Thursday, June 12, 2014

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2003. Mattie was sitting on the couch taking a break between beach adventures checking out one of his favorite books.... Goodnight Moon. I still remember who gave me this book, my mentor from graduate school, Don Linkowski. When Mattie was born, Don gave me several gifts for Mattie, the book being one of them! Unfortunately like many people in my life, Don died too soon with a massive heart attack months after his retirement party from the University. Any case, Mattie loved this book and Peter and I were SO familiar with this story we practically could recite it by heart! 


Quote of the day: A storyteller makes up things to help other people; a liar makes up things to help himself. ~ Daniel Wallace

Last night we had a real treat of a glorious Mattie Moon over the Atlantic. It was practically beaming into our condo! A message from Peter....... "Mattie Moon - As some of you may know, the moon always reminds us of Mattie, ever since his first preschool symbol of "Mattie Moon" was given to him by our dear friend Margaret. Tomorrow night is a full moon and one they call the "honey" moon since it will be colored not white but slightly honey-like because of its position relative to the earth and the sun (think eclipse). The nights leading up to the full moon (like last night) show of an ever-increasing moon and last night was a real treat to see the moon rise over the water."

I have to say in addition to the moon all aglow last night, we had various funny sightings going on in front of us. I literally got out the binoculars to check it all out. We had a woman dancing to herself in the sand, then we had a couple come out practically in the dark with a metal detector, a flash light, and a sifter looking for "treasure" on the beach, we had two young guys playing football in front of the woman dancing, and we also had a family with a flashlight searching for ghost crabs..... tiny crabs that come out at night along the shores. It was better than reality TV last, all from the perch of our balcony seats! A night of entertainment I won't forget anytime soon. 

This morning started with bright sunshine, only with an ominous cloud bank moving in from the south. There were no storms (that we could hear) overnight, and Peter snapped this shot this morning. It seemed so tranquil, yet creeping in from the right were darkening clouds.

The darkening sky turned ominous and it rained in buckets. Fortunately, our balcony is covered, so Peter could snap a picture of the rain in action. Surprisingly, there were still a few die heart beach goers walking the beach in the rain.

As we have learned, no morning would be complete without our beach walkers, pelican fly-bys and of course dolphins, and once again this morning, they did not disappoint! Once the clouds started to clear and rains stopped, sure enough, along came a lumbering set of dolphins. There must have been 50 or more that took a good 30 minutes to slowly pass by our locale. 

We decided last night to head south today and to go see and climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, something that both Peter and I have wanted to do almost every trip we have made to the Outer Banks, but for a variety of reasons, we never got the chance to do. But today was different, and we were not going to let some little rain clouds (or in this case downpours) stop us.  Peter checked the radar and "guessed" that given the movement of clouds that Hatteras would be "climbable" by the time we got down there (it took almost 90 minutes of driving to get there from where we were staying). I snapped a shot of the weather conditions en route through the windshield.

To get down to Hatteras Island you need to cross the Oregon Inlet, one of the few openings from Currituck Sound to the open Atlantic.

The terrain of the Outer Banks is just fascinating to me because depending upon where you are on the Island it is SO different. Up by Duck (where we were yesterday) the Island seems more residential, lined with trees and is more established. As you make your way down to Hatteras, it looks very dune like. I snapped a photo because it would be hard for words to do this justice. 

As we approached the Hatteras Lighthouse, traffic stopped, but we had no idea why! Then the truck in front of us started to point. He pointed at this glorious sight! We have visited the Outer Banks for years and NEVER saw a deer. This was a first for us! 

The Outer Banks are a group of islands on the North Carolina coast that separate the Atlantic Ocean from the coastal sounds and inlets. Atlantic currents in this area made for excellent travel for ships, except in the area of Diamond Shoals, just offshore at Cape Hatteras. Nearby, the warm Gulf Stream ocean current collides with the colder Labrador Current, creating ideal conditions for powerful ocean storms and sea swells. The large number of ships that ran aground because of these shifting sandbars, including the Civil War ironclad warship USS Monitor, gave this area the nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” It also led Congress to authorize the construction of the Cape Hatteras Light in 1799.

