I previously mentioned that Ocracoke has a beautiful little harbor in the center of town called "Silver Lake". The hotel where we stayed had a view of Silver Lake Harbor, and and each morning we could sit outside,  sip our coffee and enjoy the peaceful relaxed beauty of scenes like this one:

"Open For Business" Watercolor & Ink on Paper

The only morning activity we saw was that of people strolling near the water, and fishermen quietly preparing their boats for the day's outing. But at one time this area was harassed by the infamous pirate known as Blackbeard. Blackbeard wreaked havoc all up and down the east coast and into the Caribbean. But his reign of terror was brought to an end when he was finally caught near Ocracoke by the British Navy in 1718.