As luck would have it...

Yesterday I posted about Blackbeard and Ocracoke Island.

Last night I saw on the news America's Best Beaches 2005.

Lo and behold...

I have to say that if you are looking for a tropical paradise with palm trees and coconuts, forget it. Okie is a sand bar off the coast of North Carolina. Some of the original inhabitants are shipwreckers that still have family lineage there. The dialect some of these people speak is fascinating and rather hard to understand. Think redneck/british/aussie/no idea and it sounds something like that, kind of.

The people are nice, there are few places to go, plenty of stuff like kayaking and bird watching etc. to do, but make no mistake: it's a big beach and that's largely it.

If you are a total naturalist/ecologist/biologist/tree-hugger type you will love this place.

It's a super romantic place to take your better half.

Bring mosquito repellent as those guys will fight 40 mph winds to suck your blood. Newbies to Okie are easy to spot due to the 'dance' that often occurs just before sunset as the little vampires come callin' for fresh blood.

It's a great place, voted the second best beach in America!