Outer Banks NC "city meet" - April 30, 2022

[Beltway]

The Cedar Island Ferry was mentioned earlier. In making your plans, take note that while it's only a 20-mile ferry crossing, it takes 2.5 hours (and it's boring). It's not really a day trip activity (whereas the Hatteras-to-Ocracoke ferry definitely can be a day trip).

I have done a lot of boating in the past, mostly sailboating, and while it is enjoyable keep in mind that long trips can be rather boring when you are on the open waters.  Destinations are fun, the socialization is fun, but it is the nature of boating that hours of open waters can get boring.

A ferry is a larger boat and you don't have to be the pilot, but some of the same things apply.

[Alps]

A few days ago I made a comment somewhere indicating that I would allow this poll to run its course through October 1. But in light of a couple of additional meets that were announced shortly after I announced this one that are also being considered for the April-May-June time frame, I'm seriously wondering if I should cut this poll short and just pick my date based on the results of my poll so far. (I of course didn't have any way of knowing how popular this time frame would be, and I don't want to create issues for other folks who are wanting to plan meets but are having difficulty because my date hasn't been set yet.)

In general, I still like putting the date up for a poll to give folks a say in when they feel the meet should happen, but I'm discovering that perhaps two months is too long if others are trying to plan meets around the same time.

There are obviously folks in our community who don't log onto this forum nearly as often as others, so I'm trying to respect that... but on the other hand, I'm not so sure. Would anyone mind if I changed my mind and decided not to keep the poll open as long as I originally said I would?

April 25 seems like a clear winner and has the support of not being during peak tourism. I'm OK with it.

[hbelkins]

The Cedar Island Ferry was mentioned earlier. In making your plans, take note that while it's only a 20-mile ferry crossing, it takes 2.5 hours (and it's boring). It's not really a day trip activity (whereas the Hatteras-to-Ocracoke ferry definitely can be a day trip).

No, but it might work if someone was planning on departing the area via it and wasn't planning to go to the evening meal.

I've ridden it before -- I've told the story about how that happened fairly often -- so it probably wouldn't be something I'd want to do, especially since it's not really on what would be a logical route home, but if I attend, the odds are pretty good that I will just do lunch and not dinner as part of the meet.

[Beltway]

The Cedar Island Ferry was mentioned earlier. In making your plans, take note that while it's only a 20-mile ferry crossing, it takes 2.5 hours (and it's boring). It's not really a day trip activity (whereas the Hatteras-to-Ocracoke ferry definitely can be a day trip).

No, but it might work if someone was planning on departing the area via it and wasn't planning to go to the evening meal.

Could spend an overnight on the OBX.  If I make a trip to Cape Hatteras I will provide need to spend a night if I want to see all the things I want to see.

That lighthouse is worth the trip as well, I have not been to the top as it was closed awaiting the move last time I was there.
https://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/lighthouseclimbs.htm

[Rothman]

My family enjoyed the Cedar Island Ferry.  Didn't find it boring, but I suppose you need to know how to spot wildlife in the water.

[1995hoo]

My family enjoyed the Cedar Island Ferry.  Didn't find it boring, but I suppose you need to know how to spot wildlife in the water.

I rode it in 1993 when I was in college driving from Myrtle Beach to Nags Head with some friends. We played Hearts all the way. Game should have taken a lot less than the whole ferry trip except someone else realized the reason I was winning so easily was that I could see everyone else's cards reflected in the window, at which point scores were reset and seats were changed.....

Now the trip down Ocracoke to the Hatteras ferry after we disembarked the Cedar Island ferry was loads of fun and massively illegal. We had three cars (well, two cars and a Jeep Cherokee) and we wanted to beat everyone else down the island, so once we were out of the town we basically drag-raced down Ocracoke Island at triple-digit speeds. The stupid things you do as a college student.....!!!!!!

[hbelkins]

Last time I was at the lighthouse was in the early 1980s. I wandered off the wooden walkway and my legs got eaten up by sand fleas.

[csw]

Tentatively interested in this one as well, I was going to take a trip down and camp overnight this summer but I chickened out and turned around at Hampton Roads. If I did attend I'd likely stay overnight and camp at one of the sites closer to Cape Hatteras.

[SSOWorld]

You must choose.  But choose wisely.  For the good date lands you in OBX, the bad date lands you elsewhere.

[Alps]

You must choose.  But choose wisely.  For the good date lands you in OBX, the bad date lands you elsewhere.

BS. Just leave a bookmark at the decision point and come back later if you don't like the other storyline.

[cjk374]

This meet has my attention. I have a brother who lives in Winston-Salem, so I can visit with him & go to the meet...if schedule will allow it.

I explored the area on the Google satellite map. The Currituck Refuge area doesn't look very Challenger friendly.

[kevinb1994]

This meet has my attention. I have a brother who lives in Winston-Salem, so I can visit with him & go to the meet...if schedule will allow it.

I explored the area on the Google satellite map. The Currituck Refuge area doesn't look very Challenger friendly.

Yeah it's more or less AWD/4WD friendly.

[A.J. Bertin]

Just a quick update. I'm waiting for my boss to approve my time-off request for the days off I'll need for my drive to and from the Outer Banks. As soon as she approves it, I'll be able to officially set the date of this meet for April 25.

[SSOWorld]

I'm going to have to make a choice between this meet and Gene's Texas meet later in the year.  Two close-together meets (the other being May 9) are not logistically possible.

[A.J. Bertin]

I'm going to have to make a choice between this meet and Gene's Texas meet later in the year.  Two close-together meets (the other being May 9) are not logistically possible.

