A Quiet Day Leads to “Nights in Rodanthe”

Friday, 22 April

It was another beautiful day in the OBX even if the temperature was on the cool side. We woke up to a breezy 54F (12C), and it stayed around that range throughout the day. At least the skies were blue and filled with sunshine.

Around 7:00a, we went for a 5-mile (8 km) stroll on the beach fronting the campground. When we set out on our walk, the beach was completely deserted. It was too early even for the birds that we usually see scavenging for tidbits in the sand. By the time we returned to the coach around 8:30a, we had company on the beach – mostly anglers casting their lines into the wickedly churning ocean … the roughest we’ve seen since our arrival a week ago.

The shoreline is trimmed with sea foam.

I was curious about all the sea foam we were seeing today, so when we returned to the coach, I did a bit of research. Here’s an excerpt from a Q&A that was published in The New York Times:

… “Like a bathtub full of bubbles, sea foam needs two ingredients,” said Dr. Elizabeth L. Venrick, a marine ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., “something to decrease the surface tension of the water, like bubble bath, and something to froth it up, like water running into the tub.”

In the ocean, the “bubble bath” is usually dissolved organic material, she said, and strong surface winds or the breaking of waves on the beach stir up the water with air to make bubbles.

“The organic material comes from a number of sources, usually a concentration of biomass, like the phytoplankton bloom that causes red tide or a fish kill,” Dr. Venrick said. (A bloom is an increase in the numbers of some species or complex of species that then die or are eaten, releasing organic material.) The material can also come from sewer spills and other terrestrial runoff, she said.

In addition, there are a number of mechanisms that concentrate the foam, which is commonly blown up on the beach, for example. …

It's not just sea foam that the waves have brought ashore.

The main reason our walk was so long this morning was because I wanted to reach the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station from the beach side to capture the buildings in the soft, morning light. Since there is an admission charged for the museum, I respected the no trespassing signs and still managed to get a couple of decent photos.

The buildings in the photo on the upper right are (from L to R): The 1911 Station;
the 1874 Station; the 1892 Cook House; and the 1907 Midgett House.

A quick note about the “wreck pole” in the pictures, it was used by the crew to hone their skills for the “Breeches Buoy” rescue. More on that when I post a separate entry about Chicamacomico.

The anglers are out to try their luck.

We debated going sightseeing after breakfast, but decided once again to stay home and relax. That turned out to be the right decision. Because we were at home, we were able to receive some documents that required our signature and fax them back without delay. Ain’t technology great! Of course, dealing with the paperwork meant cutting our afternoon stroll on the beach short, but as hard as the wind was blowing, that was probably for the best anyway.

A lone windsurfer and ...

... a slew of kite flyers take advantage of the strong winds.

Overall, it was a quiet day at home. The one time we ventured out was to get a treat from the only place serving hand dipped ice cream that has opened its doors for pre-season visitors. The place is next door to the campground, so we decided to walk over there. Along the way, however, we were given a tip that changed our plans. Mui grabbed the car and we drove the short distance to get pictures of Serendipity … better known as the Inn at Rodanthe. Yes, the same place featured in Nights in Rodanthe, the movie starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane.

made famous by a movie, I imagine this place is quite popular as a vacation rental.

Scenes from Nights in Rodanthe.
[photos courtesy of various sites on the web]

Serendipity was damaged by an honest-to-goodness storm in the summer of 2008 and was later condemned. In 2010, the property was saved from the wrecking ball. It was moved to a location a little further inland and restored by the new owners. (Center top photo shows the house the day that it was moved.)

If you haven’t seen it, Nights in Rodanthe is a nice romantic movie (perhaps a bit of a tear-jerker, too) … perfect for date night.

By the way … a bit of personal trivia. Rodanthe is the second place we’ve been to where there is a connection to Richard Gere. Coincidentally, we were on another camping trip … of a much different kind (don’t laugh when you see the pictures in the link provided) … when we visited the first place. Click here to read about our “blast from the past” from Fort Worden State Park where scenes for An Officer and a Gentleman were filmed.

And so, our vacation comes to a close. We drive home tomorrow, catch up on stix and brix chores on Sunday, and go back to work on Monday. We had a great time here in the OBX. We enjoyed exploring places of historic significance and strolling on a very small portion of the more than 70 miles (112+ km) of beaches that is the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. We look forward to someday returning here (in the off-season, of course) to visit the wildlife refuges and everything else we missed this time around.

Word of caution to future visitors … especially those driving relatively high-profile vehicles. Drive carefully and be aware of wildlife … feathered and furred. We’ve seen more dead birds and other unidentifiable creatures on and alongside the roads here than we have anywhere else in our travels. In particular, gulls and pelicans fly at near-vehicle levels around the bridge into (and out of) Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Bear in mind that we’re visitors to the land these creatures call home.