The Outer Banks

Our first stop for spring break this year was the Outer Banks. I haven’t been to a North Carolina beach in probably 20 years so I was excited to go, especially with all the National Park sites. Here are the places we visited:

The Outer Banks

Cape Hatteras

The morning we drove to Hatteras it was so foggy we couldn’t even tell that we were going over a large body of water. This was on the Bonner Bridge that crosses the Oregon Inlet between Hatteras and Bodie island. It was a little eery…I shouldn’t have watched the movie The Mist:

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1870 and stands 187 feet tall. I had been to the the lighthouse before but when we were walking around it was the strangest thing: nothing was familiar. But then I realized it had been moved…I didn’t remember that until I saw the sign at the beach. They moved the lighthouse 2900 feet in 1999. The island’s shoreline had been slowly moving  due to natural erosion. The moving of it was pretty amazing. More info here.

The Light Keepers Houses were also moved:

The Cape Hatteras beach was like a painting…and we were all by ourselves as if it were our own private beach:

Poor Boo left her favorite Sanuks behind in the parking lot so she had to go barefoot the rest of the day.

So many shells.

I take a lot of photos of dead things. Strange I know. I thought this was sad, haunting and beautiful all at once. I think he might be a little blue heron. He was much bigger than a loon or a seagull:

 

Bodie Lighthouse

The Bodie Lighthouse was picture perfect. Built in 1872 and 156 feet tall.

 

The Wright Brothers National Memorial

The National Memorial was much more than I imagined. There was the visitor center, the flight line of the December 1903 flights, 1903 camp buildings.

The monument on top of the hill:

There’s a huge sculptural re-enactment of first flight. Interesting fact: the wings were different lengths because of the placement of the motor.

Boo assisting Orville:

 

Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony

Boo is now on National Park #37. She gets her NPS Passport book stamped everywhere we go at the visitor centers and always asks for the Junior Ranger booklet so she can take her oath. What a cool program. She’s dead set on visiting all the NPS sites which is around 400. Read more at the Fort Raleigh NPS site.

“Explore, Learn, and Protect!”

Passport to Your National Parks “Since its inception in 1986, the Passport program has introduced millions of visitors to the national park system. The program consists of a Passport guidebook, an annual series of commemorative sticker-style stamps, a companion mobile app, and the famous ink cancellation stamps. Nearly all 409 national parks participate in the Passport program, as well as some national trails and scenic rivers and certain park and program offices.”

 

 The Town of Manteo

Years ago (1993) my father flew us into the tiny Manteo airport. He used to fly a Beechcraft Bonanza and we all barely fit inside. I just remember it being so hot and that he was worried about the short runway…and that there was just one little pay phone if you needed assistance. It was my parent’s 20th anniversary and they were taking us on their honeymoon route (I have 1973 photos too!)

Such a cute little town:

The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse:

Elizabeth II is a replica of a 16th-century sailing ship, similar to one that would have brought the first colonists to Roanoke Island in 1587:

After lunch at…we went to Dare County Arts Gallery…and they had an Art-o-Mat!  I had to explain to Boo that this machine used to sell cigarettes. But the retired cigarette machines have been converted and now they sell tiny pieces of art! Read all about the Art-o-Mat here.  You can even submit artwork!

 

Avalon Pier Beach / Kill Devil Hills

I always tell people I’m not a beach person…but I realize I was wrong. I’m a cool, foggy, secluded, solitary beach person.

I loved these little gems of tumbled seashells on Avalon beach:

Underneath the pier:

Boo played under the pier all afternoon one day:

I was re-reading a book on the beach: House of Sand and Fog. Perfect for the weather. This seagull stared at me for three hours:

He wouldn’t even leave when Boo tried to convince him:

He left me this:

I really wanted a kite to fly on the beach so I got this $10 kite when we stopped to buy Boo some new flip-flops:

It was so oddly satisfying to fly the kite on the beach!

Another feathered friend:

Our last morning Boo wanted to see the sunrise. She wanted “to see what happens when the sun peeks up into a flat horizon.” It had never hit me before that she’d never seen a sunrise or sunset outside of the CA desert or the NC mountains.

She loved seeing the dark turn to light:

Just a very short few days in the Outerbanks but we had a great time.

 

A few links to more information:

Cape Hatteras National Seashore (National Park Service)

Wright Brothers National Memorial (National Park Service)

Bodie Island Light House Station (National Park Service)

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (National Park Service)

Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse

Elizabeth II Ship

 

Next stop: Colonial Williamsburg.