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Jun162006
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Kitty Hawk – Cape Hatteras |
Aunt Lauren, Arien and I departed from their house at about noon today after packing up the car which took a little while. We drove down to North Carolina today. Our first stop of the day was a rest area where we ate lunch. The next stop I recall was in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the first (powered) flight. The site of the historic event is now part of the national parks system. They have a visitor’s center and such. In 1932, a monument was constructed atop Kill Devil Hill commemorating the flight. We spent an hour or so there. Arien and I walked up the hill to see the monument up close. I got a few decent pictures of it. After leaving there we continued driving along the outer banks and stopped again at the Bodie Island Lighthouse, one of a handful remaining along the coast. You could not go inside this one. The keepers house was a small visitor’s center and gift shop. After leaving there we decided to drive about an hour to Cape Hatteras, where there’s another lighthouse that you can climb. I guess this one is sort of famous. About six years ago, it was moved about a half mile, away from the eroding shore line. The two keepers houses were also moved. These are intact and a separate visitor’s center was built. Arien and I climbed the 257 steps to the top with the first group that climbed up after it had been closed earlier in the day because of lightning. Since so much of the structure is cast iron the park rangers that work there are very cautious about the weather. I didn’t this climbing the equivalent of a ten story building would be that big of a deal until I got about a half way up and my legs started hurting. I was exhausted by the time I reached the top, which was rather embarrassing. The view from the top was rather impressive though. You can see the end of the cape, a nearby town in the opposite direction, the path that was cleared and the old location of the lighthouse, as well as the Atlantic ocean of course. A park ranger at the top talked about the history of the place and answered several questions. The trip down was considerably easier. We drove back up the way we came and stopped for dinner after about an hour of driving at a seafood restaurant called Uncle Pauly’s on Hatteras Island. I had this pasta dish with shrimp and pork which wasn’t bad. After dinner we stopped at one of the beaches and walked around a bit before heading to our hotel which was located inland a bit in a town called Plymouth. I think we got there some time around nine.