page 7
the outer bank barrier islands in North Carolina can get windy. When the wind is strong and the surf is strong sand is blown off the dunes and on to rt. 12 in the sections where an island is narrow with the dune next to the road and marsh on the other side. As I drove down the road bulldozers were working pushing sand back away from the road. Last night 25 mph winds rocked my camper and rocked me to sleep.
The rangers at the Bodie Island Lighthouse give a tour and an informative talk every 2 or 3 flights up the lighthouse. These talks give climbers a chance to rest on the way up as it is 214 steps and 164ft tall. Each ranger climbs several times a day, so each ranger was slender. At the top it was very windy, but the rangers hat never blew off (she had it pinned to her hair).
A few miles north of the lighthouse is the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kill Devil Hill, near Kitty Hawk. The spot where they took off is marked by a stone marker and also where each of the first four flights landed. The fourth was the longest at over 800 feet and 59 seconds. Inside the museum is exact working replicas of the first glider and their first plane. A ranger gives a talk and moves the controls to show how the wings flex and the rudders turn. On top of the hill is a monument to the Wright brothers. They took off on the flat ground, not the hill, off a wood rail. At the end of the rail it became airborne. The park service reconstructed the 2 wood buildings the Wright brothers built to work in at the sand dunes.
On Roanoke Island is a museum about the lost colony. The English colonized the island in 1585 - 1587. On a return supply trip the colony was found abandoned and no trace of survivors. The museum had a replica of one of the ships used by the colonists to travel to the new world. You are allowed to walk around the ship as guides tell you about the ship.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home