Here’s a quick overview of the Hatteras Island restaurant scene for 2012. If we left anybody out or got anything wrong, please let us know.

Today’s focus is on the tri-village area of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo.

Atlantic Coast Café – already open. Seafood, salads, baskets, burgers, sandwiches, BBQ, wraps, reubens, dinner specials and great breakfasts. Fresh coffee and nice selection of teas offered plus cold beer.

Boardwok South – currently open for dinner Wed. through Sat. Beginning May 1, they will be open Tues. too. They will also be open on Mother’s Day. Remember they are no longer in the big brown multi-story shopping center but are down the road in the brick strip mall beside the post office, opposite Frank’s OBX Dog House and Sunset Salon.

Down Under – haven’t been here in years. If you are craving a kangaroo burger, this is your place. Every off-season the owner puts a sign up trying to sell the place. Funny thing, before liquor by the drink passed, Down Under opened up a tennis court. Why? Because if you had a “club,” you could serve drinks to members.

Frank’s OBX Dog House – good dogs. Who else decorates their place with classic Vanilla Fudge and Cold Blood album covers?!

Good Winds Seafood & Wine Bar – in the Kitty Hawk Kites complex. Great view of the Pamlico Sound. Pricey, but nice. Good selection of beer and wine.

Hot Tuna – wiped out by hurricane. Owner died. Not likely they will reopen this season.

Leonardo’s Pizza – don’t think they will be open. Heard they got hit hard by the hurricane. My daughter loved this take-out place when she was here for Beach Week a few years ago.

Lisa’s Pizzeria – assume they will be open. Popular with the surfing and fishing crowd.

MOJO’s Sunset Café – at Real flagship store. They offer fresh fish, pulled pork, chicken, sandwiches and they are one of the few places that serve breakfast in the tri-villages. Don’t miss Taco Tuesday. Staff is friendly. Occasional live music.

Sting Wray’s (formerly Uncle Pauly’s) – opening Mother’s Day with the same Caribbean-style menu. Love the scallop appetizer.

Sunset Salon – not food, I know, but this is a great place to get your hair cut, nails done, hair colored and styled and permed and all that stuff. Terese is really good, reasonably priced, and you can catch up on all the island gossip. Shares the building with Frank’s OBX Dog House.

Top Dog Café – usually open Easter through mid-October. They have the “biggest burgers on the Outer Banks,” dogs, wraps, fish tacos, etc. We like it because you sit on a shaded, screened porch and get a feel for the pulse of the island.

From the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce …

Crews have started making repairs on the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, which carries N.C. 12 over Oregon Inlet in Dare County. They will repair, clean and paint the steel girders that comprise the three spans of the high-rise portion of the bridge over the main channel. Crews will cut out deteriorating sections of the girders and replace them with new steel. Once the new steel is in place, they will paint it to protect it from the elements.

Crews will do the work by standing on decking placed under the bridge. Special tarps will catch any of the old paint that falls off the bridge during the improvement process to protect the environment.

The decking will reduce the vertical clearance for vessels traveling through the navigational channel from 65 feet to 61 feet. The N.C. Department of Transportation has coordinated this change with the U.S. Coast Guard, which is alerting mariners through published notices and safety broadcasts on the radio.

Astron General Contractors was originally scheduled to start work on the $741,000 project in September 2011, but the repairs were postponed until this week due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Weather permitting, the work is scheduled to be complete by May 22.

While the project is under way, motorists will encounter a lane closure along a one-quarter mile section of the bridge over the main channel. During the first few days of the project, the lane closure will be in place during daylight hours only. Following that period, it will go into effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Portable traffic signals will guide drivers through the work zone. NCDOT encourages them to go slow, pay attention and allow additional time to reach their destinations.

For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit NCDOT or follow NCDOT on Twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone and bookmark it for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.

