OBX, Kitty Hawk, NC and Moving On…

Boy did we have a blast at the beach house and OBX was everything we imagined and then some. We can certainly see why so many people rant and rave about the Outer Banks. We would have never enjoyed it like we did without the gracious invite we received from Larry and Missi, thanks to them again one last time!

Not far from their beach house is the famed Kitty Hawk site. We stopped to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk NC. This is the site that the Wright brothers made the very first controlled powered airplane flight from the Kill Devil Hills. The date was December 17, 1903 and the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, after many failed attempts made history.  The first powered flight in the air was done by Orville at 10:35 am after flying a distance of 120 feet in a mere 12 seconds, at a speed of only 6.8 miles per hour. On this day Orville became the first human to fly with in the air under power. The world hasn’t been the same since…

Also nearby is the place known as the “Lost Colony” which I would have never heard of if we hadn't visited the historic towns in Virginia. Fort Raleigh is the lost colony. It was actually the first true settlement (not Jamestowne) and England's true first home in the New World. This place on Roanoke Island was where in 1584 several English explorers landed whom were sent by Sir Walter Raleigh.This was the first of three voyages undertaken because England wanted to colonize America. The colonists who finally settled here made friends with the Carolina Algonquian Indians at first. However, after three years when ships returned to the colony the 116 men, women and children, including two that were the first born English in the New World had all but disappeared. The mystery of their disappearance remains today..

Lastly, before heading back to our RV park we drove down the Outer Banks to about the mid-point to check out the scenery , the small beach towns and of course the beaches. Most of this drive was along what is known as the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Out first stop was to check out the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. This stately lighthouse was built in the 1870s to warn ships traveling along the Outer Banks of the dangerous shoals along the islands.

Further down Cape Hattaras which was the nation’s first national seashore established in 1937, we passed through little beach towns that were quiet now that labor day has passed and all the children are back in school (yay!). We did stop and walk along a few of the beaches. The most interesting find (we found some earlier with our friends) were these weird looking black sea pods. After doing some research it turns out that they are actually egg casings commonly called a mermaid's purse or devil's purse. These particular egg casings are from a skate and are made of collagen protein strands. They almost look like giant beetle carapaces…

After exploring the OBX we made one last stop for a late lunch and a beverage at the Weeping Radish Farm Brewery and Butchery. It caught our eye on the way to the OBX so we simply had to check it out. The beer was only average but the burger was outstanding. After lunch we made it back to the park only to pack up and prepare to leave the next morning. We will stay for several day at Dicken’s RV Park which is near our daughter in North Carolina…