Brrrrr

Thursday, 13 December
HUNTING ISLAND STATE PARK — SOUTH CAROLINA
TEMPS: LO 45F / HI 50F (7C / 10C)

I’m not sure when the rain stopped.  It might have been late last night; or maybe it was in the wee hours of this morning.  Either way, I went to bed to the sound of raindrops on the roof and woke up to total silence.  Nary a drop fell throughout the day, but it sure was cold.  In fact, we reached the day’s high just after midnight (or so the weather websites report) and the temps fell from there.  The sunshine promised for this afternoon was a no show, so we had an overcast and dreary day to contend with.  So be it!

Mui had it in his mind that he was going to figure out how to set up the tripod satellite today — I think he was inspired by the neighbors across the road from us.  So that’s what we worked on this morning.  There were no tears shed, but it was a close call.  Once he found the instruction booklet that came with the dish, the set up turned out to be a breeze.  I read the instructions; he followed.  And in a jiffy we had the satellite locked on to a strong signal through a small (make that very small) opening in the tree canopy.

Success!

Our application for DNS (Distant Network Service) is still going through the channels, so now that we’re out of the DC area, we don’t get the local channels on the satellite anymore.  No problem; thus far we’ve been able to get those channels with the antenna. Mui’s a happy camper!

We then puttered around the house for a while, hoping against hope that the temps would rise just a bit.  Around noon, we gave up on waiting, bundled up, and went for a walk.  It was a cold 45F (7C); felt colder with the windchill.  But we pressed on.

as the tide ebbs, The beach scene near the campground becomes eerie.  It is starkly beautiful despite the destruction caused by the sea and the wind.

Our goal was to find the beach access to the Lighthouse Trail.  And we did — sort of.  Last night’s high tide had left a great deal of the treeline area under water, so we had to walk along the beach instead.  We did connect to the trail eventually — just a few hundred yards from the lighthouse!

We had to walk along the beach area (black arrows) since the lighthouse trail
was mostly inaccessible (red x).

Despite the fact that we were just two hours away from low tide, the exceptionally high water along the beach threw up a couple of challenges.

I don't know if this is what Sherry (of In the Direction of Our Dreams) described as
the "River Jordan" in her blog, but we have to find a way to cross it if we want to
keep going.  And no, wading is not an option; it's just too cold for that.

First Mui …

… and then I cross over using some toppled trees as a makeshift bridge.
Trust me, the water is deeper and flowing faster than it looks in these pictures.

Shortly after we forded the “River Jordan,” we found the trail that we’d been looking for.  It turns out, we were close to the end of the trail.  We did follow it for a bit, but we detoured out to the beach again to sit on some tree trunks and eat our lunch before continuing to the lighthouse.

the Lighthouse Nature Trail is quite beautiful.

The good news — THE LIGHTHOUSE IS OPEN!  But with the weather so icky, we didn’t climb it today.  The forecast for tomorrow calls for plenty of sunshine and blue skies, so we’re going to return to check out the views on the way back from another hike or two we have planned.  We did take the time to wander through the small outbuildings on the grounds, but I’ll keep those photos for a future post on the lighthouse.

Glimpse of the lighthouse from the beach.	Tenaciously hanging on in the face of adversity.

The “River Jordan” was still running fast and deep when we made our way to the cross-over point.  Our makeshift bridge came to the rescue again.  The return walk to the campground was at a faster pace, with few stops for photos — not because we were anxious to get home, but because we were trying to keep warm as the damp weather increased the chill factor.  The promise of a cup of steaming hot cocoa was the ‘carrot’ that kept us going.

Leonardo da Vinci said, “In time and with water, everything changes.”
How apropos!

Remember the photo I posted yesterday of a crab burrow?  I wanted to give you a better idea of how small the sand-pellets really are …

Mui’s finger puts the size of these sand-pellets in perspective.

I leave with you this image of Mother Nature’s art.

Simple, fluid, flowing — beautiful sand art.

If the weather cooperates tomorrow as promised, we’ll be out and about.  If not — well, I’ll think about that tomorrow …

In the Spotlight: Lighthouses of the OBX

April 2011

We love to visit lighthouses. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, we seek out these beacons that are designed to guide seafarers safely through treacherous waters. We may not always climb to the top, but we certainly always enjoy them from the ground.

During this trip, we had the opportunity to see not one, but four lighthouses. Actually, we saw five, but I posted about the one in Manteo in a separate post already. (See the map to the right for the locations of the four lighthouses of the OBX.)

