by Sydney Campbell
I was swimming out to just beyond the crashing waves with my boogie board strapped to my wrist. Like a surfer, I combatted the waves by pushing the nose of my board under the water so I could glide below it as I continued to swim further out into the ocean. To my right, I saw my uncle Boonie doing the same thing; after all, he was the one who taught me. When we finally made it out there, we sat. We waited for what felt like forever, looking for the perfect wave to bring us back to shore. Boonie hollered at me, “Syd, this is the one!” so I flipped over on my board and began to kick and paddle as hard as I could. Fear and excitement rushed through my body; I knew that I would either fall off the wave and be caught in its swirling back end, or I would glide on top of the water to the shore. Luckily, I did not fall off the wave; I instead made it safely to shore where my mother sat, snoozing in her chair. As I was walking towards her, I looked around to see that our group was squished between two cars with fishing poles. In my opinion, they were too close; I could have easily been caught on one of their hooks had I fallen off the wave. I remembered what it was like when I was younger. I never worried about being too close to another car with a fishing line; there were never cars close enough to make that an issue.
Ocracoke Island is located in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This sixteen-mile-long island is complete with undeveloped beaches, a rich history, and family-friendly activities perfect for a summer vacation. Many people from all over the United States, and even some in Canada, come to Ocracoke for a week or two to relax and unwind from their busy lives. Most families board a ferry, either the Hatteras, Swan Quarter, or the Cedar Island ferry, to get onto the island. They enjoy the hour to two-hour long boat ride by napping in their car, feeding the seagulls, or taking family phots on the end of the boat. Once vacationers arrive, they can check into their beach house or hotel, pick up their rental golf cart, and cruise around the island. During the day, many like to drive out on the beach to boogie board or surf all day long. Some stay off the beach to shop or to explore all of the historical sites and museums Ocracoke has to offer. Nightlife on the island is clam yet happening. Vacationers can go sing karaoke at Jason’s Restaurant or play Bingo at the fire station. Cruising around on golf carts is a tradition for many on Ocracoke.
As I have grown, so has Ocracoke itself. The island did not grow in size like the I did, but it gained more and more visitors; and it is still growing. Overcrowding on the island is now an issue for many, but it increasingly problematic for those who traveled there while they were young. My mother, Laura Campbell, who has been vacationing on Ocracoke since she was seven months old (1975), has noticed the change in the number of people on the island during the summer. “Ocracoke used to be slow and chill… like the pedestrian had the right of way. But now it is just more of a tourist attraction.” Although though there are no commercial businesses located on the island, each year, according to her, it becomes a little more commercialized. Over time, more houses have been built and there have been more advertisements made about Ocracoke. While attracting and being able to accommodate more vacationers is good for the island’s economy, it does make the stay for veteran vacationers seem less desirable. My mother remembers being a child and going on adventures with the rangers to get ranger patches, walking around the island with her two brothers, and then later graduating to riding bicycles. Now, children do not ride on bikes or walk around. Instead, they cruise around the island on golf carts with their families.
The most important feature of Ocracoke is the beach. Families pile into their all-wheel-drive vehicles and head onto the beach, park right on the water, and spend the entire day soaking up the sun and swimming in the ocean. Children are able to play in the tide pools just above the shore line, and teenagers are able to swim or boogie board in the ocean as the adults enjoy lounging on the sand with an ice-cold beer in hand. Families used to be able to do all of these things with no one near them on the beach, but now, due to the increasing number of people coming to the island, cars are packed tighter than ever before. Parents sometimes have to worry about parking too close to another family because they may be fishing. The overcrowding also makes it harder for large groups of people to find space on the beach together. They have to come out early in order to claim their spot on the beach.
I have been going to Ocracoke Island since I was just a few months old (2000). I remember when I was around four or five, my entire family would rent all of the cottages at Wagon Wheel Cottages for a whole week. My grandmother and great-grandmother would rent out the largest one and make our whole family breakfast every day. My two uncles, John and Boonie, would rent out two other cottages, and we would rent another. After breakfast, we would all drive out onto the beach and stay for the entire day. There was never trouble trying to find space to fit four cars together. Now, however, it is extremely hard to find a spot that can accommodate so many cars and people. There are many more families trying to park on the beach then there were back then. Rather than being able to relax and not worry about being able to find a good spot on the beach, my family now has to rush in the morning to make it on the beach in time to find a spot. The stress takes away from the chill vibe that vacationing at Ocracoke used to give us.
As my mom looks back on her previous stays on Ocracoke, she remembers how much fun she had as a kid walking or biking around the island. She and her two brothers would walk to the shops or walk down to the Park Ranger station to earn their weekly badge. There were few cars driving on the island, so it was easy for pedestrians to walk freely. Now, there are so many cars and golf carts on the island that pedestrians and bikers have a harder time getting around. Since Ocracoke has become more of a tourist destination, there are more people who come to the island just for the day; and being that they are only on the island for a short period of time, they do not rent a golf cart. The day travelers drive their car around the island instead.
In order to reduce some of the traffic congestion on the island, the North Carolina Ferry System is adding a brand-new passenger ferry starting in 2018. The ferry will let out at Silver Lake, and will allow more people onto the island but they do not have to bring their cars. They pay a fifteen-dollar fare to ride the ferry over to Ocracoke, and then they are able to enjoy the island and its beaches. Hyde County is also creating a free tram service so those who do come to the island without a car will have a way to get around the village.
The tram and ferry system might decrease the traffic congestion on the island, but will it restore Ocracoke’s charm? The island’s charm is what makes it such an amazing vacation site; and as more and more people come to the island, the charm fades away leaving a small island full of people with nothing to hold on to. My hope is that Ocracoke will find a happy medium between having many vacationers on the island at a time and maintaining the charm that my family and I love.