Lighthouses, Airplanes, and Sand Dunes

Today we drove south toward Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  We stopped at Jockey's Ridge State Park.  There we found the largest sand dune on the east coast.  We had fun climbing the dunes and enjoying the view.

 As we continued on,  we came to the the town of Rodanthe and found the house that was the backdrop for the Richard Gere/Diane Lane movie "Nights in Rodanthe".  The house actually had to be moved further back from the ocean a few years back because it was being swallowed by the surf. 

Then it was on to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  It is the tallest lighthouse in the world at 210 feet.  We bought tickets for Mark, Jane and Thomas to climb the 248 stairs, but right before their tour time, there was a distant lightening strike and parks rules say, no climbing with storms approaching.  The rangers had no idea when they would let people back in, so we had to move on.

We ended the whirlwind tour with the Wright Brothers Memorial.  Jane, Thomas and I climbed to the top of the hill where the memorial stands and were able to see the spot where Orville and Wilbur first took flight.  You could see the Outer Banks in a whole new way up there.

We ended the night with the BEST crab cakes EVER at the Kill Devil Hills Cafe.  Amazing!

Overall, we determined that the Outer Banks was a very neat place with lots of history and beautiful scenery. The ocean, beaches and houses are all awesome to look at and explore. We would definitely come back here!