Outer Banks 2011: Day 3

Today was spent mostly in the car it seems. After a lovely breakfast of bagels and cream cheese, non-authentic bagels I must add since Anson is a bagel snob, we headed down the island. Last night we had a slight preview of a few of the little towns.

This was today's journey:


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I really enjoyed seeing Rodanthe again in the daylight. The town is quaint and a little rustic. It seemed like each little town along the way had it's own unique buildings or architecture. Pea Island was a long stretch of mostly grassy sand dunes and smelly marsh. We didn't stop in Cape Hatteras on the way down as we were trying to catch a ferry to Ocracoke as early as we could.

The ferry ride from Hatteras to Ocracoke was fun. The last time I remember being on a ferry was a long time ago in Ambon. They packed the cars in 4 across with the captain's tower in the center. We were lucky our car was parked on the side both coming and going from the island as it meant that we could lean against or sit in the windows while leaning on the ferry rail.

Once we landed we drove a short 13 miles to town where we were met with dozens of tourists all crowding the streets with bicycles and golf carts. Anson wanted us to be back at the ferry in an hour so we made quick time of seeing the rather disappointingly small lighthouse that was there. Stopped in at a local ice cream shop to cool off on our way back the way we had come.

Our ferry at the dock.

All of the cars waiting in lines.

Some boats near the ferry.

The water was surprisingly shallow, only 11 ft in some spots. You could see the sandy bottom.

Ocracroke Lighthouse

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was next on our stop. We got the chance to climb all 248 cast-iron steps to the top. The inside was not what I was expecting, a continuous stairwell spiraling up until you got to the top. Instead at intervals it had balconies the obstructed the view all the way up or down. Good place to rest and catch your breath before hauling yourself up the rest of the way. At the top you could see the original spot where the lighthouse rested on some rocks near the ocean and the path it took to move it to it's present location.

While waiting for the ferry to arrive the sea gulls made interesting subjects.

 Heading home photos.

A much better photo of the house in Rodanthe. 

Bridge heading home from Pea Island to Nag's Head.

Outer Banks 2011: More from Day 1

Just a few more photos from my infrared camera that I wasn't able to post last night. The sand dunes.

Outer Banks 2011: Day 2

Today has been a busy day. Right now we are back at the hotel patiently waiting for the bus load of kids to leave the pool area. They are quite noisy.

This morning we drove up the island to the top at Corolla where we stopped because the drive (US 12) ended at the beach and our little Saturn is not meant for off-roading. If we had a truck or ATV we would have been able to drive out on the sand and see the wild Spanish ponies or horses that live in the area. Perhaps next time. In Corolla we stopped to see the Currituck Beach Lighthouse which is a red brick lighthouse made up of roughly 1 million bricks. We didn't walk to the top since there was quite a long line but did get some photos of it outside.

View from the bottom.

The lighthouse in infrared light. Just a quick edit right now but I still need to remove that lens flare. (IR)

Right next to the lighthouse is the Whalehead Club, a huge house in the art nouveau style. We took a 45min audio tour of the place. Here is a little exert about the house:

"The sleepy village of Corolla on the Outer Banks of North Carolina began an unforeseen journey into the future in October of 1922. Northern Industrialist Edward Collings Knight, Jr and his bride Marie Louise LeBel took up winter residency in their newly acquired Lighthouse Club and began construction of a 21,000 sq.ft. private residence. Its location on Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Flyway was perfect to satisfy the Knight's passion for waterfowl hunting. Three years and $385,000 later Edward and Marie Louise moved into their "cottage" on the sound. It was unlike any structure that local folks had ever seen or even imagined."

The house in infrared light. (IR) 

Technically the back of the house as the porch faces the water on the other side.

Some of the details as you walk around to the front porch facing the sound.

