As we travel north on our way home we want to see places we haven't been yet. Cape Hatteras on the east coast of North Carolina seems like a good place to check out. Its a very narrow spit of land called the Outer Banks. If you look on a map its not even a pencil line wide. Lets head across Pamlico Sound and check out our new home.
As we drive south along the main road there are spots where the ocean is so close to the sound on the other side that they have piled sand up to keep the ocean from flowing across the road. Water still oozes through the sand and pools on the road. I hope it doesn't storm while we're here.
We arrived at our campground without sinking and took time to meet our neighbours; perhaps when they arrive. I'm standing on the big man made sand dune on the ocean side of the campground. The building with the red on it sits on the other water side. Its about 1/2 mile from sea to sea, to coin a phrase.
This is the ocean view on the one side of our campground. As we go to sleep at night we drift off to the sound of the surf crashing; its very soothing.
Driving here, we spent most of the day in the rain so Harvey was pretty dirty. I decided to take a day and hand wash the grit off. Looked pretty good, I must say. It took all day but its worth it.
Cape Hatteras is beside the Atlantic Ocean and hundreds of ships have sank over the years due to storms and sand bars far out to sea. The worst sand bar is just off the coast where the Cape Hatteras lighthouse sits. That area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic it is so dangerous. This is the tallest lighthouse in the US at 208' and is part of 4 lighthouses along the cape to protect ships.
The lighthouse was originally built where I'm standing and was moved in the 1990's back to where it is now. Thats over a mile. Years ago I saw a program on Discovery showing a lighthouse being moved which was really interesting. I had no idea where it was until I saw this one; it looked the same. There are books at the park office showing how the move was done. In 100 years, the ocean had claimed enough shoreline to threaten the lighthouse and force its move. It is now the same distance from the ocean as it was 100 years ago.
Most of the buildings on the cape are built like this one. Its on stilts about 15 feet off the ground. The lattice works hide the poles and open area. The cape is so low and narrow that big storms or hurricanes will sweep over areas covering them with water. This style of construction survives the best. A large hurricane in the 1930's actually cut the cape into 3 parts. A bridge has been built over one of the openings, but the other was so wide that a ferry service is used to cross the open water to the town which was cut off by the washout. I think I'd head to high ground whenever a bad storm threatens.
We get to watch the sunrise on the Atlantic side (yeah right). By walking a few hundred yards we get to see the sunset over water as well. What a cool campsite. This is one of the best spots we've stayed so far. Being close to the ocean and falling asleep to its roar it very therapeutic. Now lets do a little exploring.
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