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Published: April 17th 2007
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The Queen Anne's Revenge
A construct of Blackbeard's ship As an NSE (National Student Exchange) student to UNC Wilmington, I got the priviledge of going on a trip with all of my fellow exchangers from across the U.S. to the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks is one of the most amazing beachside, tourist attractions in North Carolina. It spans for hundreds of miles and is made of a couple of islands...one of which (Ocracoke) is only accessible by ferry or plane. We were quite an eccentric group with representatives from: Alaska (me), North Dakota, South Dakota, Massachussets, Utah, Oregon, Montana, South Carolina, and New Mexico.
The first stop on our trip was in Beaufort, NC...the small town where 'A Walk To Remember' was filmed. It's a charming little town and the people were so nice. We toured the North Carolina Maritime Museum which was just amazing with all of the displays. In one room, they have a collection of at least 1000 shells that were just gorgeous. And my favorite display was a small reconstruction of 'The Queen Anne's Revenge'...one of the ships of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard. After touring around for a bit, we got back on the road and headed towards Cape Lookout.
The Cape
Beaufort, NC
The Beaufort waterfront...well, the street opposite of the water. The water is a bit farther to the right -- I just didn't get it on camera. It's right behind all of those blue buildings on the right. Lookout lighthouse is on an island on accessible by boat. After we got out there, we saw the first, beautiful lighthouse of the NC coast. It was white with this black pattern that looked almost like diamonds lined up vertically. While at the beach on the opposite side of the lighthouse, we saw a few dolphins on the water and some very active waves. On the way back to the van, we saw one of the wild horses that roams around the islands near the lighthouse. It is said that the Spanish brought horses on their ships and when one run aground, the horses swam to the Outer Banks, formed a stable population size, and are free to roam as they please. They were a deep, magnificent brown color with very small stomachs.
Later that day, we went to get on the ferry at Ceder Island and were about 2 hours too early so a friend and I went and laid on a beach for an hour. During our nap, a small seagull decided to befriend us and walk within a couple feet all around us to see if we had any food. When we finally got on the
cool shop
A store sign in Beaufort ferry, we had 2.5 hours to Ocracoke Island and our final destination for the evening.
At Ocracoke Island, we shacked up at 'Blackbeard's Lodge' which is an awesome place to spend the night. A couple of cats run around as they please, there's a pool and a gameroom, and the staff are so nice and welcoming. As most everyone has heard of Blackbeard, I never really knew his story until I spent a night in the lodge. Apparently, he (originally Edward Drummond) was a privateer at first, but when he came home, he decided that he wanted to go back out to sea. So he eventually became a pirate and sailed one ship called 'The Queen Anne's Revenge' and terrorized the coastlines looking for...hmm...give you one guess...rum. He was around Ocracoke Island (where his hideout still is along with Teach's Hole) in 1717-1718 and terrorized a little too much because the governor of Virginia got mad and put a warrant out for his head. British soldiers caught up with the pirate in November of 1718 and guess what they did...they shot him, stabbed him, slashed his throat, cut off his head, and then took the head back to Virginia.
Cape Lookout lighthouse
The lighthouse and museum on Cape Lookout It was kind of a gruesome end for the pirate. Funny how people name their lodges after him when he was a thief. It's funny how his hideout is an overgrown, thick patch of untouched trees that is still preserved today. Who knows what one might find in they plunder into its depths.
The next morning, I was sad to leave but we went to tour Portsmouth Village. The village is now deserted but was thriving around 1865. It felt a little like a ghost town since everyone just left and all that remains are there houses, a bunch of graves, a bare schoolhouse, part of an old hospital, a stable, and an old life-servicing station. It was amazing to walk all around the village that was spread out over part of the island, but a little sad. We sat on one porch in the rocker that the lady may have spent many of her nights in. You just couldn't help but feel saddened that the island had barely little life and the only feet that plodded the ground now were by tourists and the two forest service volunteers. It felt a kind of eerie at first, but by
Cape Lookout island
The beach on the opposite side of the lighthouse the end of the couple hours we spent there, I had a much deeper appreciation for it and was a little sad to say goodbye.
Later that afternoon, we made a quick stop to see the small Ocracoke Lighthouse that doesn't blink (the light) and the top part is a little off-centered which isn't normally seen in a lighthouse. After taking some pictures, we headed North towards the ferry and got there just in time for the 40 minute ferry ride to Cape Hatteras. We drove to our motel, ate dinner, and relaxed for the evening since it had been a long day.
The next morning, the 'nor'eastern' hit the East Coast and we were bombarded with heavy rain and wind all day, but it didn't disrupt our tree as we carried on. We went and visited the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and the museum where we learned that the Outer Banks area is known as The Graveyard of the Atlantic. It is called this because so many ships have gone down along these shallow waters. After getting a history lesson and seeing some artifacts from the wars fought along the Outer Banks, we drove further North to the
Wild horse
Wild horse near Cape Lookout Bodie Island lighthouse. By then, the storm had gotten more intense so we didn't get to visit Jockey's Ridge, the largest sand dune on the U.S. East Coast. But we still did get to go to Kitty Hawk -- the site of the first day of flight by the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, almost 104 years ago. The monument, the reconstructed model the brothers made, the paintings of some of the most prominent people in aviation, and the little details all over the walls of how the Wright brothers flew made the stop an amazing little addition to the trip. The people at Kitty Hawk are very proud of the Wright brothers and the monument is definately a site to see.
So after a whole weekend of traveling up the North Carolina coastline, hopping for one island to another, traveling about 480 miles roundtrip, I came home with some great new memories of my short time that I've spent here in North Carolina. I loved spending time with all of the other NSE students and asking them that one question that most people ask when we tell them that we are exchange students: "what led you to UNCW?"
Little seagull friend
The little seagull that just did not want to go away Hearing their stories and their opinions definately made my exchange much happier. I hope I get to go another exchange some time soon...
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April Ann
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WOW
Super cool Bugg.. I can't believe history back east. I wanna go and explore. Im glad you had a good time :)