Hatteras Island is a long, skinny island in Dare County - 70 miles long in fact and, in places, you can see the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Pamlico Sound on the other. Also, in those same places, I swear George could hit a golf ball from the ocean to the sound. There is only one way on and one way off this island which is route 12, a 2-lane road.
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| Hatteras Island |
Hatteras Island is a long, skinny island in Dare County - 70 miles long in fact and, in places, you can see the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Pamlico Sound on the other. Also, in those same places, I swear George could hit a golf ball from the ocean to the sound. There is only one way on and one way off this island which is route 12, a 2-lane road.
Our campground is just about at the halfway point in a town called Waves, NC. We started out going south today to the town of Hatteras, which is as far as you can go by car. From Hatteras, you can take the ferry over to Okracoke Island. The line for the ferry was a 2 hour wait, then a 35 minute ferry ride so we will have to save that adventure for another tine.
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| Cape Hatteras Lighthouse |
The houses in this area are gorgeous and huge. They are all at least 3 stories tall and, up on stilts, they appear even more grand. The highlight of today's adventure was the visit to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It is the tallest lighthouse in the US. Too bad we couldn't walk to the top but it is not open to visitors this time of year, however, we were able to walk inside the entryway.
The lighthouse was moved in 1999 some 2900 feet to its current location in hopes of saving it from the elements and, judging by the damage from Irene, she could have been "the big one" for this lighthouse. We purchased the hour long DVD which chronicaled the move....we watched it tonight and it was quite a daunting task and exudes the American spirit.
As we started back north, we had a great lunch at a small local restaurant in Buxton. While in Buxton, there was a craft fair at the local high school so, I couldn't resist...George was bored out of his mind so I didn't tarry long. Back on the road, we continued north through several more small towns and over the temporary bridge. Irene ripped up a section of highway and created a new inlet - hence the need for a new bridge.
Nags Head is clearly the largest town on the island with a 4-lane highway and stop lights. Just north of there is Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk. We stopped at the Wright Brothers National Monument and Kitty Hawk Airport which is the site where Orville and Wilbur flew the first airplane. 
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| Bodie Island Lighthouse |
On the way back to Camp Hatteras, we stopped at the Bodie Island Lighthouse which is on the Pamlico Sound side of the island. The sun was setting over the Sound on the drive home and was a beautiful site. It's going to be hard to top our adventure today!
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