After breakfast at Diamond Shoals Restaurant, we took the short ride to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It's listed as the tallest brick lighthouse in North America. It's a beautiful structure, and a nice area to visit.
In 1870 the lighthouse was positioned 1,500 feet from the ocean. By 1970, the natural erosion that occurs in the Outer Banks had pushed the shore back until there were only 120 feet remaining. In 1999 the lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet to its present location, 1,600 feet from the shore.
When we left the lighthouse area, we headed to the end of the road, where we found a beach entrance. Very wide, and off to the right were cars and pickups; you can get a permit to ride on the beaches here.
I'm still looking to find a new pair of riding gloves to replace the ones I destroyed on the trip up here (rain and leather really don't work well together). There is, according to Google, a place called Island Choppers on Highway 12 in Frisco, south of here. So we headed south.
We got to where the store was supposed to be, and found a tattoo parlor instead. When I checked in at a sporting goods store, they told me that Island Choppers had moved to Buxton. Well, we'll check it out on the way back, but we continued south to see where the ferry to Ockracoke Island would be.
There were times along the road that we could see the ocean on the left, and the sound on the right as we headed for land's end. We continued on past the ferry, and went to the point, where the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum is located. Standing in the parking lot, there was water on three sides of us.
This museum is mostly displays about the wrecks around the Civil War era, but there were references to over 30 wrecks that were the result of German U-Boat attacks during World War II. I didn't realize that they were this close to the US coast.
One item of interest was about the electrification of the island. Hatteras Village got electricity in the mid (Southern tip of the island1930's; the rest of the island had to wait until the early 1950's. Source: Hatteras Guide.
In the entrance to the museum, you can see the original light from the Hatteras Lighthouse. Many of the fresnel lens sections have been removed, but it's still in pretty good shape.
We headed back north, and never found Island Choppers as we passed the hotel and continued up to Avon.
We did go through patches of rain, some light, some heavier, but each quit after a mile or so. We passed the hotel and headed north. Avon is a wide spot in the road, just before the long stretch that takes you to Kill Devil Hills. We stopped before heading further (that's on deck for today).
I called the number for Island Choppers, only to find it disconnected. Oh, well. We headed back towards Buxton and stopped at the Froggy Dog for a late lunch. Excellent food -- Linda said her hand-made crab cake was delicious, and the barbecue chicken sandwich was terrific. We watched the bartender struggle to bring one of the taps on line, and she kept running pitcher after pitcher of foam. My first thought was too much pressure. I called my friend Jimmy Deaton from Southern Hops to ask him what may be the problem. He concurred, and advised what may help. I think she was reluctant to try it, but hey, I tried.
Too much good food, and we really didn't get hungry last night. We decided not to go out for dinner.
Today, it's supposed to be sunny and 81° so we're heading north to Nag's Head and beyond, to see what we can see. Should be the best day of the trip.
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