The blog of In My Footsteps Podcast host and author Christopher Setterlund. It contains a buffet of topics. The wackiness of daily life with Initial Impressions 2.0. There is a link to the weekly In My Footsteps Podcast. Poetry collections, life topics, some history, and more. There is something for everyone here much like with the podcast.
Showing posts with label kitty hawk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitty hawk. Show all posts
Thursday, January 6, 2022
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Road Trip Day 5 - Wright Brothers, Piers, and Lighthouses on the Outer Banks
This was the best day wall to wall of the entire road trip. It began just after 6am. I stumbled out of bed and was able to walk only a few yards outside and was right on the beach to watch the sunrise. I tried to go back to sleep after but didn't succeed, I was already too hyped up from sunrise. I was up and out to have breakfast early. Just down the street was a spot called Bob's Grill - Eat and Get the Hell Out, yes that's on their sign outside. The food was great, the surf motif was great, I was glad I went.
One thing about the Outer Banks, at least the more northern part, is that it was way more developed with more people than I thought going in. I was worried when I was driving there that I'd need to stop off and get any supplies I needed before getting to the Outer Banks and was surprised when I saw so many malls and restaurants, and tons of souvenir shops. As I had said before I visited a Publix grocery store and now wish we had one on Cape Cod, it's like Market Basket and Whole Foods had a baby.
Seeing that NC-12, the road which travels down the Cape Hatteras Seashore, was closed for most of the day due to sand and water from the recent storms this meant I had to wait and take my time enjoying the sites on the Outer Banks. Gee, what a shame. Right after breakfast I crossed the street to the Wright Brothers Memorial. At the top of the 100-foot tall Big Kill Devil Hill is a monument to the brothers and their first flight. I met a man named Steve from Ohio up there and we took photos for each other, nice guy. There was also a memorial to the moment of the first flight, along with the markers denoting the flight attempt and stats about it located on the field below the hill.
After checking out of my hotel I visited a pair of piers. Kitty Hawk Pier and Avalon Pier, usually one of them gets shown on the Weather Channel when a hurricane is coming. The waves were still big even a few days since the storms passed through making for some good photo ops. Avalon Pier was being worked on so I couldn't walk out on it.
Next was a little side track to Roanoke Island. It was here that the first attempt at an English colony in America happened in 1587. The first English child born in America was Virginia Dare born to this group, the highway that runs much of the Outer Banks is named for her, as is Dare County itself. The colony vanished and it is still one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries. Archaeologists found and reconstructed an earthen fort but have yet to find the remains of the actual fort where the 115 settlers would have lived. Every summer they do a play at the outdoor waterfront theater about this colony.
It was about 1pm by this point and I decided to go over the the entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore and check if maybe they had opened the road early. By luck they had, although with a warning that they were still working on it so beware sand and water. I knew it was quite a hike from the entrance south to Cape Hatteras Light, but once you're on the road it seems to go on forever. It is nearly 50 miles on a beach road, with only pockets of civilization, before reaching the lighthouse.
I missed the entrance to Bodie Island Light on the way out, that one is only 6 miles or so from the entrance, but that would be to my benefit later. They weren't kidding about the road conditions either. Only a few miles out were front-end loaders removing buckets of sand, so the long trip was made longer when I had to slow down or stop. One fun little side note is the Bonner Bridge which crosses the Oregon Inlet about 10 miles south of the entrance, both times I drove it there was a flock of pelicans hovering just above my car. I didn't hit any but the bridge at the top was littered with dead pelicans.
It took about an hour to reach Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. At 210-feet tall I could see it from a mile away. The black and white candy cane striped structure is one of the most well known lighthouses in the world. This was the southern most point of my journey. It was the top site for me on my road trip, I'd wanted to visit it for years and it's matched only by West Quoddy Head Light as my favorite I've seen. I tried to soak it all in, shoot as many photos and videos as I could but also be in the moment there. I had one more spot to see before beginning the long trek north, this time I plugged Bodie Island Light into my GPS.
Bodie Island Light and the amazing sunset I saw there were happy accidents. Missing it on the way out, then when I got there I had to wait ten minutes at the entrance. The road out to it is being repaved and there is a truck that basically leads you out one by one to the lighthouse. It was worth it. This lighthouse is also black and white striped and also very tall, 156-feet to be exact. The lighthouse was bathed in an orange glow when I got there so it was easy to get great photos. The topper was walking on a boardwalk to an elevated pavilion behind the lighthouse. It's a boardwalk the entire way due to warnings about venomous snakes located in the marsh.