I could use my own words to summarize the information I gleaned from guidebooks and pamphlets we picked up during our week-long stay in the OBX. But why? The Insiders’ Guide: North Carolina’s Outer Banks has already done the job for me, so I’ll quote from the guide instead. (Let’s face it, I can use all the help I can get. I’m way behind on these posts and I need to get them done before our upcoming non-motorhome vacation in July.)

More than a dozen ships a day carried cargo and crew along Outer Banks waterways by the dawn of the 19th century. Schooners, sloops, sailboats, and new steamers all journeyed around the sounds and across the oceans, often dangerously close to the coast, in search of the ever-shifting and shoaling inlets.

At that time waterways were the country’s primary highways, and North Carolina’s barrier islands were part of most eastern routes.

The lighthouse at Cape Hatteras was one of the first OBX Beacons to be authorized.
today’s lighthouse is the third one to be illuminated on the original site;
more than 1,000,000 bricks were used in its construction.

Hurricanes and nor’easters took many boats by surprise, ending their voyages and hundreds of lives. Alexander Hamilton dubbed the ocean off the barrier islands “the Graveyard of the Atlantic” because its shoals became the burying grounds for so many ships. In an attempt to help seamen navigate the treacherous shoals, the federal government authorized the Banks’ first lighthouses in 1794: one at Cape Hatteras in the fishing village of Buxton and the other in Ocracoke’s harbor, on a half-mile-long, 60-mile wide pile of oyster shells dubbed Shell Castle Island. Shell Castle Lighthouse first illuminated the Atlantic in 1798. The Cape Hatteras beacon was finally erected in 1802. Two subsequent structures have sat on the same Buxton spot, but the Shell Castle beacon has long since succumbed to the sea.

The historic double keeper's quarters (assistant keepers' house; on the left) and the
principal keeper's house (on the right) were moved when the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
was moved inland to its present-day location.

Ship captains complained that the early lighthouses were unreliable and too dim. Vessels continued to smash into the shoals. So in 1823 the federal government financed a 65-foot-high lighthouse on Ocracoke Island. Whitewashed with a glass tower set slightly askew on its top, it is the oldest (**) lighthouse still standing in North Carolina.

[** Signage at the lighthouse identified it as the second oldest in the state.]

Ocracoke lighthouse survived the Civil War with minimal damage. Confederate troops dismantled
the fourth-order Fresnel lens early on, but in 1864 Union forces re-installed it.
According to the recently uncovered original directive, the lighthouse was to have been painted
in alternating bands of red and white. The keeper's house is now a private residence

Officials raised the Cape Hatteras tower to 150 feet in 1854. Five years later two new Outer Banks beacons were built, at Cape Lookout and on Bodie Island, both of which were improved and rebuilt in later years.

On December 16, 1870 the third lighthouse at Cape Hatteras was illuminated. Standing 208 feet tall and using a multifaceted lens to refract its beam across miles of sea, this spiral striped structure is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world.

Pronounced “body,” bodie island lighthouse is closed for restoration.
Unfortunately all work has come to a screeching halt, we were told, due to lack of funds.
Whether funding will be provided in the 2012 fiscal year budget for the National Park Service is TBD.

the Lighthouse is more than ½-mile from the sea; it sits in the middle of a marsh teeming with birdlife.

Currituck Beach’s red brick beacon was the last major lighthouse to be built on the barrier island beaches. The 150-foot tower was completed in 1875. It watches over the Whalehead Club, near the western shores of Corolla. It is the only unpainted lighthouse on the Outer Banks.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse is the northernmost beacon on the OBX.

Glimpse of the lighthouse from the Whalehead Club (on the grounds of Currituck Heritage Park).

You might have noticed that each of the lighthouses featured here have a different paint scheme. This was done to help seafarers identify the beacons as they sailed along the coast. Another means for identifying the lighthouses was the cycle of the light — some were steady, others blinked on and off at different, pre-specified intervals.

Our intent on this trip was to climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Bad planning on our part. We should have climbed Currituck when we had the chance; it was the first one we visited and there was no waiting to climb the 214 steps to the top. It turns out that Ocracoke was not open for climbing; the lines at Cape Hatteras were way too long (busloads of school kids on spring break); and of course, Bodie was closed for renovations. Oh well; we’ll have other opportunities to get up close and personal with the guiding lights that shine out into the inky darkness of night.

Before I end this post … an interesting aspect of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (aka America’s Lighthouse) is that it no longer stands where it was built. In 1999, to save the lighthouse from the encroaching sea, the beacon was moved 1,600 feet (488 m) inland to a position that puts it at the same distance it was to the sea when it was built in 1870. While at the lighthouse, we watched an interesting video documenting the move. What an achievement. A job well done.

