The map below shows where Ocracoke lies off the mainland of North Carolina. We took a bridge out to Kitty Hawk of Wright brothers fame. Then it's 73 miles south to Hatteras [past Buxton] where we take a 40 minute ferry to Ocracoke island. The 40 minute ferry on the map is the short dotted line to the right of Ocracoke island. Hatteras is not marked on the map, but it is near Buxton. There are 4 major lighthouses in the immediate vicinity. Most of Ocracoke is a National park or wildlife refuge so it is fairly deserted. The town of Ocracoke is small and overrun by bicycles as the main mode of transportation. For our return to the mainland we took a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride to Swan Quarter.

Rich colors of the sound away from the ocean at Ocracoke near the ferry terminal

Inside Ocracoke lighthouse, a harbor light moreso than a lighthouse. These are the replacement stairs after the wooden ones were

replaced in the 50's. The walls of the lighthouse were 5 feet thick.

These are scenes in the little town of Ocracoke. What a cycling paradise. It's a tiny hamlet and everyone walks and bikes. Bike rule the streets.

We took off at dawn from Ocracoke, packing the tent in the early hours and waiting at the ferry from 6am. We had a beautiful sunrise.

The bird island from the ferry which took us to Swan Quarter from Ocracoke

The Mohrs in Raleigh except Karen the Photographer

The Nguyen-Mohrs, like family

This is Hannah and her daughter who live in Wheaton. They found us thru craigslist and rented a room for Hannahs aunt Ngoc and uncle Trongh. We have been sharing cultures and our home for a couple months. Trongh is well-travelled and more comfortable with English than Ngoc. Hannah and Ton have been in the US for about 5 years. Prior to that they were in China for a couple years. Trongh and Ngoc will be in the US for about 5 months. They are studying English nearby.

Hannah N Nguyen, 38
RESIDES IN NORTH EAST, MD
Lived In Port Deposit MD, Albuquerque NM, Westminster CA, Elkton MD
Related To Trang Nguyen, Ngoc Nguyen, Thi Nguyen, Kim Nguyen, Katherinea Nguyen
Also known as Lannha Nguyen, Hanh N Nguyen, Nguyen Hannah, Nguyen Nguyen

Karen is an accomplished chef and they asked her to fix a traditional American dish. Karen couldn't think of anything traditional so she cooked an Indian chicken marsala[?] . Another time she fixed pork chops and fried potatoes. They used the same amount of meat in their portion for an entire week - culture shock! They eat very similar meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner - rice, rice, rice. When they first arrived Karen told them they should teach one another to cook in their tradition, so Karen pointed to the wok. Ngoc doesn't use a wok. Oh, well. They don't use chop sticks either, they have another name for them. They don't watch any TV. I think it would be very helpful for them. They are still struggling with learning English. Karen has studied diction and they can understand her, but Matt and I are babbling idiots as far as they can tell.

Trongh and Ngoc made a trip to Disney land in Florida. I've never been, but apparently it's important to them. They have interesting habits. One is to shake their hands after washing rather than using a towel. They wash dishes in cold water. Ngoc has been trying to understand why we use hot water, but she doesn't have enough English to understand my answer.

Trongh lounges around the house in his pajamas. If he's around the house he's in those clothes. He loves to play our piano. At his home they have a Steinway. He is impressed with our piano. He was teaching Ton to play some popular tunes - I think they were Christmas songs. He was asking if we thought he should ship his Steinway to New York to get it fixed. I said get a good Japanese piano. He seems to want to stick with his Steinway. They are followers of no religion altho they did visit a Buddhist monk in the area.

Beautiful rich pond flowers in our back yard. Each plant blooms periodically so we finally caught it on a day when one was in bloom.