Hatteras Light is 210 feet tall and is considered the tallest brick lighthouse in North America, and according to today's park ranger, also the world. I can't confirm that fact! But it sounds good!

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse received the famous black and white stripe daymark pattern in 1873. The Lighthouse Board assigned each lighthouse a distinctive paint pattern (daymark) and light sequence (nightmark) to allow mariners to recognize it from all others during the day and night as they sailed along the coast. Hatteras is known for its spiral daymark pattern and its 7.5 flash of light pattern. 

The beauty of Hatteras in person is hard to describe. We visited this lighthouse years ago after it had been relocated to its current location. We had Mattie in tow with us but the lighthouse somehow did not look as grand and certainly had not been repainted. Today it was simply regal, bold, and strong. 

In 1999, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, was successfully relocated 2,900 feet from the spot on which it had stood since 1870 (a spot by the shoreline). Because of the threat of shoreline erosion, a natural process, the entire lighthouse was safely moved to a new site where the historic buildings and cisterns were placed in spatial and elevational relationship to each other, exactly as they had been at the original site. In 1998, I remember seeing a Discovery Channel special about the 26 day moving process of Hatteras Light to its current location and somehow when you see this structure in person it seems almost impossible to think it was ever moved. It looks so natural where it is, like it was always sitting there! 

We timed it just right today, and having bad weather on our side this morning helped with crowds, in that we only had a 20 minute wait for tickets to climb up to the top of the lighthouse! Peter and I managed up 257 steps
in heat and humidity! The steps are made out of metal and as you can see they are spiral. There is a window in the lighthouse at every 31st step, otherwise there is NO air!

They allow around 20 or so people up to climb at a time. You can see the stairway is narrow!

But to get to the top is worth the climb! The view is incredible. Unlike the history I have read about the other Outer Bank lighthouses, the social life at Hatteras was actually quite good. The keepers weren't isolated and in fact they are quoted as saying that "the lighthouse was a favorite place to visit by the village folk so we had lots of company especially on Sunday afternoons and the evening hours when the heat of the summer was unbearable in the wooded areas of the villages."

The view from the top of the lighthouse. Here you can see the two keepers homes. The one of the right was for the primary light keeper and his family and the one of the left was the house for all the assistant light keepers and their families. 

The views on top of the lighthouse were spectacular!

The Atlantic as seen from the top of Cape Hatteras Light!

I have to admit that there was much more happiness to going down the stairs versus going up! 

Vicki and Hatteras! I have loved lighthouses for as long as I can remember, so climbing this one today was a treat.

As we drove back to our condo we passed another great lighthouse, Bodie Island Lighthouse. Bodie is actually pronounced.... BODY! This one is also made out of brick, but notice its daymark pattern. Stripes not a spiral!!! This lighthouse is 164 feet tall, so significantly shorter than Hatteras , but built in 1872, just like Hatteras. Bodie has been closed to the public for as long as I have known it and only opened its doors to the public in 2013. Though we did not walk up its steps today, there were many people in and around the lighthouse and very excited about this new venture!

Two lighthouses in one day! With a fleeting blue sky as a backdrop, this lighthouse truly stands out in all its glory! 

It is six days into our trip and Peter and I went out to dinner tonight. I finally felt in the mood to do this. Rather ironic since we are going home on Saturday. I need more time away in all reality since it takes me a week just to begin to unwind. I am too stressed out, anxious, and over worked for one week away to accomplish anything and Peter is still sick and fighting a horrific cough. So frankly a week away is a good start but we need more time. Tonight we ventured back to Duck, and to the Sanderling Inn property, which is the backdrop of this photo. We ate at one of their restaurant's called, Kimball's Kitchen. A very special and unforgettable evening!

While dining at the restaurant, our table overlooked this glorious view of the Sound! While eating we had a rain storm, grey clouds, and then the sun came out. We had it all!