Day 11 of vacation

Ocracoke, NC to Whiteville, NC

We ate breakfast in the room, then packed up to go. We drove to the Ocracoke Lighthouse, when Granddaughter announced she needed to go to the bathroom, so we drove back to the motel office and used their restroom. We did a little more shopping, then drove out to the ferry (this one takes reservations). We watched the geese for awhile, and also went in the NPS store, where we saw stuffed geese, geese eggs and all sorts of shells and bones. We finally got on the ferry -- a 2 hour ride -- and Granddaughter immediately adopted herself to a family of boys who were playing games. She insinuated herself into their activities. We made friends with their 3 year old who played a fishing game with Grandson for a little while. They stayed pretty busy. Grandson liked playing "Go Fish" and matching the cards, but near the end, he threw an absolute tantrum and I had to walk him outside for a bit.

Finally, it was time to get back in the car, but Boppa was busy talking to someone. I finally picked Grandson up and just started heading to the car. Of course, we were parked right next to an RV that took up part of our lane -- and I could hardly get the door opened wide enough. But we got them into the car (Boppa followed with Granddaughter) and it was off to Cedar Island and parts beyond.

It took awhile to get Grandson to fall asleep. Our plan was to drive to Wilmington and find a hotel for the night, but we decided to drive the bypass -- and no hotels. Then just beyond Wilmington, we got into a ferocious thunderstorm -- driving rain, and had to slow down to 30 mph. Granddaughter fell asleep just as Grandson woke up. But he was fascinated by the storm, so he was pretty good. We finally found a hotel in Whiteville, and Granddaughter stayed asleep through the whole process.