Our 1st Full Day on the Outer Banks!

As tired as we were from all the driving yesterday, Ken was awake from 4 to 7. I only got up at 7:30.  We decided to not rush but just enjoy a relaxing morning. So we sat outside drinking tea and chai and deciding our "plan of attack" for today.  We opted to head south and tour the Cape Hatteras area. After breakfast we left the CG and drove south.  We stopped not too far from the CG to walk out to the beach and look for some shells.  I did find some really unique shell pieces for more jewelry making!

The beach was soooo busy and full!!!!

Then we headed to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  This current lighthouse was built in 1870 and is 210 feet high making it the tallest brick lighthouse structure in the USA.   It was moved 2,900 feet in 1999 because of shoreline erosion. When it was built it was 1500 feet from the ocean, but by 1970 it was just 120 feet from the ocean's edge.  Now being 1600 feet from the ocean and considering the rate of erosion, it should not have to be moved again for about 100 years.  It is such a striking lighthouse with the black and white stripes, red base, red spiral stairway, and the black and white tile checkered floor on each landing.   

Amazing!

Beginning the climb!

A rather cool picture!

There are 8 stairways with 31 steps each before reaching a landing. The view from the top was really incredible. 

The Atlantic and the marsh!

Looking across to where the lighthouse used to be before 1999!

The lightkeeper and the assistant lightkeeper's houses as
seen from the top of the lighthouse.

When we got back down, we toured the lighthouse museum in the building where the 2 assistant lighthouse keepers and their families lived.  The other building was the home of the main lighthouse keeper and his family!  They were moved in 1999 at the same time the lighthouse was moved!

So impressive!

If you enlarge these photos it tells quite a story
regarding the moving of the lighthouse!

It was a fun place to visit!

From there we drove towards the point of the island where we were told we should be able to find some interesting shells.  We ate our lunch on the beach there and then Ken took a needed nap while I walked the beach.  I did find one baby ear and some pieces of shells for wire wrapping, but nothing else very exciting.

The beach at the Point had a variety of visitors - horses....

...fisherman 

....more fishermen and sunbathers!

We left the beach and headed back to the CG stopping at a local Food Lion for a few needed items.  We decided to take a walk on the beach here at the CG. This area of beach seems to have the best pieces of shells for my jewelry making. We were back to Waldo by 6:20 and Ken grilled chicken.  

We spent the evening watching TV (we hooked up to cable today since we couldn't get any networks with our antenna) and I worked on this blog.

It was supposed to be a cloudy day, but it was sunny and beautiful all day with temperatures in the low 70's.