When the temperature drops and the sun sets earlier, it’s time to welcome the fall season and say goodbye to long summer nights and hot beach days. This change in seasons also leaves me with a sense of nostalgia and a time to reflect on the memories I’ve made at the Outer Banks Field Site. Going through my camera roll and sitting down to write this blogpost has given me that time and led to me realize how at home I feel here on the Outer Banks. On a hot August day, I drove away from Chapel Hill teary-eyed, worried I was going to “miss out” on my ever-so-important senior fall semester with the friends I’ve grown close with in the town I’ve called home the past three years. Now, I’m getting teary-eyed sitting on the porch of the Friends House realizing I have to leave this magical place and these wonderful friends in under two months. What follows are places and memories that have created my sense of place at the Outer Banks Field Site. I hope my nostalgia rubs off as I share what has made this semester so special and created a new place for me to call home.
Our Favorite Spots:
Festival Island Park
The best way to explore a new place is to hit the ground running, literally. I love to run around the older homes in Manteo, the north end of Roanoke Island, and Festival Island Park.
We discovered that the Festival Island Park Boardwalk is also a great place to see the moon and the stars. In September, we ventured to the boardwalk to watch the Harvest Moon, and sing the matching Neil Young song, and in August we tried our hands at fishing! During our first week here, Caid, our RA, gathered his plethora of fishing poles together and took us fishing at Festival Island Park. I can’t say we have any fishing experts in the group, but we saw bioluminescence and enjoyed learning something new.
Nags Head Woods
I love everything the beach has to offer, but sometimes I crave a walk in the woods, hearing the leaves crunch beneath my feet, shade from the sun, and a secluded space to think.
Nags Head Woods is our favorite woodsy escape from our coastal home and luckily we have Sophie, who interns at NHW, to guide us on the various trails that take us over ridges, around natural ponds, to the Sound, and through dense forests.
Jockey’s Ridge
Although it may be touristy, Jockey’s Ridge is one of the best spots on the Outer Banks to see the sunset. On the weekends, we visit the natural active dunes with our beach blankets, frisbee, soccer ball, and football in hand. We climb to the top of our favorite dune, catch our breaths, and then watch the sun fall below the horizon while playing games and try to find our way back to our cars in the dark.
The Beach
Obviously the beaches of the Outer Banks are its most well-known feature. Watching the landscape and uses of the beach change as summer transitions into fall has been fascinating and it still remains our favorite place to visit. At the beginning of the semester, we used to hide from the sun under Emmy’s guard stand, now we bundle up in sweatshirts and watch surfers or read. After storms we enjoy beachcombing and on nice days we set up camp on the beach and enjoy the peace it brings us.
Coastal Studies Institute
The Coastal Studies Institute sits on 213 acres of protected estuarine ecosystems that create the perfect classroom for our semester at the Field Site.
We spend Tuesdays and Thursdays in the outdoor classroom for class and I can spend my internship days at CSI doing fieldwork, in the lab, or researching in the student suite. We love everything CSI has to offer, especially the outdoor amenities like the grassy area near the outdoor classroom, which is the perfect spot for a break, or the walking trail by the marina that is perfect for a secluded walk.
Our Favorite Things to Do:
Foraging
I never associated the beach with a flourishing native fruit life, but it has been a lovely surprise this semester (read Sophie’s post to learn more!).
A few of us in the cohort have made it a mission to hunt down a snack everywhere we go. From scuppernongs, to muscadines, to pawpaws, and persimmons, we’ve been lucky to find something sweet and native on our adventures around the area.
Game Time
Apparently when you put 11 active college students in a house together, they will play just about every sport in the world and spend their nights playing card games, puzzling, or making up their own games. We’ve definitely been staying active by playing pickleball and tennis at the local high school courts, tossing the frisbee at CSI, playing spikeball on the beach, and learning new other sports from each other. When we can’t be outside, we find that the best way to bond is to play cards, board games, do a puzzle, and play telestrations, which has us laughing for hours after. Luckily, the Friends House has a big backyard and a large living space to accommodate our active lifestyle.
Live Music
Festival Island Park is also home to a beautiful concert venue that overlooks the Sound. Earlier in the semester we were able attend a few concerts from the Vusic OBX concert series and see bands in an intimate venue. Over fall break, several of us attended the Island Bluegrass Festival and danced around to music from North Carolina. There is also some live music at the Friends House with Emmy playing her fiddle on the porch, Julia learning the violin, and Josh’s gifted banjo.
Camping
In September, a few people in the cohort went down to Frisco and camped under the stars. Upon arriving we set up our tents and went straight to the beach. We walked through the campsite, into tall grasses, over boardwalks, and over the large dunes and were welcomed to the beautiful beaches of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Swimming, beach combing, bocce ball, and napping filled our afternoon on the sandy shore. Then, we walked back to our campsite to enjoy campfire fajitas, s’mores, and each other’s company. When the sun set and the pink skies turned dark, we went back to the beach to stargaze. We were lucky enough to see several constellations, Jupiter, and the Milky Way. Camping was a great way to experience the true wilderness that the Outer Banks has to offer.
My Sense of Place
As I sit on the front porch of the Friends House writing on my laptop, I can see the pumpkins we carved together last weekend late at night, skateboards and surfboards rested against the side of the house ready to be taken out, and I greet people leaving and entering and leaving the house, learning about their day and whereabouts. The porch has been the setting for many late nights, musical ventures, and afternoon homework sessions. What a special place we get to call home and enjoy together.
In the first week of class we learned about the term sense of place, which occurs when a collection of qualities and characteristics provide meaning to a geographic location. Exploring, enjoying, and embracing the nature and people around me has formed my sense of place here on the Outer Banks. Thank you for going through my memories with me and indulging in my nostalgia.
– Kayla Emerson, OBXFS 2022