Today was absolutely glorious! Blue skies with a few high clouds - they photographed VERY blue!
We started our day in Elizabeth City NC - poki took an early walk (to the grocery store on the next street) and then we packed up and headed out! Breakfast in Elizabeth City first, then out US 158 East to the Outer Banks - long bridge! We took a left on NC 12 and headed up to Corolla Village to see and CLIMB the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, built in 1873 from red brick. The brick walls were 5 feet thick at the bottom, but narrowed to 3 1/2 by the time we reached the top landing at 150 feet. The lens added another 12 feet to the height, for a total of 162 or 214 winding steps! Although I continue to feel a little "panic" I did climb to the top, and even stepped out onto the landing at the top (a FIRST for me!) Can you say wall-hugger? But the view was magnificent on both the ocean side (east - leeward) and the sound side (west - windward) for the light. It was definitely windy today from the west!
We had lunch in Corolla, and visited Kitty Hawk Kites (a gift shop - yes, they did sell kites among lots of other things!), and then headed south on NC 12 toward Hatteras Island.
Our next stop was the Wright Brothers Memorial Museum at Kill Devil Hills. Kitty Hawk gets the credit, but the monument is actually at the top of the hill where they actually flew the first plane in 1903, and flew right into history. And it's in Kill Devil Hills! There is a life-sized statue of the first plane, the Wright brothers and their crew nearby! (I know it was life -size -- we saw a replica at the Ford Museum near Detroit last year -- and we plan to see the original plane next week at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.)
About 5:15 we arrived at Bodie Island Light house! We stopped for photo op but the light is not open for climbing! It is a beautiful black and white horizontal stripe. Will load photo later, and tell you a story that I read about Bodie light and confederate soldiers retreat during the Civil War! Quite interesting!
We arrived at our hotel in Buxton about 7:00 p.m. - you can "almost" see the Cape Hatteras Light from the Lighthouse View Hotel! (just the top!) It's about a mile from the hotel! We will be heading out there in the morning, before taking a NC ferry to Ocracoke Island (there is NO bridge!) I hope to spend some time on the beach in the National Seashore as well tomorrow morning. I actually plan to do my BEST to climb to the top of Cape Hatteras - 208 feet or 248 steps!
With any luck, Tuesday evening will be spent aboard the Schooner Windfall in Pamlico Sound! We want to take a sunset cruise - if it doesn't rain!!!
Although Mike has teased me about having 10 weeks worth of stuff planned for our 2 week vacation, we successfully did everything again today. Tomorrow's drive is only 30 miles (and I believe that includes the 18 miles on the ferry!) But Ocracoke is a fascinating little town, a favorite of the notorious Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the Pirate! Shiver me timbers!
Mike has "almost" relaxed - according to him! I love our vacation! The Outer Banks OBX have not disappointed me!
poki
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