The old sea wall near the original site of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

The original location, now 120 feet (37 m) from the water, is marked by a ring of granite foundation
blocks. the names of the 83 keepers who served at the lighthouse are engraved on the blocks.

From here to there … and a B&W look at today's lighthouse from where it once stood on the beach
(the historic photo inset was downloaded from the NPS website).

For more photographs of the lighthouses of the OBX, visit my online gallery here.

In the Spotlight: Manteo Waterfront—Roanoke Island

420 April 2011

After a morning filled with colorful blooms and a quiet stroll (post here), and a trip back into history to learn about the first English settlers that came to the New World (post here), it was time to take a break.  The temperature had climbed quite a bit; as had the humidity.  We were in need of fresh breezes to cool us off and a place to sate our growling tummies.

After consulting the map, we decided to head to the Manteo Waterfront where we were sure to find a casual dining establishment overlooking the water.  We found something even better; but first a stroll on the boardwalk was in order.

Manteo, the seat of government for Dare County since 1870, is one of the oldest communities in the Outer Banks.  It overlooks scenic Shallowbag Bay and is named for a Roanoke Native American who accompanied the scouts that came to the island in 1584 back to England.

Weather’s always a concern in any waterfront community.  Today, modern communication devices provide instant access to important weather information.  Back in the day, there was a simpler means of communicating approaching storms — weather towers.

The 1904 tower, which is situated on the waterfront, was used to fly flags day and night to ‘telegraph’ (so to speak) weather information to the locals, especially to mariners and fishermen.  Beyond the symbolic shapes and colors that foretold rain or a flood tide, used in various combinations, the flags also signaled that it was time to take in the laundry or set the fishing nets.  In other words, the tower was integrated into everyday life in town.

The tradition continues today.  Looking at the helpful chart attached to the tower, we were able to interpret the blue and white flag as signaling a chance of rain.  True for the morning, but by the time we saw the flag, the blue skies and sunshine were telling us otherwise :-)

Our next stop was just a short walk across the pier near the weather tower — the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.  Today’s lighthouse, which sits on pilings where the town’s wastewater treatment plant once stood, is a reconstruction of the square cottage-style building that served as the home and workspace of the keeper of the 1877 screwpile lighthouse.

The original lighthouse stood in Croatan Sound; it wasn’t nearly as easily accessible.
[the light was horrible in this direction, so I processed this with an ‘old time’ filter.]

So, why a reconstruction?  Why not move the original building that was decommissioned in 1955 to this spot?  You see, that building was lost to the sea.  The story, according to the Lighthouse Friends website goes like this:

When the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1955, it was suggested that the town of Manteo purchase the lighthouse and relocate it to the Manteo waterfront.  Before the town acted, a private citizen named Elijah Tate acquired the lighthouse along with two other screwpile lighthouses in the area.  The structure was cut from its foundation and placed on a barge to be transported to its new home.  Not far from its original site, rough seas caused the lighthouse to topple off the barge and sink into the sound.  Apparently, the effort to retrieve the submerged lighthouse was deemed too great, and the structure was abandoned.

"In the years to come, as islanders mingle with visitors along the Manteo waterfront,
let us remember that on this spot, where so many vessels have been built and
launched, dreams still light the way.  For how else can you explain how a lighthouse
now casts its reassuring beam into the night sky …"
[from signage at the pier]

A small exhibit inside the building gave us a chance to learn a bit about the lighthouse, the fifth one I alluded to in my post about the lighthouses we visited on this trip.  It was interesting to note that the original of this structure was actually a replacement for an earlier hexagonal building with a cupola-style lantern room that housed a 4th order Fresnel lens capable of focusing the light of an oil lamp so that it was visible 10 miles (16 km) out to sea.

TOP (L to R): location of the screwpile lighthouse; the 1877 lighthouse – historic photo of the original and one from today showing the  reconstructed one.
bottom (L to R): the Lighthouse from the American Revolution Bicentennial park; the 1857
screwpile lighthouse; stairs to the lantern room in the reconstructed lighthouse.

We wrapped up our visit to the Manteo Waterfront with a picnic lunch ‘on the water’.  And I mean right on the water.  With a view of the lighthouse to boot.  Yes, I posted these next two photos when I first blogged the Quick Look post for the day … but it was a hi-light of our visit to the waterfront, so I see no reason why I can’t post them again :-)

A gazebo that juts out over the water makes a perfect spot for a simple al fresco meal.

Can’t beat the view even if there is a glare from the mid-day sun.

One more site to explore on Roanoke Island and then we’ll call this day quits.

Quick Look III: Flowers, History, and Lighthouses

Wednesday, 20 April

Our day of exploration took us to Roanoke Island, which lies between mainland North Carolina and the islands that I refer to as the outer Outer Banks.  Specifically, we explored sights in Manteo.

Our 8:00a departure from the campground made for perfect timing.  We arrived in Manteo an hour later, just as the places on our sightseeing list were opening their doors.  Our plans called for starting out in Fort Raleigh, but when we saw three busloads of kids in the parking lot, we made a quick adjustment to the order of our sightseeing stops.  All in all, our day worked out quite nicely.

In the morning, we visited …

The Elizabethan Gardens
(above and below)

Fort Raleigh ... Home of the Lost ColonY
(image from an informational poster in the visitor center)

Although we’d packed a picnic lunch, we toyed with the idea of eating at a restaurant on the Manteo Waterfront instead.  Once there, however, we had another change of heart (actually, I did; but Mui didn’t put up much of a fight).  Spotting a gazebo jutting out into the water, we headed there for an al fresco meal.

My hat stands in for me for the lunch photo op.

The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse … the view from our lunch spot.

We had planned to spend the afternoon at the North Carolina Aquarium.  That was before we learned that there were several busloads of kids there intent on doing the same thing.  Switching gears, we rounded out our afternoon in Manteo at …

The Roanoke Island Festival Park
(celebrating the first English Settlement in America)

And, on our way back to the campground, we capped off our day with a stop at the last of the four Outer Banks lighthouses …

Bodie  [pronounced “Body”]  Lighthouse

We were back at the coach around 5:00p.  A few minutes to check our emails; another hour to prepare and eat our steak and shrimp dinner (cooked to perfection in our microwave/convection oven since there are no grills at Camp Hatteras, and we’ve not yet bought one for the coach).  It was 6:30p before we knew it.

Although the clouds had moved in and the winds had picked up, we decided to walk over to the section of the campground that overlooks Pamlico Sound to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately, the stiff wind made it impossible to wait until 7:38p to see the sun disappear over the horizon.  Slightly chilled, and more than a little disheveled, we returned to the coach to enjoy a quiet evening at home.

Quick Look II: A Peek into Another Day in the OBX

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

No, I’m not trying to set a new fashion trend with my bare feet and jacket attire.  The temps on Hatteras Island may well be summer-like, but with the wind blowing non-stop, a windbreak is an essential part of our attire here … especially when the sun is going down and the day is starting to cool off.

(The above will make sense to those who have questioned my sense of fashion in yesterday’s Quick Look … wink, wink.)

Following the storm that blew through here Sunday night, we have had great weather.  The forecast each day has been for temps in the low-to-mid 70F (22-23C) range, with sunshine and mostly blue skies.  The Phaeton’s temperature gauge would seem to agree with the forecasted temps, but it’s been feeling a lot warmer than that while we’re out exploring the OBX.  Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, mind you.  Unless the weather gods decide to give us a break, tomorrow just might be the last sunny and dry day of our vacation.

But, I’m not going to focus on what might be.  Instead, here’s a quick look at what we did today.

We were out the door very early this morning.  Like 6:15a early.  Heading south this time, we arrived at the tip of Hatteras Island just in time for the 7:30a ferry to Ocracoke Island.

leaving hatteras for ocracoke 
(shooting into the sun)

Our half-day visit to Ocracoke, found us making stops at …

the pony pen … home of the descendants of the wild mustangs

The British Cemetery

The Ocracoke Lighthouse

Although there were just four vehicles on the ferry going out to Ocracoke, the one returning at noon was packed to the gills, including two tour busses filled with school kids on spring break.  We left a third bus and a growing line of other vehicles behind us for the next ferry, and arrived in Hatteras 40 minutes later to loooooooooooong, multi-lane lines of vehicles waiting to make the crossing.  So glad we didn’t wait to go to Ocracoke later in the day.

The afternoon hours saw us making stops at …

The Graveyard of the Atlantic
(one of several granite memorial markers on the museum grounds)

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We were back at the campground by 4:00p, pleasantly tired after our long day of exploring the OBX.  Armed with our chairs, and some wine and crackers, we walked the short distance to the beach and made ourselves comfortable until dinner time.

Chicken and rice, and salad for dinner.

Tomorrow we go out exploring again ...