I went over a huge bridge from Cape Hatteras to get to Bodie Island. The scenery was absolutely beautiful despite the rain. There were marshes, the ocean, trees, grass, and big sand dunes. Civilization was nonexistent.
While passing through Bodie Island, I stopped at the Bodie lighthouse. It was also picturesque, but because it was a hard downpour at the time, I didn’t get much farther from the car. This lighthouse is 156 feet high and has horizontal black-and-white stripes. I thought it looked just like Hatteras because of the stripes. It was built in 1872, and like Ocracoke, it is not open for climbing. It is managed by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and is in need of preservation. Funds and grants received are now being used to prepare for a complete restoration of the tower.
Next to the lighthouse is the Double Keeper’s Quarters that contains lighthouse exhibits and a bookstore. Due to the rain, I didn’t visit either. But it seemed like it would be pretty quiet because the island doesn’t offer much else besides the beaches.
On a side note, I stopped in this little village of Salvo just north of Bodie because I had read that they had the second smallest post office. I was so looking forward to seeing this little oddity after I read about it in my Roadside America book. Sadly, when I arrived, the postal clerk told me that three villages had built this new one and that the old one was gone. How disappointing! So if you were looking forward to seeing it, I’m sorry to say it is no longer.