Outer Banks

October 12^th we left the Elizabeth City Air Station campground and made the 50+ mile trip to our next campground on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Indian Summer eluded us as we experienced day after stormy day of 20 mph winds, overcast skies and rain confirming why the region has been dubbed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”. Being the “sailors” that we are we braved the elements to see as much of the area as possible in the 5 short days of our stay.

First stop, of course, was Kill Devil Hills to see the Wright Brothers Memorial. What an inspiring place it is to see the exact location of where man first flew. The original sheds they used to live in and where they stored the Wright Flier are recreated and markers indicate the location of the distances flown on their four attempts of that memorable day of December 17, 1903. Their first flight lasted a mere 12 seconds for a distance of 120 feet. Each successive flight was longer in time and length with the fourth resulting in a distance of 852 feet in 59 seconds.

Bronze plaque honoring the Wilbur and Orville Wright with the memorial in the distance.

Detail of the Wright Brothers memorial.

Recreations of the original sheds and granite markers designating where the Wright Flier lifted off and landed.

The Wright Flier

Intrigued by the wildlife and remoteness of the northern beach areas, we set out the following day (the only sunny one of the week but, the winds were still howling) to investigate the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, the towns of Duck and Corolla, and drive the beach in search of the wild ponies that have lived there since Spanish settlers released them in the 1500s. The exposed brick Currituck Beach Lighthouse was the last lighthouse to be constructed along the Outer Banks filling the dark space between the Cape Henry light to the North and Bodie Island to the South. It was activated in December of 1875 and automated by the Coast Guard in 1939 which eliminated the need for lighthouse keepers. As a result, the keeper’s houses fell into disrepair. They have since been renovated and they and the lighthouse are open to the public. Click here for the informational brochure on the Currituck Beach lighthouse. Go to this link for an informational brochure on the lighthouses along the Outer Banks.

The Currituck Lighthouse and one of the lighthouse keeper’s homes.

There are many companies that offer guided or unguided Jeep rentals to view the wild ponies, but we opted to take Big Red since it had four-wheel drive capability. Driving the beach was a bit of a challenge as we needed to drive during low tide. Some areas are hard packed sand but much of it consists of softer areas riddled with tire ruts which tried to wrench the wheels in directions contrary to our desires. Chris found that increasing the speed helped, much to Jay’s discomfort. We were blessed to see a pony idly standing next to a fishing rod looking like he was actually surf fishing. See photo below. Click here for an informational brochure on the ponies.

One of the Outer Bank’s resident ponies fishing in the surf.

Big Red on the beach.

Wednesday we spent driving south through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and saw colorful parachute-looking things flying in the sky. We decided to stop and investigate and found an instructor with two students preparing to kite board on the ocean. Never having witnessed the like we stuck around and watched as they donned harnesses, raised their kites, braved the surf, mounted their surf-board like platforms and skidded across the choppy seas. The strong winds that day enabled the instructor to launch into the air a good 25 feet, land upright and just keep on truckin’. As we continued driving south we could see the kites from the road all the way to their destination north of Rodanthe.

Jay chatting with the instructor while his students brave the surf.

A highlight of our day was visiting the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station in Rodanthe. Although the structures are original, their locations are not. They have been moved five times – three by storms and two by man. The site boasts stations built in 1874 and 1911, a cook house, a wreck pole, stable, the Midgett House (where the brother of one of the Keepers, John Allen Midgett, Jr. lived and is indicative of how people lived at the time), and other buildings. The station was particularly interesting to us because of Jay’s past and Chris’ daughter, Jessica’s, current Coast Guard affiliation. Go to this link for a view of the Station’s brochure.

The 1874 Life Station building with other buildings on the site.

A surfboat in the 1874 Life Station building.

Returning north to our campsite we decided to seek out the house that was used in the film Nights in Rodanthe. Not seeing any that matched our vision of a weathered, multi-story, oddly shaped dwelling with blue storm shutters on a remote stretch of beach, on our first pass, we made two trips up and down the highway looking for it to no avail. We recently discovered its location and indeed we had unknowingly passed right by it at the northernmost part of Rodanthe. Go to this link to learn about its new ownership and view a video of its 2,500 foot move to a safer location, not threatened by encroaching surf, by the same company that moved the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

Our last sightseeing day was spent at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Built in 1870 the lighthouse was in peril of succumbing to the advancing Atlantic Ocean’s erosive effect on the surrounding beach. The Visitor Center has a lengthy movie showcasing how the lighthouse was moved to a new location one-half mile inland in 1999. It had to be cut from the base, lifted to a support structure of steel beams then make a 23-day trip along a specially laid bed of railroad tracks to its present location. The original Keeper’s houses were also moved and contain a museum about the lighthouse and history of the Outer Banks. Some of the stones from the original base remain at the old lighthouse site and are inscribed with the names and dates of the men and women that served as Keepers. Go to this link to learn about the lighthouse. Go to this link to learn more about the lighthouse move.

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse in its new location and one of the keeper’s residences.

Some of the original stones used in the base of the lighthouse, inscribed with the names and dates of keepers gone by, and a view of where it currently stands.

A view of the distance from the original location to the ocean.

Where the lighthouse currently stands in relation to the beach.

Despite the cloudy, cold, windy weather, we did enjoy our stay at the Outer Banks but had to move on to the Morehead City area to attend a dinner party at Dave and Theresa Arnold’s house with other Coast Guard buddies that Jay served with in Cape May, NJ.