Rodanthe, North Carolina

Rodanthe (ro-DANTH-ee) is an unincorporated community located in Dare County, North Carolina, on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Rodanthe, along with Waves and Salvo, are part of the settlement of Chicamacomico. Rodanthe includes the original Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, decommissioned in 1954, but now a museum.

Rodanthe is served by North Carolina Highway 12 which runs North-South through town. The entire Chicamacomico area is bordered to the North and South by National Seashore areas thus limiting potential growth. The town is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Pamlico Sound to the West.

Rodanthe is the easternmost point of North Carolina. Rodanthe is famous for its observation of "Old Christmas" on January 6, formerly Christmas, December 25, by the Julian Calendar, a custom held over from the original English settlers who still used the "Old Style" calendar. A mythical beast "Old Buck" appears at the celebration, he appears related to Belsnikel or Krampus who are Companions of Saint Nicholas in Central European Christmas celebrations.

Tourism

There are no hotels in Rodanthe or the larger settlement of Chicamacomico. There are, however, three inns or bed and breakfasts on the island of Hatteras where the village of Rodanthe is located. They are The Inn on Pamlico Sound, Cape Hatteras Bed and Breakfast, and the Seaside Inn. There are also numerous rental houses, both very large and small, as well as numerous campgrounds. Housing rental agencies that operate in the area include Outer Beaches Realty, Sun Realty, Surf or Sound Realty, and Midgett Realty.

Campgrounds range from deluxe to rustic and include Camp Hatteras, Ocean Waves, Cape Hatteras KOA, and several small campgrounds catering to water sports enthusiasts. Water sports include fishing, kayaking (both ocean and sound-side), swimming, sailboarding and kiteboarding, among others.

Many of the restaurants, shops and markets located within the town of Rodanthe are seasonal with many closing during the winter months and reopening the following Spring. Many of these same businesses are family-owned and not chain franchises. Provisions can still be purchased on the outer banks during the winter months but a short drive to the town of Avon to the South or Nags Head to the North is required.

Popular restaurants in the Rodanthe area are Uncle Pauly's, Lisa's Pizza, The Board Wok, Hot Tuna, and Joe's Pizza Shack.

Internet access

Rodanthe, and the entire North Carolina Outer Banks, lags behind the country in adoption of high-speed Internet. This is due to the costs involved with bringing high-speed Internet to the area. With long stretches of National Seashore between villages the costs of installing high speed Internet systems is quite high. DSL and cable modem Internet service is now common on the island and frequently found in rental houses, campgrounds, restaurants and other businesses. Embarq provides DSL access while Charter Cable provides Internet over cable modem. As of January 2007 Charter provided additional bandwidth to subscribers in Rodanthe who now enjoy a base rate of 5 megabits download and 512 kilobits upload, an improvement over the old 3 meg/384k speeds. In response Embarq has offered increased data rate plans up to 10 meg/512k.

Water sports

Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station

The Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station is located on the East side of Highway 12 in Rodanthe. The life-saving station was an active US Coast Guard facility from 1915 until 1954. After closing the facility was transformed into a museum. The life-saving station is perhaps best remembered for the 1918 rescue of the British tanker Mirlo. Forty-two crew members of the Mirlo were saved by members of the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. Numerous accolades and awards were bestowed upon the six life-savers including gold medals of their honor presented by King George of England and the Grand Cross of the American Cross of Honor. To date only eleven Grand Cross of the American Cross of Honor awards have been bestowed in the history of the United States with six being bestowed upon the members of the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station.

On August the 10th, 2007 lightning struck the Old Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station structure. The ensuing fire forced closure of the museum until repairs were completed.

In fiction

In 2002, Nicholas Sparks published the book Nights in Rodanthe that was later adapted into a movie. George Wolfe directed this film adaptation, which was partially filmed in the town of Rodanthe and entirely filmed in eastern North Carolina – including Cape Hatteras and Wilmington. The movie was released on September 26, 2008. Several Rodanthe landmarks such as the Rodanthe Pier were used during filming. During film production, the rental house Serendipity, the north-easternmost house in Rodanthe, was transformed into the fictional Inn at Rodanthe.

Welcome to Mirlo Beach, which is a private development named after a tanker sunk in World War 1 by a German U-boat. The dangerous rescue of its crew resulted in many medals and commendations for the lifesavers. The development is part of the Chicamicomico area that includes Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo