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Laura Thieme

Bizresearch President – 11 years - 2008

Fisher College of Business Lecturer on Search Marketing

OSU Russian Studies Grad – 1993

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17th June 2008

Journey to See the Wild Ponies in Beaufort & Shackleford Banks, NC 1 reply

My day started well - at the Castle Bed & Breakfast with breakfast at 8:30 a.m.  I had a nice conversation at the breakfast table with a couple who had just gotten married.  She was nearly seven months pregnant with twins and uncomfortable at times but happy.  Another family had just come by Purdue to get their daughter registered for college.  The son, who was likely 13, was that typical age where they’re not necessarily happy to be along for the ride.  I sat through the entire breakfast not knowing I had a vertical size sticker on the front of my t-shirt I had purchased the night before.  Thanks to the ferry guy for telling me that!  ;-)  Pregnancy brain!

Off to see the wild ponies in Beaufort, NC and Shackleford Banks.  In case you’d like to do this one day yourself - so the kids can see the wild ponies on the beach - here’s how:


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First you have to go to Cape Hatteras Landing if you’re in OBX, Outer Banks.  You take the free 45 minute ride (by the time you board and depart) to Ocracoke.  You might as well go very early, or spend the night in Ocracoke, because your next ferry is the Cedar Island Ferry, which is a three hour journey (by the time you board and depart).  I took the 10:30 ferry, but you need to be there by 10:00 a.m.  It’s $15 unless you have a super long car or SUV or boat, etc.  You’re out in the open ocean, so of course weather could factor into your departure or arrival schedule.  Then you drive an hour from Cedar Island to Beaufort, NC.  Then you take the Shackleford Wild Horse Safari, which leaves once per day at 8:45 a.m. in hopes that the horses are out and about at their most active time in the morning.  There were three foals born in the past six weeks, according to the Island Ferry Adventures tour group from Beaufort’s waterfront.  All in all - it takes a leisurely three days to take this journey unless you’re prepared to stress just to see the wild ponies who hardly look stressed at all (see pic below).  Personally, I’d prefer to do it in two days, but with the smoke in Outer Banks, what’s the purpose of returning so quickly?

I took the 2 1/2 hour car ferry ride mid-morning from Ocracoke, NC to Cedar Island.  The Ocracoke Lighthouse is not as spectacular as the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, however, any lighthouse is always cool to see.

Ocracoke Lighthouse, NC
Ocracoke Lighthouse, NC - Departing Ocracoke on the Cedar Island Ferry

Compare this to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, NC
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

There is nothing to see in Cedar Island except marshes and one cool lookin’ white crane on the side of the road.  Well, I take that back - you can see some funky things in Cedar Island on your 45 minute drive to Beaufort, NC.  There is a really remote section of North Carolina.  Be sure to gas up before you head to the island, because while there is a gas station within a few miles outside of town, it doesn’t look good - looks like a serious hurricane ripped it to shreds and the owners didn’t bother to remove the road signs.  They did have time, however, to scratch out the name of the gas station in what appears to be black magic marker.  ;-) 

I really feel like I’m on vacation right now, because I’m blogging from the hotel room, after having dinner at the marina, and taking an evening stroll watching the sunset.   Not the typical thing you do from Columbus, Ohio.  I’m watching Chevy Chase make an ass out of himself in Vacation, with Christie Brinkley.  How does this married man get himself into such trouble in less than an hour after a disagreement with his wife?  Hilarious!  Such an old movie that has the ability to crack me up every time I watch it.  Naked in the pool with another woman and caught!  One of those movies I never seem to watch the whole thing - but always seem to catch the end of it.

Other interesting things along the road to Beaufort, NC - one guy appearing to be catching his lunch with a spear in the water and a pail - forget the fishing lines, right?  Two guys on separate occasions, rather overweight, no seriously obese actually, in a scooter on the side of the road, just looking out at nothing in particular.  A very rusted out North Carolina Public Schools bus in someone’s yard.  Such old houses, hit by storms over the years, that you wondered what their stories were as you passed by.  New builds on stilts or concrete blocks that looked out of place compared to the delapidated houses passed earlier.  A peaceful drive, but one that you would not want to get a flat tire on - that is for sure.

I arrived in Beaufort, NC and grabbed a crabcake sandwich, and caught a glimpse of my first wild ponies on the beach across the Sound. 

Wild Ponies in Beaufort NC
Wild Ponies Grazing Near Water’s Edge in Beaufort, NC
The boat appears to have been here as long as the ponies have

This is not the same area I will see in the morning.  The ferry takes you to Shackleford Banks, where one side has the Sound, and the other the Atlantic Ocean.   You spend about three hours minimum at the beach on Shackleford Banks.  To see the ponies, if you’re lucky, it’s about an hour and a half guided-tour on foot, and then the rest of the time you can spend on the beach where there is an apparent abundance of conch shells. 

Perhaps the funniest moment today - I returned to the waterfront for dinner and ate at the Dockhouse where live entertainment attracted the evening strollers, summertime local drinkers, and young couples with their babies in strollers.  I thought I saw the horses out again - I could see one of them taking a swim - of course, they are far off in the distance, but I whipped out my super zoom lens camera and began to take lots of photos.  I have that cool action setting, so it takes three or so shots in a second or two.  I thought as I looked through the lens that the golden horse looked like it was “wagging its tail”.  Almost like a dog!  Wow, those wild ponies sure have interesting traits - yep - then 20 photos later - sure enough - it was a dog.  A golden retriever that had been fishing.  Pretty funny.  I felt very silly about that time.

It's a Wild Pony - No Its a Dog Silly!
It’s a Wild Pony Swimming - How Cool!  Uh, No - It’s a Dog Silly!

The evening ended well - that’s me in the middle with my two new friends! J/K

Beaufort NC waterfront outside Dockside Inn
Beaufort, NC Waterfront Marina in the Evening at Sunset 

I returned to work online, check emails, and to catch up on my daily blog entries, load my photos to Flickr (see Outer Banks vacation pictures).  I’m trying to figure out how to upload automatically photos from mobile phone to Flickr.  Videos on YouTube from mobile phone and soon, the regular camcorder are posted as time allows.

The fun of being a business owner - you’re never truly on vacation - there is never a day that you can avoid in most cases checking in with the office, a client or two, or an employee or two.  Tonight, I have KPIs to report on, a paid search audit, and an email task list for a new client.  It’s 10 to 11 p.m. and I have an hour or so of work to do before I sleep.   But without work, I’d not have this excursion to afford, nor would baby and I have our first journey together.

One Response to “Journey to See the Wild Ponies in Beaufort & Shackleford Banks, NC”

  1. Kristi from CA says:
    June 17th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

    Love it! I need to get out there someday!

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