First Flight,Elizabethan Garden, Lighthouses,and the Ferry

The last light is fading in the sky now that the fiery ball sank into Silver Lake with a colorful panorama entertaining us for almost an hour. In about an hour the almost waning full moon will light the sky over Ocracoke Island, the southernmost island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. When we got off the ferry this afternoon, we knew that we had found what we hoped to find in the Outer Banks.

After we got to Nags Head yesterday, we made a trip to the northern part of the island to see the Currituck lighthouse, one that remains unpainted natural brick and contains at least a million bricks. Built in 1875, Currituck is the northernmost the North Carolina lighthouses. People were climbing to the top, but we opted to enjoy it from the ground.

On the way back down the island as we crawled down the congested highway, I caught a picture of the sunset out the car window.



This morning, we had an agenda, and we clicked things off. First up was the site of
the four Wright Brothers' flights with, of course, the visitors center and exhibits. We liked the old buildings where the airplanes were maintained. The wind was blowing a good clip. We could understand why they chose this place.

Next up was Roanoke Island which was just as congested as Nags Head. We could not find a parking place any where near the main part of town in Manteo, so we looked out the windows and drove on out to the Elizabethan Gardens which were a wonderful oasis of beauty with sweeping old live oaks, herbs, hydrangeas, roses, hedge mazes, statues, water features, bird song, and butterflies. I was able to pick up some ideas from the garden which I am sure Klep will enjoy putting into Mosquito Gardens.

Back through town and over the bridge and causeway we turned south on Hwy 12. We had used up 158. We soon left the congestion and entered some of the national seashore where we located our next lighthouse, the Bodie Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse is painted with wide bands of black and white bands around the building and was completed in 1872. Klep had an interesting conversation with the son of the last keeper before it became automated. He told us that when he was growing up, his summers on the Island were as close as a kid could get to heaven on this earth. During the winters, they lived on the mainland and his dad went back and forth by boat, but come summer, they moved to the island. The houses used by the keeper and his help are still on the site.
Further down the road we left the federal land and started seeing villages. We stopped and I had an oyster po'boy which challenged my ability to get my mouth open wide enough to eat it! We had discovered how good the local seafood was last night, and today's experiences did not disappoint.

Our last lighthouse before boarding the ferry at Hatteras was the Cape Hattarus Lighthouse at Buxton which is 198 feet tall and was completed in 1870. this lighthouse was moved in 1999 because of erosion. It is painted like a black and white candy cane with black and white spirals.




We drove to the end of Hwy 12 on the island and pulled into the ferry lane where we watched the first two ferries fill while we awaited our turn. We had a smooth crossing, enjoying watching the pelicans dive into the water for food as we approached Ocracoke nearly forty minutes later. From the ferry terminal, it was about twelve miles down through more national sea shore land to the village of Ocracoke, a village of about eight hundred permanent residents.There are no franchises or chains in the village. It is an unpretentious place full of charm. Our motel overlooks the marina which is known as Silver Lake. Travelling the streets of the village is slow because there are lots of bicycles, pedestrians, and golf carts. The roads are also narrow.

Our first stop after checking in was the Ocracoke Lighthouse which we can see across the harbor from our motel window. Built in 1823, it is only 77 feet tall and is painted solid white. It is built a little off center with one side more steeply shaped than the other. The keepers had to keep the covering up on the brick lighthouse, a stucco type substance made of quicklime, salt, powdered whiting, ground rice in boiling water, and glue which they mixed and applied hot.

After a drive around the village, we parked back at the hotel and walked down to waterside restaurant where we enjoyed fish and chips while sitting under an umbrella by the water listening to the live music and watching the sea gulls beg for food and harangue the diners. But the gulls were out of luck because it is against the law to feed them around an eating establishment.

On the way back to our sunset viewing on the balcony, we found some homemade peach ice cream which was just about as good as ours is. We settled into our Adirondack chairs and watched the show.