North Carolina - April 2012

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We would not have gone to this part of the Eastern U.S. had it not been for a fun rondevous with relatives once again, this time the Kology family (minus college student Heather), for 5 days relaxation at the deserted beaches while Brain and 'the boys' tried to catch the big winds with their kite sail boards. I understand it wasn't as great as they had hoped but they still went out everyday when the winds were high. William, Nan, Cole and I did a lot of walking on the beach and some game playing too. One day William and Cole, or was it Nan and Cole? drove north from where we stayed to visit the Wright Bros. National Memorial where these brothers took their first flights. They said it wasn't much of a site to see but they were very excited none the less about visiting such a famous place. From the really great & informative brochure there's a lot of info about "solving the problems of flight", their predecesors, the Wright Brothers method and inspiration along with some pictures and drawings. At the site there is a reconstructed 1903 hangar and a sculpture of their plane. I hope you wanted to know all that! I'm sure some visitors to the outer banks would not want to miss this historic spot.

It's quite an interesting place and driving all the way back up through the long strip of land that is the 'outer banks' of North Carolina is pretty, especially in between the parts where all the shopping centers and resort homes have been built. But, even they are interesting in that we have never seen vacation homes quite like these: colorful, and often monstrous in size to accommodate those extended family style vacations (like my family used to do at the Russian River, or even Dillon Beach, CA). But these houses are way bigger than we've seen anywhere! Driving through some of the towns, I tried and tried to get some photos of those cool, colorful houses through our big windshield but we just weren't going slow enough and where there were stop lights it just wasn't the best shot. But you should have seen me trying ~ practically turning myself sideways and leaning into the window. O.k. it was a little dangerous. The homes around where we stayed were gigantic but not as cute as what we saw in the bigger towns. I would have to describe them as kind of like giant, many colored and storied ginger bread houses.

The weather at the beach was mild but not warm, not for shorts anyway, as you can see. We could have walked for miles and miles and seen only a few other people. It was fun to see Nan, Brian & Cole, and hang out with them and the guys that surf with Brian. When we left there we drove to the north end of the outer banks and cut across the northeast part of the state directly into Virginia for some great sites & education on the beginnings of our unique country.

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Photos

Beaches of the 'Outer Banks'
near Salvo, a small town & the town of Hatteras at the southern end of this long narrow piece of land separated from the mainland of N. Carolina by water.

William's sister Nan w/husband Brian
The 'outer banks' are a popular summer resort area with these great beaches. Good for kite surfing in the spring. Big rental houses abound, most of them empty this time of year, kind of like a ghost town.

We parked near their rental house
You can see that these houses are built up and they are massive, to accommodate several families. A short walk to the beach.

The inner side of the 'outer banks'
Just a short walk from one side to the other. The sound on one side and the Atlantic ocean on the other.

Marshes along the sound side
of the Outer Banks. This was yet another totally different place for us that we had never even imagined existed. The only part of N. Carolina we visited this time.

Giant Cell Towers Abound
in the populace areas of the outer banks especially. We do our best to park AT LEAST a half mile, but more from monster ones like this!

Cell Towers! Cell Towers!
Even in remote places like the outer banks, not fully habited year round, the ugly signs of man's presence abound.