In the morning, we packed up our camp and headed south on the Outer Banks. Stopping first on Coquina Beach, we brought out our bikes and tried to ride on the wet sand. This was not very successful (Curt's and Eric's mountain bikes made some headway but the thin tires on Missy's bike made riding it on sand nearly impossible. We visited the wreck of the Laura A. Barnes, a four-masted schooner that went aground in 1921. Though it was moved some twenty years ago to protect it, not much more than the wreck's hull remains. The waters along the Outer Banks are very dangerous due to treacherous waters, riptides, shoals, and violent fall and winter storms. More than 600 ships have been wrecked on this part of the eastern seaboard, indeed it is called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic." While posing before the Laura A. Barnes for a photo, Eric accidentally sneezed in Curt's ear. That and Curt's reaction had a couple of schoolgirls (there on a field trip) squealing with laughter. (Schools seem to do many more field trips now then they did thirty years ago—though not as many as typical homeschoolers.)

We saw the Bodie Island Lighthouse from the highway but we missed the entrance road to it. We were unable to find a convenient place to turn around so we postponed our visit to it for our return trip.

Driving across Bonner Bridge onto Hatteras Island, we drove through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. We passed on the hiking and observation decks continuing the twenty miles to Rodanthe and the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station. Since the coastal waters are so dangerous to ships; lighthouses and lifesaving stations were critically important along the Outer Banks for more than a hundred years. The Chicamacomico station operated from 1874 to 1954 and its surfmen made many brave and daring rescues. Of the eleven Grand Crosses of the American Cross of Honor ever presented by the U.S. Government, six belong to the surfmen of Chicamacomico. This type of lifesaving station became obsolete due to more accurate navigation and weather prediction equipment. We looked forward to visiting the restored station and museum, but unfortunately for us, it was closed until the following week. That is a drawback of visiting a tourist site in the off season.

After another 20 miles of driving south, during which we shopped at the only health food store we saw during our vacation, we reached the much photographed Hatteras Lighthouse (we even have photos of it on our credit cards; that was popular with the local merchants). At 208 feet, the black and white, barber-pole striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick structure of its kind in the United States. On clear nights, its light is visible from twenty miles out at sea. In fair weather during the middle of the day, the lighthouse is open to be climbed (it would be comparable to walking the stairs in a twenty story building). We got to the lighthouse shortly after closing (2:00) but decided that it was too high for Eric to climb anyway (and one is not allowed to carry kids in it). We hit the beach briefly and watched some surfers (wearing wet suits due to the chilly waters) then went through the museum and gift shop. The ocean is inexorably encroaching on the lighthouse, when built in 1870 it was 3000 feet from the water, now it is less than 200 feet away. The state is making plans to move the massive lighthouse more than a mile inland.

Continuing south towards the town of Hatteras, we paused briefly at the family run Frisco Native American Museum and Natural History Center. This Museum, at least at this time of year, is open by appointment only. Its nature walk was available and we moved though it quickly.

In Hatteras, we got a campsite in the Hatteras Sands Camping Resort. Eric made friends with a couple of young girls also staying there. While they played in the playground, Curt and Missy pitched camp, did laundry (they had washers and dryers), and cooked dinner.
 

© 1999 frantzs@geocities.com