4th of July

I was in the middle of working on my annual July 4th blog post, covering the Nathan's Hot Dog contest. (No link today as web traffic overwhelmed their servers this morning.) Bottom line: Joey Chestnut won again, Kobayashi in second, the record was shattered again. I'd also located one of my favorite Independence Day videos: If the video above doesn't play, click hereI also intended for that video to be a launching point for me to encourage everyone to report to Washington with torches and pitchforks to run the weasels out of Washington the way we ran the British out of the Colonies, for exactly the same reasons. As I was typing up my post, I heard some rather disturbing news. You'll recall in my last post, prior to leaving for vacation, I encouraged you to research the word "Ocracoma." In a word Ocracoma is the feeling of total relaxation you get when you visit the outer banks, and in particular the tiny outer banks island of Ocracoke. I got to spend a tiny bit of my vacation on Ocracoke, and camped out one night at "Teeter's Campground" just off British Cemetery Road. Oh I can certainly see myself returning for vacations for many years, though stocking up on bug repellent will be required. The village of Ocracoke is on the southwest end of the island and doesn't get the full force of the Atlantic winds, so the biting insects tend to have a field day. I had the news playing in the other room and heard "Ocracoke." Since OKE is a good 3 hours away, we don't usually get them in the news here in Wilmington, so I hopped up to see what they were saying. Apparently a tractor trailer with fireworks for the Ocracoke celebration exploded this morning beside the ferry dock. The "Scott McNally" in the story owns and runs the restaurant SMcNally's. I had dinner there on Wednesday night and met Scott as he was restocking one of the beer coolers. His restaurant is sneezing distance from where the explosions happened. View Larger MapSmcnally's is at the intersection of British Cemetery Rd. and Hwy 12. My campsite at Teeter's was between British Cemetery Rd. and Mark's Path. The explosion would have been just northeast of the "loop" beside the ferry dock. You can look through the photos here and here to try and get your bearings. The big building with the red roof is often referred to as a Coast Guard station but it was sold in recent years and is now "The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching." Whatever that is.All of my pictures in this post have been left "full size" so you can get much better detail by clicking on them. In the picture above, the ferry dock is just to the left of the building and the parking lot of the Ocracoke museum, where the explosion happened, is to the right. This is the ferry dock at Ceder Island, at the other end of the 2 hour, 20 minute ferry ride. This gives you an idea of what the dock on Ocracoke looks like, so you can compare it with this picture:The explosion happened to the right of the red roofed building.This is the cover over a cistern which is all that is left of an old Fort on Ocracoke. In the background you see the red roof. if you look just to the left of the telephone pole you'll see a parking lot. That is roughly where the explosion happened. All of the people involved in the explosion are from a company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Fireworks are illegal in NC but legal in SC.) They were up for the 4th of July celebration, of course. Despite the fact the people were not from Ocracoke, an incredibly tight knit community, this event is sure to hit the island hard. Fourth of July is one of the biggest events on the island each summer as it brings in tourists from all over, and Ocracoke's economy is completely dependent on tourism, in particular summer tourism. The news websites I linked to above are being constantly updated as this is still considered a breaking story. Check back later as more pictures get posted as well.