We went to Oakracoke too, the only thing on the beach were Gulls & a German Shepherd. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. It was really nice, and there was a Mallard in the pool- . To get to the ferry, we had to drive through a military base, Camp Lejeune. We had to stop at a gate, and these two EXTREMELY cute Army dudes (PANT, PANT,PANT!) told us all the rules and gave us a permit to drive through the camp. They told us we couldn't take pictures, and we had to take down the radar dector, because it would mess up military signals.