The sunset was amazing but once it was done I knew I had to get to driving. From Cape Hatteras it was just under 14 hours back to Cape Cod. I figured the more I drove Wednesday night the less I'd have to do Thursday. Along the way I got to drive through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It is 17-miles of bridges and tunnels and also cost $14 in tolls to cross. By the time I made it across I was ready to stop of the night. The Eastern Shore of Virginia is more along the lines of what I thought the Outer Banks would be, desolate and sparsely populated. I managed to find an ok hotel in the town of Onley, not as good as my Outer Banks hotel but whatever.
So Thursday begins the long trek home, it is over 9 hours, with a few stops along the way still to see. When I pull back into my driveway I expect to have put about 2,200 miles on my car. Nearly 400 were put on it Wednesday but the experiences are worth the highway hypnosis.
One thing about the Outer Banks, at least the more northern part, is that it was way more developed with more people than I thought going in. I was worried when I was driving there that I'd need to stop off and get any supplies I needed before getting to the Outer Banks and was surprised when I saw so many malls and restaurants, and tons of souvenir shops. As I had said before I visited a Publix grocery store and now wish we had one on Cape Cod, it's like Market Basket and Whole Foods had a baby.
Seeing that NC-12, the road which travels down the Cape Hatteras Seashore, was closed for most of the day due to sand and water from the recent storms this meant I had to wait and take my time enjoying the sites on the Outer Banks. Gee, what a shame. Right after breakfast I crossed the street to the Wright Brothers Memorial. At the top of the 100-foot tall Big Kill Devil Hill is a monument to the brothers and their first flight. I met a man named Steve from Ohio up there and we took photos for each other, nice guy. There was also a memorial to the moment of the first flight, along with the markers denoting the flight attempt and stats about it located on the field below the hill.
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| The monument on Big Kill Devil Hill and the marker where the first flight ended. |
Next was a little side track to Roanoke Island. It was here that the first attempt at an English colony in America happened in 1587. The first English child born in America was Virginia Dare born to this group, the highway that runs much of the Outer Banks is named for her, as is Dare County itself. The colony vanished and it is still one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries. Archaeologists found and reconstructed an earthen fort but have yet to find the remains of the actual fort where the 115 settlers would have lived. Every summer they do a play at the outdoor waterfront theater about this colony.
It was about 1pm by this point and I decided to go over the the entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore and check if maybe they had opened the road early. By luck they had, although with a warning that they were still working on it so beware sand and water. I knew it was quite a hike from the entrance south to Cape Hatteras Light, but once you're on the road it seems to go on forever. It is nearly 50 miles on a beach road, with only pockets of civilization, before reaching the lighthouse.
I missed the entrance to Bodie Island Light on the way out, that one is only 6 miles or so from the entrance, but that would be to my benefit later. They weren't kidding about the road conditions either. Only a few miles out were front-end loaders removing buckets of sand, so the long trip was made longer when I had to slow down or stop. One fun little side note is the Bonner Bridge which crosses the Oregon Inlet about 10 miles south of the entrance, both times I drove it there was a flock of pelicans hovering just above my car. I didn't hit any but the bridge at the top was littered with dead pelicans.
It took about an hour to reach Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. At 210-feet tall I could see it from a mile away. The black and white candy cane striped structure is one of the most well known lighthouses in the world. This was the southern most point of my journey. It was the top site for me on my road trip, I'd wanted to visit it for years and it's matched only by West Quoddy Head Light as my favorite I've seen. I tried to soak it all in, shoot as many photos and videos as I could but also be in the moment there. I had one more spot to see before beginning the long trek north, this time I plugged Bodie Island Light into my GPS.
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| Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, reaching higher than the sun. |
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| Sunset at Bodie Island Lighthouse |
The sunset was amazing but once it was done I knew I had to get to driving. From Cape Hatteras it was just under 14 hours back to Cape Cod. I figured the more I drove Wednesday night the less I'd have to do Thursday. Along the way I got to drive through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It is 17-miles of bridges and tunnels and also cost $14 in tolls to cross. By the time I made it across I was ready to stop of the night. The Eastern Shore of Virginia is more along the lines of what I thought the Outer Banks would be, desolate and sparsely populated. I managed to find an ok hotel in the town of Onley, not as good as my Outer Banks hotel but whatever.
So Thursday begins the long trek home, it is over 9 hours, with a few stops along the way still to see. When I pull back into my driveway I expect to have put about 2,200 miles on my car. Nearly 400 were put on it Wednesday but the experiences are worth the highway hypnosis.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| Inside the Jamestown Church |
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| 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.
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| A secret spot in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina |
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