Checking Out the Northern Points of the Outer Banks!

After a great night's sleep, Ken was up at 6:15 and walked out to the beach to catch the sunrise.  He was about 15 minutes late, but he did enjoy his quiet time on the beach. 

The sun had just risen!

Wow, what a view!

Ken enjoyed watching this busy crab!

I find those eyes to be hysterical!

I was up at 7:00 and decided to make a cup of tea for Ken and chai for me and walk out to the beach.  Fortunately, Ken was sitting back at the dunes near the entrance from the CG when I arrived.  We sat in the sand enjoying out drinks and listening to the surf - not bad!  Ken headed back to Waldo and I stayed on the beach to search for more shell pieces for jewelry making.  This shoreline is definitely a paradise for this jewelry maker.  So many unusual shells that will make beautiful pendants.

I only got back to Waldo at 8:45 after stopping to talk to the fellow campers from York, PA.  Ken had already eaten breakfast and was cleaning up.  So I ate and we got ready to go to drive to the northern part of the island.  Ken spent some time washing and sorting shells before we left.  

They were predicting rain and some thunderstorms later today, so we thought it would be a good day to go to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers Memorial Center. 

But 1st, we made a stop on the beach not too far from the CG to take a photo of the Inn at Rodanthe, the romantic inn with blue shutters that had a starring role in the Richard Gere-Diane Lane tear-jerker, "Nights in Rodanthe" filmed in 2008 and based on a Nicholas Spark's novel.    The house was built in the 80's and there was 400 feet of beach in front of the house.  Throughout the years, coastal storm, hurricanes, erosion, and repetitive ocean over wash put the home in severe danger.  The coastal erosion placed the home literally in the Atlantic Ocean.  In the spring of 2009, a couple from Newton, NC, who were extreme fans of the movie, considered purchasing the Inn.  On January 4, 2010, the couple purchased the Inn at Rodanthe and an oceanfront lot only a short distance from the original site.  On January 18, 2010, it was moved from its original site and after a 30 minute journey on Highway 12 it was at its new location.  The new owners replicated the interior and exterior to emulate that of the movie, even utilizing original props from the movie set.  Wow, what a story!

The blue shutters and wrap around porch were added for the
movie and removed when they finished filming!

The new owner put the blue shutters back on
and added the porch again!

Then we stopped to go onto the beach to hunt for more shells. It amazes me how you just park along the road, hike over the dunes, and then enjoy walking along the beach.  Most times there are only a few people in the area and sometimes no one.

After "combing" that beach we continue our drive north all the way to Duck, NC.  Gary and Marcia from home often talked about their friend having a house there and how they enjoyed visiting.  We stopped at the Boardwalk shopping area which appeared to be relatively new and offered some interesting shops.  We took time to enjoy a slice of blueberry pound cake and a cup of chai - delicious.

What a nice way to built a "shopping center"!

There were lots of interesting shops here!

From there we went to Wright Brothers Center and enjoyed a phenomenal talk by a Park Ranger who was a great story teller.  Her 1/2 hour presentation was so interesting and informative.  We walked outside to see the sight of the 1st flight in 1903 and the 3 following ones that took place in less than 1 hour. 

This is the Visitor's Center and it is part of the National
Park Service.  Did you know that this year, 2016, is the
100th Anniversary of the National Park Service?  Their logo is
"Find Your Park"!

This is where we became a part of the Wright Brothers
story!

The Park Ranger made the story so real that you felt like
you were there!

Each marker shows how far the Wright
Brothers flew on their 4 flights that day.
1st flight was 120, flight 2 175', #3, 200 feet
and the 4th flight actually lasted 59 seconds
and covered a distance of 852 feet.

This is the memorial that was built in 1928, but
Wilbur had died in 1912.

By then it was starting to look very threatening and light rain began to fall.  So we decided it was time to head back to the CG.  The weather looked much better in the south part of the island.  We actually went through some heavy rain, but by the time we got near the CG it hadn't even rained.  So we stopped to watch some kiteboarding.  Ken talked to an older gentleman who was getting ready to go out after just driving 18 hours to get here.  He said it is one of the best places in USA for the sport.  That was rather obvious for there were lots of kiteboarders on the water.  We stopped at another area that was active for the sport and there was a huge shop that caters to all kinds of water activities.  One of the workers said it is a huge sport in this area and verified that it offers some of the best conditions for the riders.

These kiteboarders were everywhere!

It was very very windy and they were really "sailing"!

The kite sails are very colorful!

By the time we got back to the CG we were having steady rain that was to continue into the evening and it did.  After dinner we watched some TV and I worked on this blog.  Ken did some planning for the rest of our time here on the Outer Banks!

Around 8 it was still raining but at the same time there was an amazing sky! Ken took photos out the window of Waldo.

The color went from this beautiful orange....

....to this almost eerie yellow and it was still raining
and thundering!