Sight-Seeing to the South

It was a two lighthouse day yesterday as we headed as far south as Ocracoke Island. Here's how our trip looked on the map:

We started at Rodanthe there in the middle and first headed to Cape Hatteras to see the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. From there, we boarded a free ferry for a ride to Ocracoke Island where we were able to see the Ocracoke Island Lighthouse.

It was a bit of a drive to Cape Hatteras. Our scenic byways book tells us that pockets of coastal forest once dotted this area, but in the 1800's the trees were felled to build clipper ships.

Arriving in Buxton Woods, we were able to see the Cape Hatteras Light Station. It was kind of exciting to visit this place. We lived in North Carolina when I was five years old, and my memories of the lighthouse are some of the clearest I have from that time.

Here is a photograph of the original lighthouse keepers.

And a little about the lighthouse.

It is 210 feet tall, which makes it the nation's tallest brick lighthouse. In 1999, the lighthouse was successfully moved nearly 3,000 feet to its present location when it was threatened by shoreline erosion. You can read more about it at that link I've given you. Here is a map showing its original location.

Here's an image of the lighthouse itself. It was cloudy in the morning, but the sun came out later in the day and it was a beautiful day. We went without jackets for much of the afternoon.

Here's something about the lighthouse keepers.

This was the Principal Keeper Quarters.

These are the Double Keepers Quarters. Both structures were closed for the season.

This was an interesting quote from the son of the last principal keeper of the lighthouse.

As for me, I've never thought their lives were lonely. It would seem to me to be an idyllic lifestyle.

From there, we drove to the north end of Buxton Woods where we could see the tip of Cape Hatteras jutting into the Atlantic. The notorious "Diamond Shoals" offshore have caused hundreds of ships to run aground.

Turning about from there, we could see the lighthouse.

From there, we visited the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. This was interesting, but it wasn't exactly what it purported to be. We expected more blood, guts, and gore related to shipwrecks, and it actually turned out to be more of a general maritime museum. It was free to enter, although they requested a donation.

It also happens to be another stop along the National Underground Railroad, and this marker explained the significance of this place to African-Americans escaping slavery in North Carolina.

Inside, we could see the original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Fresnel Lens. This lens has quite an interesting history, and it actually went missing during the Civil War, not to be seen again until it was found in 2001. You can read its fascinating story right here.

There was no photography allowed in most of the museum, and so I don't have much more to tell you about that.

From there, we drove about a 100 yards and made essentially a U-turn to board the free ferry to Ocracoke Island. It runs every hour on the hour with return trips running every hour on the half hour. We waited about 15 minutes to board.

If you're smoking, now would be a good time to put out your cigarette.

As we headed away, it looked like this.

We were traveling in Pamlico Sound and we threaded our way through sandbars using red and green buoys as guides. That's the return ferry off in the distance there.

The sand bars were havens for the shore birds.

Eventually, the return ferry passed right by us.

We also saw what were obviously fishing boats...obvious because of their accompanying entourage of birds.

We thought they must have been cleaning fish and throwing the waste overboard. The birds followed them like paparazzi, and then flocks would land in the water diving furiously for whatever had been tossed in their direction.

We were able to sit outside on the ferry, but as we approached Ocracoke Island, we got back in our truck. Amazingly, even our nav unit knew the way across the open water.

An hour later, we left the ferry for Ocracoke Island.

There...we drove along for 14 miles. Looking at the screen, our nav unit told us that the Atlantic Ocean was just feet away on the other side of the driver's side dune. The dunes are man-made, but in all honesty, we are fairly certain they are simply piles of sand pushed off the roadway to keep it uncovered. Without the dunes, waves would be breaking over the road.

As we approached the town of Ocracoke, we saw more trees, and we assume this is what the area north of us would look like had the trees not been felled to build ships.

From there, we got some lunch, and then headed to the Ocracoke Island Light Station.

Here is a little bit of information about it.

And there it is! Cool. It's the state's oldest operating lighthouse.

These lighthouses are older than the ones we see on the West Coast, and we presume that is why all the lighthouse keepers residences are "double" residences. Before electricity, it took two keepers to keep the light burning.

After that, we boarded the ferry back home. We were less enamored of the ferry on the homeward journey, and so we both stayed in the truck and napped for the hour-long trip. It was after dark when we arrived back at the RV, and we found the kitties as we always find them, relaxed and wondering why we're bothering them.

Actually, they're always hungry for their kitty treats. After they've munched on those, they wonder why we're bothering them.

Today we're leaving the Outer Banks and heading for Cliffs of the Neuce State Park. You might wonder about the significance of this place. It's significant to me because my family used to spend every weekend there when we lived in Cherry Point, North Carolina. I have fond memories of the place, and I'm curious to see it again and see if it looks familiar. I wish I had some of my family photos with me for this trip, but I did find this one on Facebook, published as a "Throwback Thursday" contribution some time ago. I believe it might have been taken at Cliffs of the Neuce on Easter Sunday.

Yes, my mother made our matching dresses. She often made us matching dresses, especially for Easter, and I loved them. It was my fondest desire to be just like her when I grew up.

Since I have no idea the internet and cell phone situation at the state park, I'll warn you that I might be offline for the next couple of days. After Cliffs of the Neuce, we're heading to another state park in South Carolina, and we could be offline there as well. If I don't write for a few days, you can rest assured we'll be back. No need to send out the posse...but thanks for thinking about it.