Fly Me To The Moon…

… Or at least ten feet off the ground, as Orville Wright did on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks, when he flew 120 feet in twelve seconds. Today, we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a tribute to the accomplishments of Orville and Wilbur Wright in making the first successful airplane flights. The memorial includes a monument to the brothers, along with a statue depicting the first flight at Kitty Hawk, as well as various exhibits detailing the efforts leading up to the successful flight.

Before visiting the Kitty Hawk memorial, we spent a good part of the day exploring the Outer Banks, driving south as far as the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (we decided to forego the ferry ride over to Ocracoke). The lighthouse, which is the tallest in the US at 208 feet, was actually moved from its original site nearby in 1999 due to fears that the ocean water would erode the base of the structure, causing it to collapse. We also stopped by the Bodie Island lighthouse, which stands only 156 feet tall.

We enjoyed the views of the beaches and dunes along the road, as well as the many colorful houses (built on stilts). For the most part, cars are allowed to drive on the beach, so I guess parking is not a problem. People just park their vehicles right by the water, set up their blankets or beach chairs and umbrellas, and enjoy the sand and surf.

As for wildlife, the most exotic sighting of the day was a four or five foot-long black snake that slithered across the road in front of our car as we were driving away from the Bodie Island lighthouse.

Today was another hot and humid day, although it did cool off this evening, making for a pleasant walk around the waterfront area of Manteo before retiring for the night.

This pretty much brings our vacation to a close. Tomorrow we’ll be heading home, with a five or six hour drive ahead of us.

I’ve enjoyed keeping everyone up-to-date on our travels… I’ll be back in the next day or two to provide some final thoughts on the trip.

Stu