View from the front porch overlooking the sound. (IR) 

The light pink boathouse looks quite tropical in infrared light. (IR) 

Sadly we could not take any photos inside, though there are a few here of my favorite room, the library or living room. Neat things about the house? It had an elevator, the roof was made of copper shingles, it had a basement which is rare considering it was right next to the ocean (18inch walls to support the rest of the building in the basement). Most of the furniture, all in the art nouveau style, was custom made for the house including a piano. The kitchen was tiled (walls and floors) an amazing bright pink! Yes, pink. Each of the 4 guest rooms and both master bedrooms had their own bathrooms (sinks, toilets, bathtubs) which is quite the luxury considering this was 1920. And the island on which it was built was manmade, meaning a channel was cut around the house to make it into an island. The artist in me really enjoyed seeing so much art nouveau architecture.

After we headed back down the beach to the Wright Brothers National Memorial and Museum where the brothers first flew back in December 17, 1903. The monument stands on a large hill opposite the museum. I was originally under the impression that they first flew off of the hill but the place they did fly was much further down and flat so they could use a track or rail to take off from.

After several previous attempts at getting a "good" photo of Anson in front of the monument.

The monument in infrared light. (IR)

It says around the monument base this quote which Anson memorized as a kid:

"In commemoration of the conquest of the air, by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. Conceived by genius, achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith."

. . . . .

Just back from driving south a bit down the islands. We drove for several hours and made it to Salvo, just south of Rohdanthe. On the way down we stopped at Bodie Island Lighthouse. The visitor center was closed but that didn't keep us from taking a few shots. The sides are a little dirty and it must be in repair since the light is covered up.

Stopped at a pull off beach access spot to see the waves. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of an old shipwreck near the stop but didn't see any. We did get some good photos as the sun was setting though.

In Rohdanthe it was easy to spot "Serendipity" the inn used in the Nicholas Sparks movie "Nights in Rohdanthe". Interestingly the house has been moved inland from it's original location since it was slipping out to sea. I hope tomorrow I will get a better look at the place when we drive down to Cape Hatteras.

Outer Banks 2011: Day 1

Today is our first day of our adventure to the Outer Banks. Anson has been here many times though not since he was a child and his parents were still living in New Jersey. I am quite excited about having him show me around, reliving old memories and making new ones.

Our first adventure on our trip started at about 15 miles from Raleigh, NC (home). We ran into about an hour of backed up traffic because of what we speculate from all the "hazardous material" trucks and flashing lights, might have been an over turned semi of what smelled like diesel fuel. So they decided to reroute everyone on the 3 lane interstate off an exit and through a small town. Thankfully our car didn't overheat though we did have to stop once to let it cool.

The rest of the 3 hour drive was quite enjoyable. There was a little rain but nothing more then a few drops. Once here in Kill Devil Hills we drove straight to our hotel. We are staying at a Ramada right on the beach with a wonderful view of... the street. Despite that I'm please to see they have a hot tub downstairs and indoor pool. There wasn't much time to spend out since we arrived at 4 pm so we decided to fill our hungry stomachs with a little southern BBQ and head over to the sand dunes.

Anson smiling for me. I like the refection in his glasses, though I think you can see it better if you click on the image to make it larger.

The Dunes. A bit like "Dune" the book by Frank Herbert.

Anson took the camera, as you can see.

There we had lots of fun playing around, taking photos of each other and enjoying the scenery. Anson does not think the dunes are as big as he remembers, though for old times sake I did make him jump off the steep sandy banks so we all could benefit from some pretty neat photos.

One of my favorites. An action shot.

Holding the setting sun.

Anson has become quite the photographer.

Right now we are back at the hotel. Sadly the dunes close at 9 pm so we only saw part of the setting sun. There seem to be quite a few vacationers here despite it being the beginning of the week and not a weekend. I suppose it is summer now.

Some of the other places we hope to visit while we are here is The Wright Bothers Memorial, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Rodanthe where the movie Nights in Rodanthe was filmed, and Wednesday we plan on hang gliding here at the sand dunes.