April 19 – 20, 2016
This is the path we took to the Outer Banks and back to our RV Resort. John and Charlotte Sharpe made this one of their suggested locations to visit. If you click on the map, it will move and you can enlarge the map. This is our first attempt at adding a map. Let us know what you think. Thanks.
What a trip we had. We left Little Washington at 8:00 AM and arrived in Nags Head at 10:15 AM. We drove north to Kitty Hawk to the Outer Banks Visitor Center.Had to cross a lot of bridges over the Alligator River, Croatan Sound and the Pamlico Sound.
From Kitty Hawk, we went south to Kill Devil Hills to the Wright Brothers National Memorial.
The first powered flight was December 17, 1903 with Orville Wright. He went 120 feet and airborne for 12 seconds. There were 4 flights that day and the brothers took turns. Wilbur flew the farthest at 852 feet and stayed in the air 59 seconds.
The brothers owned a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio and were very successful. Wilbur was the older brother and died in 1912. Orville lived until 1948.
Orville is pictured here holding his hat in 1928 as the first monument was placed to celebrate the global importance of the birth of flight. The woman on the right in the photo is Amelia Earhart.
From Kill Devil Hills, we headed south to Nags Head Pier.
Lunch at Capt.Andy’s Oceanfront Bar & Grill at the Pier House Restaurant. Not our favorite, but the view was fantastic.
This guy was loving the ocean.
This is how they carry their fishing poles in North Carolina.
Then we drove south to Bodie Island Lighthouse. It is 165 feet tall. It was completed in 1872 and had a signal distance of 19 nautical miles. The first one, built in 1847 began to lean within the first 2 years and by 1859 had to be abandoned. The second one was built in 1859, but the Confederate troops blew it up during the Civil War in 1861 so that the Union troops could not use it.
This current lighthouse was built north of the Oregon Inlet on 15 acres.
This shows the keeper’s quarters duplex.
This lighthouse was built just like the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, but painted differently. We did not go as far north as Currituck.
Now we cross the Oregon Inlet. This is the channel that connects the Pamlico Sound to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the northern most ocean access on the Outer Banks
The sand dunes were so high you could not see the ocean on the drive south on Hwy 12. This is all part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Notice Buxton on the map? Remember that, it will come up later. Now we are on our way to Hatteras.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was completed in 1870. It is 198 feet tall and is the world’s second tallest brick lighthouse and the tallest in North America. The signal distance is 19 nautical miles. In 1999, it was relocated 2,900 feet to rescue it from erosion.
It is more impressive in person. It is very beautiful.
The building on the left is the Double Keeper’s Quarters and the building on the right was for the main keeper and his family.
By now it is 4:00 PM and we are as far south as we can go by car. So we found a nice place to spend the night.The Breakwater Inn. The woman who checked us in suggested we get some fresh seafood from Risky Business next door.
The Breakwater Restaurant is not open yet for the season, but below it, on the marina side, it a fresh seafood market. So we headed to Risky Business Seafood Market and purchased some fresh shrimp, which she steamed for us.
We sat on our little balcony and enjoyed our shrimp.
Our view from our balcony.
Notice the dark cloud on the horizon? Well, that is actually a forest fire. If you go back up to the top of this blog and look at the Google Map. Find Stumpy Point, that is where the wild fire is located. It has burned 500 acres so far and it is still not out.
The birds follow the boats. We think the boats stir up the fish and birds can get to them easily.
It is just too pretty not to share. We sat there until it was too dark to see anything.
Wednesday April 20, 2016
Off to Ocracoke, NC The only way to get there is by boat. Pam Turner suggested this island.We took the ferry. It was free from Hatteras to Ocracoke. 60 minutes.
This ferry runs every hour between Hatteras and Ocracoke.
Here we are getting off the ferry. It is 13 miles from this ferry port to the Village of Ocracoke.
Welcome to Ocracoke. Looking at this on the map, we probably would not have come if Pam Turner had not told us to go. It is a beautiful island.
The Ocracoke Island Lighthouse was built in 1823. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in North Carolina. It is only 65 feet tall and has a signal distance of 14 nautical miles.
just a cool tree.
Cool house next door.
Now it is off to lunch.Ocracoke Oyster Company. They advertised baked oysters.
These dogs belong to a couple inside on the deck. They are here on their sailboat and they bring the 3 dogs with them. Even our waiter was impressed.
Our waiter lives on the island of Ocracoke. We asked him “How do you get groceries, etc.” He said, you have to take the ferry to Hatteras and drive to Buxton, where they have a WalMart and other large stores. He also said he is an Amazon Prime member and can have his toilet paper and other supplies shipped to him on the island. Remember earlier, I asked you to remember Buxton? Well, go back up to the map and see how far it is for this young man to go to the grocery store. Talk about planning. You would have to be very disciplined to live on an island.
I had the Oysters Rockefeller. Very good, but Apalachicola still has them beat in my book.
The village harbor. The village wraps around this harbor.
Nice house.
You can see the lighthouse across the bay.
As I said earlier, there are only 3 ways on to the Island of Ocracoke by car. The ferry from Hatteras, Swan Quarter and Cedar Island. The ferry from Hatteras is 60 minutes or less. The other two ferries cost money and you need a reservation. We had a reservation for the 1:30 ferry to Swan Quarter. Cost $15.00
Our ferry has just arrived.
And look what we saw coming off the ferry.
He has a lot more guts than we do. Not sure we would do that.
Our ferry to Swan Quarter was not as crowded as the ferry from Hatteras. This ferry takes 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Leaving Ocracoke, NC.
The birds followed this boat too.
Arriving at Swan Quarter in the middle of nowhere.
This was a great trip. There was so much more to see. We will have to plan another trip so we can go to Roanoke Island, see The Lost Colony Outdoor Drama and go to Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum and eat more seafood.