Outer Banks, NC Wright Brothers' Musuem

The Wright Brothers' Museum is a National Park, so with our Senior Pass we got in free.  Noticed right away the flag was at half mast.  When we were at Ft. Sumter it was also at half mast. That was for a ranger who died.  This time it was for the six killed in the Temple.  Talked to the ranger.  He says it seems like all summer they have had the flag at half mast.

The museum is located in Kill Devil Hills, NC.  I know, I know, you thought it was Kitty Hawk.  Well, back then it was but when Kitty Hawk was incorporated.  Kill Devil Hill became it's own city. Rain was expected so we arrived early in the morning.  We decided to walk to the monument up on Kill Devil Hill first.  Then if it did rain, we could be in the museum. This plaque says, "They taught us to fly."

There was a path on the field leading to the monument.

It passed a replica of the cabin the Wilbur and Orville lived in while in North Carolina from their home in Dayton, Ohio.

This was a replica of the hanger.

A rock commemorates the flight path. The sign says, "The First Successful Flight of an Airplane was made from this spot by Orville Wright on December 17, 1903.

This is the flight path. Wilbur and Orville flipped a coin to see who would fly first.

Each marker, showed how far the plane traveled.  The first flight was only 120 feet.

The second flight was 175 feet.

The third flight was 200 feet.

We walked on toward the monument. We were getting closer.

We finally turned around at the bottom of the hill, deciding we were going to make it. This monument was built in 1932.  The only monument built while the person it represented were still alive.

Inside we sit and rested and I dripped.  A ranger gave a talk about the Wright Brothers.

A picture was taken of that first flight, given photographic proof of the history making flight.

The ranger showed a toy that had the Wright Brothers' father had brought home to the boys from a trip.  This toy was the start of the brothers interest in aviation.

The glider kite was the beginning of the brothers understand of what was need to fly and control an aircraft.

They used a wind tunnel to test their plane.

They tried to get the Detroit Motor Companies to make them an engine of no more that 12lbs.  They refused.  So the brothers built it themselves.

The Wright Brothers built the first airplane that flew, with their own money.  No help from the government or any institution.

A piece of wood from the plane that Orville and Wilbur built, and a piece of cloth from the plane.  Flew to the Moon. Just seems right doesn't it.

We enjoyed the museum, the ranger talk was excellent and we ended the afternoon well before the rain hit.

Wild Horses extension.

After I finished the blog last night, I realized I had a few more pictures I wanted to include but had not.  So here they are.

This one is of the mare and the colt together, who are having a tough time. I fell in love and I'm not a horse person.

Last summer, often while we were in Montana, we were stopped on the road by buffaloes.  A buffalo road block.

This year we were stopped by one little horse.

Since I have room for more pictures, I thought I'd give you a recent pic of Perfect Pralines. She loves traveling as much as we do.  Can you tell?  New smells every day.

Wild Horses at Corolla, NC

It was a beautiful day and rain was in the forecast for tomorrow, so we decided to go see the Wild Horses today.  As an after thought, I said maybe we should call and make reservations.  We did and after our third call where they were all booked, we called Bob's Off Road.  We figured the name alone should bring us luck.  They could not take us but their other location Wild Horse Tours could take us at 2:00 pm.  It was close to 10:00 so we left immediately.

We arrived about 12:30 pm, checked in and paid.  We got a recommendation for lunch.  Uncle Ike's.  We found it easily but we were not impressed with the menu, so we ended up at Fat Crab & BBQ Co.  Good choice.

After lunch, we had enough time to do a little shopping and head back to the Wild Horse Office.  We noticed like Washington and Bath, had their crabs, Corolla has horses.

Our transportation was a truck with bench seats, a small cushion and a canvas top.  At 2:00 p.m. our exact time we headed to the beach.

We thought we see horses on the beach, like in the postcards we bought. We were oh so wrong.  The first horse we saw was in the front yard of a house setting in the sand dunes, nearby her baby was napping.  Our tour guide told us they eat just about anything, but really like the yards of the beach houses.  These horses are not fenced in, even though it may look that way in the pictures.

Let me give you a little history on these horses.  Horses first came to the Indies with Christopher Columbus in 1493.  He realized how important horses would be in the future and made sure every ship from then on brought horses with them, Spanish Mustangs. In 1500 and 1525, three expeditions were sent from the Indies to the Carolina.  The captain of the ship died of a fever and the colony soon was in ruins.  The 150 residents left caught a boat back to the Indies, but the horses remained.

There use to be thousands of the Spanish Mustangs in the Carolina's. The Department of Fish and Game are in charge of these horses at present. The herd that is in Corolla is about 120 horses. But the Fish and Game Department wants to keep the herd at about 60 horses, which our tour guide said was too small of a number for healthy breeding. There is a bill in the Senate now to increase the number allowed and to switch the management to Homeland Security. If you want more information about this bill click on this link:

 Senate Bill to Protect Wild Horses

This horse has a friend on its' back, the Cattle Egret. The Egret eats flies and bugs that bother the horse, so the horse is happy to let it ride on its' back.  They are often seen by their feet.

