We left Richmond and headed for the coast. We had discussed a stop in Virginia Beach, but the same ranger who had recommended the good hikes in Shenandoah had recommended Oregon Beach Inlet Campground in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, so we decided to be done with Virginia and move on to North Carolina. The day was clear and sunny and the driving was a mix of Sunday interstates and clear state highways, so we made good time with easy driving to the Outer Banks and south to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. We arrived mid-afternoon, and didn’t have any problems getting a camp site at Oregon Beach Inlet Campground, although we were mildly annoyed that the rangers require you to book on-line where you don’t get the Annual Park Pass discount. But, for the difference that made with just two nights’ stay, we didn’t worry about it. We used the remaining daylight to take a walk on the beach, which was cold and very windy, but it was nice to walk a few miles and see very few people, just dunes and sand and ocean. And, the wind was blowing the sea foam, which Kismet found fascinating since she could chase it, but it disappeared when she tried to grab it.
For our one full day in the area, we decided to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It might not compare with Dinosaur Valley, but this park provided us with a very enjoyable and educational day. Like most Americans, we grew up with the Wright Brothers’ story as one of our major lessons in school, but seeing where it happened and listening to people who are truly passionate talk about it gives it another whole layer of meaningfulness. We started the day by attending a half hour lecture by a gifted docent whose feeling and eloquence had most of the listeners getting misty eyed as he turned Orville and Wilbur Wright into real people. After the lecture we walked through the museum, and then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the area of Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers first flew their glider from the top of a dune, and then executed the first self-powered manned flight in human history.
This is a replica of The Flyer. The actual plane is in the Smithsonian.
The dune used by the Wright Brothers to launch their glider as they figured out the mechanics of flying prior to putting an engine on a plane. In the 1920’s, the citizens of Kitty Hawk seeded the dune with grass to prevent erosion, and laid the foundation for the memorial at the top.
A sculpture of the first flight, complete with people. It’s slightly smaller than reality, but big enough so you can feel the energy of the day as you walk around and study it.
A replica of the track used to launch the first four flights, exactly where they happened. The four stones extending towards the tree line mark the lengths of the first four flights, which all happened on the same day. I never knew that the reason there were only four flights on that day is because a gust of wind picked up the plane and rolled it, damaging it before the Wrights could try to extend the distance with a fifth flight.
Before going back to the campsite, we stopped at the Bodie Island lighthouse just in time for sunset.
Before heading to Raleigh the next morning, we stopped on Roanoke Island to visit the site of the Lost Colony, where all of the residents of Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempt at colonization disappeared in 1587, and whose disappearance remains a mystery even today despite an abundance of theories. We didn’t glean any great insights into the mystery, but the park provided a great place to walk the dogs before spending a few hours in the car.
We ended the day in Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. Despite being cold and wet, we found a parking space on the street less than a block from the capitol building, and we had a nice walk around our 22nd capitol. The capitol is impressive, and despite the drippy weather, a lot of people were walking around the area and were happy to talk to us. However, the weather became even colder as the sun set, so we didn’t linger and made our way to a nearby Cabela’s for the night before heading for the mountains in western North Carolina and a series of friends to visit.
