Both painting and internet were sketchy down at Ocracoke, so this is a recap now that I'm back home. We really enjoyed our stay at Ocracoke! It has gained some popularity due to the great reviews of its pristine and natural beaches, but it remains a sleepy little 16 mile island only accesible by boat or ferry. No McDonald's or Starbucks there! Just lovely little harbors, small local restaurants, and shops ranging from artisan/galleries to a few peddaling souvenir schlock and surf gear. It is a great place to ride bikes, photograph, paint/sketch (if the wind is calmer) and watch the sunrise and sunsets. If you are into fishing, surfing and other watersports it seems like it is great for that too. We stayed in the village along Silverlake harbor and had all different kinds of weather. The last two days of our stay were absolutely gorgeous, though the wind was around 20-25 miles an hour so often that I decided to forgo the oil painting and stick to sketches like the one I did here of the Harbor:

"Flying Colors" Watercolor & Ink on Paper