Horses who are not healthy and too sick to be treated on the beach, are removed and can never be reintroduced.  This mare and her colt may be removed soon, as the mare was only 2 years old, when she got pregnant and not really mature enough to mother a colt.  Now mother and colt are both malnourished and may soon be removed to save their lives.  They then would be put up for adoption, going price about $600.00, pretty reasonable.  I can hear my friend Jackie's mind plotting as I type.

On the way back, we stopped at an old, 1950, just a year younger than me, U.S. Coast Guard Station and look out.  When it was purchased by a real estate company.  It was completely buried in sand.

As Bob and I left town, we saw another Corolla horse.

We are loving the Outer Banks, tomorrow Kitty Hawk.

On to the Outer Banks

We  moved closer to the Outer Banks.  We are staying at North River Campground in Shawboro, NC.  We have not found the town of Shawboro yet, but Google maps knew where it was.  This is a view from our front window.  We are about 100 feet from the lake.

We had some down time, as we did laundry and cleaning while it was pouring rain.  There is a pool and a lake, with paddle boats and you can fish. The sun was out today so we traveled to the Outer Banks, which is an hour and a half journey. We went to see the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

On December 1, 1875 the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining "dark space" on the North Carolina coast between Cape Henry light and Bodie Island to the south.  To distinguish this  lighthouse from other regional lighthouses, its exterior was left unpainted which gives visitors a sense of the multitude of bricks used to form the structure.

You could climb this lighthouse and walk out on the open balcony.  I didn't think I could go up the 214 steps and Bob was too cheap to pay the $7.00.

There were other buildings on the grounds.  A private residence that was a duplex.

And of course a gift shop.

Historically Bath, NC

We stopped at Washington, NC's farmers market.  It wasn't much.  So we took a drive to Bath, NC. On the way it poured.  We drove around the town and had just ready to turn around, but decided to stop at the Visitor Center.  They have their own Blue Crab.

Bath, oldest incorporated town in North Carolina was established in 1705.

We saw a film about the history of the town and learned that the early settlers embraced, Blackbeard the pirate, Edward Teach.  He even took one of their young ladies as his 14th wife.

After the film, the rain had stopped and we headed to Blackbeard's Slice and Ice.  We had a slice of pizza, before our diet we both would have more.

We followed the visitor's guide to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, built in 1734 and still in use today.  St Thomas Church is the oldest standing church building in North Carolina.

The inside was beautiful for it's age.  Not a grand cathedral.

Many churches we have seen have graveyards.  Some houses even do too.

The Palmer-Marsh House is Bath's oldest house and in the colonial period its largest residence, was constructed in 1751.

The first library in town.

James Adams Floating Theater toured coastal towns between 1913-1941.  Edna Ferber's visited the boat in 1925 and it was the inspiration for her novel Show Boat. We have a friend James Adams, not sure if their related.

Today this is a beautiful Bed and Bath, but back in the day it was the home of  W. W. Mason.  Built in 1906, this two story house was owned by Mason, a fisherman and fish market proprietor in Bath.  He also owned the fist motorboat on Bath Creek.

European settlements near the Pamlico River in 1690 lead to the founding of the city of Bath.

Everyday, Bob and I are so thankful for our health and the opportunity to travel this great country.

Washington, NC Inner Banks

Established in 1776, Washington is the first city named after George Washington, the first president of the United States.  Like so many cities we have visited they have a town sculptor all around town.  Here it is the Blue Crab.  Have you ever seen one, they are really blue.

We parked and walked down the brick walkway along Pamlico Sound.  Many recreational boats.

There was a park with two band stands.

We had come to visit the Estuarium. Do you know what an Estuarium is?  I didn't, but it is a museum and aquarium.  The Estuarium is one of North Carolina's most-innovative environmental centers, with more than 200 historic and scientific exhibits that provide information about life in and around the estuary.

This is an interactive water cycle sculpture, donated by a local artist, Whiting Toler. The docent explained all about this sculpture and it is amazing.  I'm afraid this picture does not do it justice. It is made from things the artist found along the waterways of North Carolina.

As we walked back to our car, we saw this draw bridge that's middle section swings around to let boats through.

Beautiful homes line the coast of the Pamlico Sound and the Tar River.

Old warehouses line downtown, that have been converted into offices and restaurants.  This is an attorney's office.

We had lunch at the Meeting Place.  Bob had a Cuban Burger and I had a wonderful chicken salad with fresh fruit and a yogurt dressing. They had great desserts but we are still dieting so we passed.

We loved this town.  It is still in the process of renewal but it is going to be incredible.