Outer Banks: Storms, Wright Brothers, Lost Colony, & Lighthouses

We headed east from Raleigh to the Outer Banks and Atlantic Ocean coast. We got to Oregon Inlet Campground on the Outer Banks and discovered there are sand dunes behind us, between the campground and the Atlantic Ocean. We quickly got set up and then walked over…or through…the dunes. “Through” because the sand is so soft and we would sink a bit. HAHA We really enjoy watching the huge waves crash hard on the beach. The waves start quite a bit out there. The wind was really ripping and it was pretty cold (50s) and our neighbor was setting up a tent. For one night. With a teenage girl who it was very obvious didn’t want to be here. The guy told Kevin they had friends who tented here last night and they left at 2:00 a.m. because it was so cold and windy. Yikes! Good they have a tent heater.

Earthen Fort, 1585, Lost Colony Area, Roanoke Island, NC 04/24

Lost Colony is at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. It is located in the town of Manteo on Roanoke island. The lady at the front desk told us there is a film to watch. No, it isn’t captioned, but they have an iPad to watch that is captioned. Great. Thanks. This place gets an A. This place has become alive for me because I am reading The Secret Token by Andrew Lawler. I can recognize so much from his detailed writings. The board on display in the visitor center had great descriptions of the different theories and evidence of several thoughts on what happened to the people first here. We saw the only thing that has been found, so far, and that is the “Earthen Fort, built by the 1585 expedition and artifacts found nearby.” We learned it is thought that the place they lived is 1500 ft out in the water. See, here the sand and wind change the landscape in water and on land all the time. So fascinating. This place has a huge outdoor play they do of the Lost Colony and it has been going for more than 80 years! I would sure have liked to see it but it is only Memorial Day through Labor Day. We got done faster than we thought, just about 2.5 hours. HA 

Tactile With Braille, So Cool! Bodie Lighthouse & Light Station, Nags Head, NC 04/24

Next we ate our picnic lunch in the truck since it was cool outside and then drove back to Nags Head to Bodie Island Lighthouse and Light Station. In 1790 Alexander Hamilton, being Secretary of the Treasure, lobbied for lighthouses in this area. It is known as Graveyard of the Atlantic. This was the third lighthouse built in this area. “The first lighthouse – built in 1848, stood 57 feet tall on an unstable foundation, which became unsafe and was razed. In 1861, the 90-foot tall second lighthouse – built just two years earlier – was destroyed by Confederate troops during the Civil War. Work crews moved from the recently completely 1870 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to begin constructing a new lighthouse for Bodie Island. On October 1, 1872, the third and current Bodie Light was illuminated for the first time.” It is 167.6 feet tall and has a first-order Fresnel lens. By the way, you pronounce it “body”. 🙂  Outside we saw the neatest thing. It is probably about 2 ft x 3 ft with different textures of the land and buildings. It is written with English words and Braille. Isn’t that so cool?! Fun to close my eyes and feel the tall lighthouse. Impressed. Another neat thing – we can see this lighthouse from our bedroom window. So fun to see it flashing in the night.

Sand & Wind Moving The Islands West! Cape Hatteras, NC 04/24

Another thing we learned is that the sand and wind are making the islands move west. Workers have to keep making new Hwy 12.

Loading Sand To Move Away From The Road, Outer Banks, NC 04/24

Today is a solar eclipse. Here on Outer Banks we had about 87% totality. We went south to Cape Hatteras. Just over the bridge over Oregon Inlet we saw something very interesting. There were two huge backhoes on sand (on the ocean side of Hwy 12) and they were scooping sand up and putting in large dump trucks. This must be constant problem with all the wind and sand. Down a ways we saw the dune isn’t high and the workers are dumping the sand there and backhoes are adding to the low dune. Fascinating!

Looking Through Keeper’s Window To Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras, NC 04/24

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and Light Station. I had read about Cape Hatteras that you can’t go in it because it is being restored. As we came closer, we could see scaffolding all around the lighthouse. I thought that was so cool to see! How many times do you see that?! Kevin thought I would be so disappointed but I wasn’t at all. We could see the workers and they are still putting together the ladders and scaffolding at the very top. I could just watch that for a long time. This lighthouse was completed in 1870 and “remains the tallest lighthouse in the United States and has become one of the most iconic lighthouse in the world.” This lighthouse was actually moved 2900 ft in 1999 because of the shifting sand. It is 1500 ft from the shoreline now. Also moved were the light keeper’s house and the assistant keepers’ duplex.

