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| A 1988 photo of the beach access gate at Sandbridge. Today there are only 14 people who still have passes to drive south on the beach to the North Carolina state line past Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. VIRGINIAN-PILOT FILE PHOTO |
The Virginian-Pilot © July 23, 2007
It's been more than 30 years since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service installed a fence along the North Carolina and Virginia border, ending surf-side joyrides to and from the Outer Banks.
What had once been a 10-mile sandy commute to civilization for residents of tiny Carova Beach, N.C., turned into an arduous three-hour trek.
The new route still involved a 10-mile drive along the beach, but in the opposite direction - toward the pavement of N.C. 12 at Corolla - then through tourist traffic to Kitty Hawk and over the Wright Memorial Bridge before heading another 45 miles north to the Virginia line in Chesapeake, still a good half-hour from the Oceanfront.