All is Wright with the World

A horrible pun, but today (May 19) we visited one of the few "must see" places for us while we are on the Loop-the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC. It didn't disappoint. It was quite a thrill, especially for aviator Lon, to be walking the landscape where the first powered flights were made on December 17, 1903.

Lon and Pat at First Flight Boulder (take-off spot)

First Flight Boulder and stone markers for the first three flights (path, distance, landings). The stone for the 4th
flight (852 feet) is quite distant from stone marker #3 (200-foot flight)

Wright Brothers monument on Kill Devil Hill

But you might be wondering, as I did, what "Kill Devil Hills" has to do with anything--didn't the first flight take place in Kitty Hawk? Well, yes and no. At the time of the Wright Brothers' flight, the town of Kitty Hawk--located a few miles north of the site of the first flights--was the only town in the vicinity. All mail went to Kitty Hawk, hence, the association of the flight location with that town. The Wright Brothers had done some glider flights in Kitty Hawk in the years leading up to the powered flights, but they'd also done many glider flights from Kill Devil Hill, the 90-foot sand dune on which the Wright Brothers' monument is now located. Kill Devil Hills was not incorporated as a town until the 1950's. Therefore, Kitty Hawk as the location of the first flight was accurate as of the date of the flight, but the correct modern designation of the location of the first flight is Kill Devil Hills.

After a quick stroll on the beach at Nag's Head and a quick lunch we turned the car south and drove to Cape Hatteras. All of these barrier islands are part of what is known as the "Outer Banks." Heading toward Cape Hatteras there were a few smallish resort towns separated by undeveloped wildlife refuges and park lands of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The seas in this area have a history of being deadly and unforgiving to mariners. A poster in the museum entitled "The Ghost Fleet of Cape Hatteras" stated that there had been 500+ shipwrecks along the Outer Banks.

Waiting for summer on Nags Head Beach

Sand dunes on Cape Hatteras National Seashore

We like to climb towers when the opportunity presents itself, so we did just that in the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The lighthouse was finished in 1870 and is the largest brick lighthouse in North America. Our climb took us up nearly 200 feet. The current location of the lighthouse is about 2900 feet from its original location. It was moved in 1999 because the shifting shoreline had come within 150 feet of the lighthouse and it was feared that the lighthouse would eventually be destroyed if nothing was done. Moving a structure that large and heavy was an amazing feat of engineering.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Lon atop the lighthouse-view toward original location

Not much to say about Saturday and Sunday (May 17 & 18) except that we cruised about 50 miles each day. We had a little bit of excitement on Saturday, when the Weather Service forecast of "light chop" on the Pamlico River turned out to be anything but light. The bar stools slid across the salon and we dropped a few things on the floor, but the rolling was over after about 45 minutes and we had a restful evening at the Dowry Creek Marina just east of Belhaven, NC. On Sunday the water was smooth-smooth-smooth on our cruise down the Pungo River, Alligator-Pungo Canal and, finally, the Alligator River.