Totally understandable. Yeah I knew (and had communicated on here previously) that I wanted to host this meet in either April, May, or June... but then Gene beat me to the May 9 date for San Antonio. He's not on AARoads so he probably had no idea I was looking at the springtime. I purposely wanted to leave at least a two-week buffer between his meet and mine, but I know that two weeks is not necessarily enough of a buffer to prevent some folks from having to make the choice.

[A.J. Bertin]

Based on earlier discussion about all the meets that are in the planning stages for the spring of 2020, I decided I shouldn't wait until this poll closes (on October 1) to make April 25 the official date of my Outer Banks meet.

Today, I got the official approval from my boss of having the time off I'll need for my drive to and from the Outer Banks... which prompted me making the date official.

I do want to make sure everyone knows that there's going to be a unique aspect of this meet that will be different from my 2019 "city meet" in Providence. Some folks might not like this, but the lunch and dinner will be in two separate cities (Nags Head and Elizabeth City)... unlike Providence, where many of the participants ended their tours in the same place where those tours started. Because lunch and dinner will be in separate places, it probably won't give many participants the option to carpool with others. (Unless folks are carpooling from other places and are paired up with each other in, say, one vehicle, I can't imagine that anyone would want to leave their cars in Nags Head if dinner will be in Elizabeth City.) Some people might be turned off by this aspect of the meet because it will likely require more time alone and less time hanging out and socializing with others... except for lunch and dinner. As we know, one thing about attending meets that's fun is having time socializing in the car with others. That opportunity will be limited, unfortunately, at this meet... unless some small groups decide to have lunch only in Nags Head (skipping Elizabeth City for dinner) or have dinner only in Elizabeth City (and skipping lunch in Nags Head). That way they could have time in a car with others and return to their vehicles in the place where they started.

It's quite likely that this will be my only city meet that has this dynamic, but I'm just making sure everyone knows about it.

In a few weeks or so, I will create a Facebook event for the meet.

[Beltway]

Guess we won't be able to head to Ocracoke Island due to NC 12 having stability issues on Ocracoke Island, until NCDOT is able to make repairs to it there.

Any road damage that would limit access to Nags Head or Cape Hatteras?

[hbelkins]

Guess we won't be able to head to Ocracoke Island due to NC 12 having stability issues on Ocracoke Island, until NCDOT is able to make repairs to it there.

They'll probably have it done well before the meet next year.

[Brandon]

Guess we won't be able to head to Ocracoke Island due to NC 12 having stability issues on Ocracoke Island, until NCDOT is able to make repairs to it there.

Dude, chill. There's still seven months to go.

[hbelkins]

Guess we won't be able to head to Ocracoke Island due to NC 12 having stability issues on Ocracoke Island, until NCDOT is able to make repairs to it there.

They'll probably have it done well before the meet next year.

You're probably right about that, given that it is a small island.

I saw elsewhere that two 500-foot sections of NC 12 were affected in this manner. I've seen similar flood damage here in Kentucky. They got the road fixed in a reasonable amount of time, and that was with there being other options to get around the closure. With NC 12 being the only game in town, I'd say they'll rush to fix it.

[LM117]

Guess we won't be able to head to Ocracoke Island due to NC 12 having stability issues on Ocracoke Island, until NCDOT is able to make repairs to it there.

They'll probably have it done well before the meet next year.

You're probably right about that, given that it is a small island.

I saw elsewhere that two 500-foot sections of NC 12 were affected in this manner. I've seen similar flood damage here in Kentucky. They got the road fixed in a reasonable amount of time, and that was with there being other options to get around the closure. With NC 12 being the only game in town, I'd say they'll rush to fix it.

Yep.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-13-this-week-ncdot.aspx

Dorian Recovery

In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the N.C. Department of Transportation is putting its efforts into making repairs to reopen state roads quickly.

About a dozen roads are still closed, including N.C. 12 in Ocracoke where more than 1,000 feet of major dunes and pavement will need to be replaced.

The damage from Dorian is estimated to be about $45 million and repairs are expected to be complete by the end of the year.

[hbelkins]

^^^
How long of a construction season does that part of North Carolina have? Around here, most of the asphalt plants close at the end of November, even though there is often plenty of good weather during December in which they could pave.

For earth-moving projects, we don't count December through March as "working days" against the contracted deadline, although companies often work during the winter if the weather cooperates. On many projects, they have to cut trees in the winter because of bat habitat requirements.

[A.J. Bertin]

The Facebook event for this meet has been created. It's a private event on Facebook, so I'm not going to bother posting the link here. It is set up, however, where the folks I've invited have the ability to invite others that I'm not Facebook friends with.

If you don't receive the invitation on Facebook due to a) not being on Facebook, or b) being on Facebook but not connected there with anyone in the roadgeek community, no worries. Everyone is still welcome to attend.

The only detail I've shared so far in the Facebook event that I haven't shared here yet is the time of the lunch gathering. We'll gather for lunch somewhere in Nags Head at 11 a.m.  I don't know yet what time we'll gather for dinner in Elizabeth City, but I figure it will be around 7 p.m. I want to reiterate again that I fully expect that, due to the logistics of this meet (the fact that lunch and dinner will be in different cities), some folks will only join for lunch while others will only join for dinner which is totally fine.

Some folks in the Facebook event have expressed a desire to wait until the end of the 2019 hurricane season (and seeing whether OBX sees any hurricane damage) before deciding whether they should attend this meet, which makes sense.

[LM117]

NCDOT is aiming to reopen NC-12 on Ocracoke in November.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-19-ocracoke-road-repair-plan.aspx

[Brandon]

NCDOT is aiming to reopen NC-12 on Ocracoke in November.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-19-ocracoke-road-repair-plan.aspx

I guess Brownlie didn't have to worry (or post) about a thing then.