Off-road vehicle permits will be required for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore effective Feb. 15. Permits will cost $120 per year or $50 per week and may be purchased at Coquina Beach, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Visitor Center (Buxton) and the Ocracoke Visitor Center from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily (except Christmas Day).

More information:
Island Free Press
National Park Service

The temporary bridge that NC DOT constructed across the Hwy 12 breach is now open. Visitors are being welcomed back to Hatteras Island with open arms. We put a video of the new bridge on our Facebook page if you want to take a look.

Here are some reasons to visit Hatteras in November:

• November 2-15 54th Annual Anglers Club Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament
• November 8-13 Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival
• November 19 3rd Annual Bike the Light
• November 19 1st Annual Hatteras Island Community Fair
• November 25-26 Hatteras Island Arts & Craft Guild Holiday Show

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the current state of the island, so here’s a quick summary:

• NC-12 is still closed north of Rodanthe.
• There is an emergency ferry running between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point, but it is only available to Hatteras Island residents, non-resident property owners and commercial vehicles carrying critical equipment and supplies.
• Visitors are allowed on the island BUT they can only go to Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village. There is a checkpoint manned by a state trooper just south of Salvo to keep visitors out of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo.
• Visitors must enter the island via the ferry from Ocracoke, which means they have to first take a ferry to Ocracoke from Swan Quarter or Cedar Island. Reservations on the Swan Quarter/Cedar Island ferries are MANDATORY for visitors at this time.
• NCDOT is anticipating that NC-12 will reopen in October.

Hatteras Island got hit HARD by Irene. The southern part of the island (Hatteras Village, Frisco and Buxton) made out okay. The northern part of the island (Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo) is devastated and looks like a war zone from what we hear. Avon experienced a lot of soundside flooding. Sound Mind & Body sustained minor damage and repairs are already underway. Some of our neighbors lost everything.

The Salvation Army and Red Cross are feeding more than 800 people three meals a day at the Avon fire station and the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Center. Food Lion primarily has canned goods at this point. They are giving out free tetanus shots because of the yucky stuff people are having to deal with while they are cleaning up their houses and yards.

NC-12 washed out in five places between the Bonner Bridge and Rodanthe. They have begun filling in the smaller breaches and will install a temporary bridge over the largest one (see video showing how the temporary bridge will be constructed). They hope to have that done within a month. Then they have to figure out what they are going to do with the road long-term. We’ll be using ferries between Stumpy Point and Rodanthe until the temporary bridge is in place.

Residents are being allowed back on the island today for the first time. There is no word when visitors will be allowed back in, but it will not be before Sept. 17th.

We are posting regular updates to Twitter (@hatterasHaps) and to Facebook.

Please contact us at info@hatterasislandhouse.com if you have any questions.

We added a new sign to the face of Sound Mind & Body. Let us know what you think.

From the Island Free Press:

Federal district court Judge Terrence Boyle has scheduled a status conference on Thursday, April 7, on the consent decree that settled a lawsuit against the National Park Service over its lack of an off-road vehicle management plan at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore…

Read more

The National Park Service web site reports that several road construction projects are scheduled to begin in the Bodie Island area on February 14, 2011:

Beginning Monday, February 14, 2011, the section of NC 12 just south of Whalebone Junction Visitor Center to the intersection of SR1243 (Old Oregon Inlet Road) will be closed to traffic for approximately 30 days and all traffic will be detoured to SR 1243 during this period. A single lane of traffic will reopen on NC 12 as soon as possible.

In addition, on February 21, 2011, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will begin construction along NC 12 from SR 1243 to the Oregon Inlet Bridge. This section of road will be open to single lane traffic.

The total road construction project from Whalebone Junction to Oregon Inlet Road will extend from February 14, 2011 through May 27, 2011. Motorists may encounter temporary traffic delays of up to 20 -30 minutes for north and southbound lanes while the projects are being conducted.

We just wanted to let you know in case you are planning a visit to Hatteras Island before Memorial Day.