Road Trip Day 4 - Jamestown and Finding the Ocean

     Day 4 was filled with driving and seeing only a few places, but those places were worth the drive.  It started with me getting out of Lynchburg early, letting the hotel manager know I was less than impressed with his room and the noisy guests above me.  My original plan was to drive nearly 3 hours east to Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia.  I am big on history so Jamestown has been on my to-do list for a long time.  

     A hiccup came with the fact that NC-12 the road that stretches most of North Carolina's Outer Banks had been closed due to the storm that had passed through over the weekend.  The meant my original plan of sunset there Tuesday night was off since it wouldn't be opened until mid-afternoon Wednesday.  I had wanted to do a sunset shoot of the wild horses on the beach at Assateague State Park in Maryland Wednesday night but couldn't be there and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at the same time.  The compromise was to drive all the way up to Assateague from Lynchburg Tuesday, nearly 6 hours, get some shots and head down to the Outer Banks for Wednesday.  In all I'd have done about 550 miles and 10 hours of driving.  

     Luckily my route to Assateague took me right past Williamsburg and Jamestown, I thought maybe I could stop off briefly and see those places and still make it to the horses by sunset.  My love of history topped my desire to see the horses and I got lost in time at Jamestown.  It is impossible to rush when seeing the first permanent English settlement in America.  Every plaque had to be read, every piece of a building's foundation had to be photographed, plus there is ongoing archaeological digging happening.  The Jamestown Church is awe-inspiring.  The current one dates from 1906 and stands on top of where the original wooden church was built in 1608.  That was where Pocahontas married John Rolfe in 1614.  

Inside the Jamestown Church

     Colonial Williamsburg is the neighboring town to Jamestown, it's a third of America's Historic Triangle with Yorktown being the other town.  It is a family-friendly, touristy spot compared to Jamestown.  It has shops, restaurants, tours, people playing the roles of Colonial-era citizens, and more.  For those familiar with it, it is along the same lines as Plimoth Plantation but with more food and shopping.  It is definitely worth visiting, and it was pretty busy for a mid-November weekday so I could only image the lines during summer.

A Colonial-era horse and carriage at Williamsburg.

     After visiting those two places I realized there was no chance I'd make it to Assateague before sunset.  I readjusted my plans and decided to go back to the original which was to head to North Carolina's Outer Banks.  Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is a major Bucket List spot and the entirety of the Outer Banks is a place I've wanted to visit for years.  I booked a room in Kill Devil Hills, a beachfront room for cheap which really made my night.  Only when driving down to the hotel did I realize how big the Outer Banks is.  From where I stayed it is well over an hour south to Cape Hatteras still.

     I managed to find a little walking trail in Kitty Hawk that had a neat dock.  Knowing that I still have to wait until Wednesday afternoon to go to Cape Hatteras I decided to save many of the sites on the Outer Banks until morning.  After driving 1,200 miles since Saturday I ironically have no choice but to sit still for a while.  I plan on visiting the Wright Brothers Memorial first.  I kept my trying new places streak going by having dinner at Max's Italian Restaurant and getting supplies from Publix.  They need to build one on Cape Cod.

A secret spot in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

     I did manage to get my shoes soaked at the beach in the town of Duck which was great. Luckily I brought my running shoes in case I'd had the desire to exercise.  Those are now my main shoes with the others drying in my trunk.  All in all it was a much better Day 4 than Day 3, the hotel is great, on the beach, the weather is clearing up and Wednesday should be filled with epic sites to see on the Outer Banks.