November 15-17, 2017 Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

We made it to the Outer Banks. Last time we were in this part of the country, just north of here, going to come here Hurricane Sandy came and we went inland. After it left all the campgrounds closed and many of the bridges were damaged.

We stopped a the Wright Brothers National Memorial near Kitty Hawk where the brothers  made the first successful flight of an airplane.  There is this huge monument atop Kill Devil Hill honors the Wright brothers and marks the site of the hundreds of glider flights that preceded the first powered flight.  The sculpture recreates the historic 1903 flight. 

John flying the first flight path. The boulders mark where the first flights left the ground and the smaller stones markers chart the four flight's paths and distances and landings. 

First flight memorial plaque, black and white lines in the sand near the beach by camp, a gaillardia flower blooming on the dunes and shells in the black sand. The bus at the Cape Hatteras campground snuggled into the dunes right by the Atlantic Ocean. Not too crowded. We are staying here till after Thanksgiving weekend when the campground closes. 

John on the path to the beach and on the beach. You can drive 4 wheel drive vehicles along the beach here. 

We met this gentleman hiking down the beach. He left from Virginia beach 60 miles away and is on his 6 month winter walkaround. No schedule and no destination. He says he works in the summers and rambles in the winters. Another gorgeous day. Walked on the beach and picked up shells. 

These are the charter fishing boats in the marina. Price for the charters, we are on the Outer Banks Scenic Byway, the NC state record Giant Bluefin Tuna 805.5 lbs caught here and the world record Atlantic Blue Marlin 1,142 lbs also caught here. 

We went sight seeing today. This is the Bodie Island Light house, it is a couple miles away from camp. Then we went to the next island west, Roanoke Island to the Fort Raleigh the site of the lost colony. In 1587 the English brought a group of people over to start a colony. Three years later when they came back the colony had vanished without a trace. To this day no one knows what happened to it or the people. After visiting the park we then stopped at the nearby  Lost Colony Brewery for brews and lunch. 

Then we went to Alligator Wildlife refuge to scout out places to paddle in the swamp. We walked the Sandy Ridge Cypress Swamp Trail that was near the put in. There was a nice board walk for most of the trail. Really pretty swamp. The plan is to come back and paddle some of the canoe trails tomorrow.

On the way back out we ran across this lake full of tundra swans. We could hear them trumpeting from the road. Amazing sight. Last light on the pines on the way out of the swamp.

Sunset from the bridge back and over the sound.