– Stop the Presses, Date Line:  Green Swamp, South Carolina, Plant Eats Fly!!!!      I’ve heard of them, I’ve looked for them, I’ve found remnants of them in the spring, and today it’s summer hot, so I found them!!! And I saw it, I did it, and it was incredibly unbelievable!!!  For me this is one of the Wonders of the World!  I got a blade of grass and stuck it in the fly trap, and it snapped closed like it was powered by muscles, but it has none.  Of course I had to find a bug. I found a fly, knocked it loco, put it in; damned if it didn’t close, and the fly was history!!!  I wanted a photo, but the Venus Fly Trap was deftly fast.  Next time I’ll have a close up camera on a tripod with a trip button in my hand and another shooting a video, when I feed one a bug.  This time was a discovery trip and I did!
    The objective was to check out Ocracoke Island, but I couldn’t get reservations for a campsite in the 131 site campground, til two days after I wanted and it’s after Labor Day, so I did the trip in reverse.  Hard to believe, but it’s all online, you don’t talk to a person.  On the ferry here I saw one going the other direction with a school bus, maybe the kids filled the sites.  It’s great here on Ocracoke Island, but a plant moving like it was powered by muscles is hard to beat!!!  I also saw three types of pitcher plants, another carnivorous type of plant, one with a moth inside, and several with noxious liquid partially filling the pitcher where bugs drown.  I’ll be back again and again and watch the action!  Plants moving - Wow!
 
    Ocracoke Island after the tourist season is very nice.  On the way I saw fields of tobacco (a first for me) and feasted on a southern buffet of fried chicken, BBQ ribs, a rutabagan soufle´, bread pudding, chicken salad, lots of greens, and cornbread.  The island is accessible by several ferries to and from there.  The ferries are large enough to carry my nest (slide-in camper on a pickup truck), semitrailer trucks, and construction equipment.  The one from Hatteras to the north is free and takes between 1 & 2 hours to make the trip.  There’re two others that go to the south, which cost $20-30.
    As I got off the ferry I took the only road, didn’t see the campground (there’s no sign), and ended up at the southern end to be greeted by a glorious sunset!  The next morning Mother Nature showed my two rainbows!!!  The village of Ocracoke is full of shops, bed & breakfasts, but was not too crowded in September after Labor Day.  The lighthouse is famous, so of course, I got a picture.  The campsites in D loop of the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/caha/index.htm) are separated by pine vegetation, right on the land site of dunes with the ocean on the other side, and there’re flush toilets, cold showers, and drinking water.  The village with 6 or 7 restaurants/bars is 3 miles from the campsites.  I toured them all, didn’t find any $2 locals Champaign (NLs), but I did find Imperial Costa Rican beer for $3.25 - tasty!  That was at the Ocracoke Bar & Grill.  That seems to be the locals spot.  They have $5 dozen clams, $1 tacos, and be ready for fictitious humor!  The guy next to me at the bar ordered a box of steamed clams for $12.99 and then another.  They looked a little big to me, so I feared they’d be tough.  He said, they were delicious.  I think he could’ve saved $$$ by ordering the $5 a dozen special, though.   They also had a $28 box chocked full of steamed (one of the best ways to cook seafood) clams, shrimp, fish, (no crabs, though or at any other restaurant) and cole slaw & fries.  I’d had fried oysters at two other places, but they were tasteless, although not overcooked.  I don’t think oysters develop that flavor I want til cold weather hits.
    Since this is my first time here, so a discover trip, that’s what I did.  I found a kayak put-in spot at MM 81 near the Parker Creek Bridge.  I saw crabs in the water and fish.  What kind of fish?  Easy answer, eatin’ size!  I’ll be after them next time!  I’ll also be bringing some food, too, because most places are pricey, but I’m having that $28 box of steamed seafood.  A three-mile bike ride is usually easy, but yesterday going back I was going straight into a 15mph wind.  Today I’m tired!  The road has a bike path, there are miles and miles of beach to enjoy, lots of ghost crabs to watch, it was summer hot, and there’s lots of shops if you’re a shopper (not me).
 
    I picked up a National Park Service brochure Titled, “Cape LookOut.”  And Wow!  There’s more.  I thought Ocracoke was the end of the line, but no.  There’s more and more islands!  Maybe 50+miles of them all the way to south of Beaufort and Elizabeth City, mostly with no buildings, and there’s a couple of places that have vehicle ferry access to them, so my nest can get there!
 
    Way back, when I got out of high School I joined the Air Force, and I can remember after tech school I had a choice of going to Seymour Johnson AFB.  I didn’t choose it, but if I would’ve, maybe I never would’ve come back to Maryland or O.C.  I like this place!  I’ll be back.
    Next week, I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled column…  On the down slide and lovin’ it.  Ask about a free photo.
 
Bob R  o.c.FotoGuy
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