. Then we hid for brief periods away from everyone else at lakes in Pennsylvania and in Michigan. That helped. Hopefully someone reading this page in the distant future will have forgotten all the weirdness. However the rest of us know without prompting that the year simply sucked.
Then we got close to Christmas. We still couldn’t really do anything per se although we had to get out of the house. I needed to look at some different walls, if only briefly. Where could we get on a single tank of gas and just relax without fear of someone else’s contaminated air? The beach sounded good. I love the beach in winter and we enjoyed the Outer Banks a few years ago. So we decided on Corolla, North Carolina (map), about as far north on the Outer Banks as one could go. Nobody would be anywhere near us and we could walk around safely for a few days without any fears.
I made no other plans for this getaway. No side trips, no geo-oddities, no county counting, no nothing. We parked the car and didn’t move. If we couldn’t reach it on foot, we didn’t do it. How amazingly uncharacteristic of me! But these were unusual times.
Christmas
We weren’t completely 100% alone. However I’d say that people occupied maybe one-in-twenty rental homes along the shore? Dark windows and empty driveways vastly outnumbered occupied dwellings. We got a huge rental home directly on the beach for a steal. I can’t even imagine what this thing would cost during summer.
Occasionally we would spot other people on the beach. Obviously someone got motivated enough to create this sand “snowman.” I could see it from probably a quarter-mile away as I approached although I never saw who put it there. Still, I figured, this would be the closest thing to a White Christmas I’d get this year.
The tide rolled-in sometime overnight and nothing remained of our guy the next morning. Such is life at the beach. Nothing here lasts forever.
Beachcombing
We rarely encountered signs of civilization during our long walks along the beach. Sure, we saw lots of dwellings but only a handful of hearty people ventured outdoors, bundled up against the frigid winds.
That created perfect conditions for beachcombing. I guess. That’s not really my thing. I preferred a steady stroll, looking out upon the Atlantic Ocean, watching the waves, the dolphins, the birds and the weather patterns instead. Even so, I’d spot a pretty shell now-and-then, and maybe stop briefly to admire it.
Where Pavement Ends
Although we settled way up north on the Outer Banks, the barrier islands actually extended several miles farther. OK, so technically this section wasn’t truly a barrier island because it connected to the mainland via Virginia. Let’s set that aside though. It’s always one big hurricane away from becoming a barrier island again.
Anyway, we rented a house about a mile away from where asphalt turned to sand. Only four-wheel drive vehicles could travel beyond the pavement (map). Nonetheless, I could walk to that section of the beach on foot, so I did. Thus I entered the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge as I opened the gate and passed through.
A fence crossed a portion of the pseudo-island at that point. It even extended into the water on the ocean side (map). That kept the wild ponies from straying into the more populated areas of Corolla. While not quite as famous as the equines up the coast in Chincoteague (my visit), the Outer Banks had a hundred or so of these magnificent animals. They’ve been there since the 16th Century when early Spanish or English explorers left them behind — nobody knew for sure — and they’ve been quite happy ever since.
Unfortunately I didn’t see any of them.
Stormy Weather
We had great weather much of the time, about as good as one could get in December. Then a cold front came through early on Christmas morning. It brought rain for a time, plenty of wind and a drastic temperature drop.
I happened to capture this photo from the deck of our rental home as the front rolled through. I loved the image with its shades of blue and gray. Still, I kicked myself for not bringing my good camera. I had to use my phone camera. For some stupid reason I thought I’d only need to take pictures of the kids opening Christmas presents or something. Obviously that was wrong. You’d think I’d learn.
The Sound
Most of my daily walks happened along the ocean shoreline for obvious reasons. The beach provided a nice place to stroll and lots of interesting sights along the way. However, Corolla also had a second coastline along Currituck Sound. Nobody could really “walk” it though. You’d have to cut through people’s back yards, climb over docks, and slog through marshy places. Nonetheless, a number of public access points extended out to the sound so I poked around.
Specifically, I could walk to Historic Corolla Park in about fifteen minutes (map). That offered a particularly beautiful backdrop to watch the setting sun. Look into the distance and you can see mainland North Carolina on the opposite shore. It didn’t quite qualify as an east coast sunset over water although it came pretty close. The photo almost looks like I took it at a tropical resort. It wasn’t though; it was downright chilly. Although it certainly looked nice.
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr.
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