1st Stand-Alone US Weather Bureau Station, From 1902-1946, Hatteras, NC 04/24

We continued south on Hwy 12 to Hatteras and the end of the road. You need to take a ferry to go any farther. I had read about a US Weather Bureau Station at Hatteras. We walked in and saw on the door the place was closing in 4 minutes. The man was very nice and said we could look around while he cleaned up. He told us about this place being the only place that received the first call from Titanic! I was so thrilled to see a copy of the log…the original one is in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, which is completely closed for renovation. The sign “On the night of April 14, 1912 the station received a telegraph from the British passenger liner R.M.S. Titanic. The log page from the station reads: “Received Hatteras Station at 11:25 p.m. TITANIC calling C.Q.D. giving reading 41.44 about 380 miles SSE of Cape Race. At 11:35 p.m. TITANIC gives corrected position as 41.46 N 50.14W. A matter of five or six miles differences. He says “have struck iceberg” This was not only one of the first distress signals received from Titanic, but also one of the last times “Come Quickly Distressed” (C.Q.D.) was sent, as the use of “S.O.S” became more popular. Like many unneeded papers in the early 20th century, the log pages from the weather station were rolled and stuffed into plaster walls to provide insulation It wasn’t until 2005, when the weather station was being restored, that the log page was discovered.” How cool is that?!?! We saw information about the storm warning signals and flags. There were a few there on the wall and they are huge, of course. The man told us this is also where the first voice radio transmutation was sent. I just get a tickling excitement to BE at a place where something so cool happened. I can’t explain it be it is a thrill for me. Love this full-time traveling lifestyle. So thankful!

Sugar Creek Seafood Restaurant, Roanoke Sound, Nags Head, NC 04/24

We highly recommend Sugar Creek Seafood Restaurant. It is right along Roanoke Sound. A beautiful building; it reminding me of the ones in Santa Barbara that are on the wharf. Food rating: Every Time We Come To This Area.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Corolla, NC 04/24

Got drinks and very good donuts and then continued on north to Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, NC. This is privately owned. It is red brick that was never painted. It has black trim around it. This lighthouse was first illuminated in 1875. It was lit with first-order Fresnel Lens and is 162 ft tall.

Light Station & Lightship’s China Ware. Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Corolla, NC 04/24

I learned of United States Lighthouse China Ware. “Every light station and lightship was issued a full set of china that also would have included large serving pieces, teapots, and pitchers, all bearing the official logo. … As lighthouses became automated and no longer needed resident keeps, the china pieces were left behind, lost of many eventually broken. Very few remain in good condition today.” Oh my heart! I would have loved loved loved to have a piece from each lighthouse! I didn’t even know that they had those. What a sadness they aren’t reproduced. What a fabulous collection of one piece each that I would have!

As we headed south along Hwy 12, Kevin pointed out another lighthouse. It is a city water tower. Then I started teasing him that that is his lighthouse. Then the banter went on and on about how he has so many more lighthouses and I said, well, beauty and rarity makes “my” lighthouses special, on and on. It was great fun. Now every time he sees a water tower – which is often is that very flat place – he points out his “beautiful lighthouse.” LOL 

Pic From Kevin: New & Old Photography! Wright Brothers National, Kitty Hawk, NC 04/24

Wright Brothers National Memorial. love the fact that Kevin read David McCullough’s book about the Wright Brothers and he was a wealth of information to me. The visitor center is great with big boards to read, artifacts and plenty of room. A lot of people were trying to get flight but couldn’t turn the “planes”. “In 1899, Wilber is idly twisting a bicycle inner tube box when he sees the answer: a biplane with flexible wings could raise one wind and lower the other – twisting and balancing in the air like a bird.” We are in awe of the fact that the brothers, sister, and their family was just ordinary people. Not a lot of money. While others had money, business and government backing and money, those failed to fix the balance and turn issues. Just a couple of bicycle shop guys. Love it.

Pic From Kevin: 2 Photographers! HAHA Wright Brothers Memorial, Kitty Hawk, NC 04/24

I had emailed this place a few months ago about captioned films and got a nice response that they didn’t have films but would be happy to get me an ASL interpreter for the ranger talk. Yes, please! The ranger talked for 45 minutes and I enjoyed the interpret so much. Awesome! This place gets an A. Then we walked outside. A lot of people think the brothers flew the plane from the sand dune that now has a tall memorial on it. But that isn’t the case. They did use it sometimes and for kites but not for the flight that flew. It was ground level. We learned that the vegetation around here now (short bushy bushes) was all specially planted on the Outer Banks to try to control the sand blowing. We had a really great time here. 

Storm Passed South Of Us, Oregon Inlet Campground, Outer Banks, Nags Head, NC 04/24

We really like Outer Banks. It is windy but of course it is, that is why Wright Brothers came here. HA