Ocracoke, Day #1

No two rooms are alike at the Island Inn.
No two rooms are alike at the Island Inn.
Android photo: Main deck of the MV (Motor Vessel) Swan Quarter en route from Cedar Island to Ocracoke.
Android photo: Empty side lane, 220 feet from stem to stern, aboard the Swan Quarter.
Android photo: Acadia perched in the rear window of our car aboard the Swan Quarter.

The just commissioned Swan Quarter ferried us across Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke Island, a place made almost inaccessible from the north by Hurricane Sandy. This has caused many businesses on the island to close early for the season and those that aren’t closed might just as well be says Books to be Red bookstore owner Leslie Ann Lanier (and yes, that’s “Red,” not “Read” … a reference to her former hair color). According to Lanier, 95% of Ocracoke’s tourist dollars arrive via Cape Hatteras.

Our home for the week will be The Island Inn, a krazy kwilt of add-ons, antiques, ill-fitting doors and shabby chic beach house adornments. We’re checked into the top front room — “The Crow’s Nest,” as it’s called. Our private balcony (the big one beneath the gable) offers a narrow view of the Sound.