Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
For our second day on the Outer Banks, we decided to head south to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and just south of there to Ocracoke, an island accessible only by car ferry. It's a long drive, but the scenery was wonderful. Unfortunately, the line for the ferry was so long when we got there that we adjusted out plans: No Ocracoke. We did stop at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum and spent an hour perusing the artifacts from several centuries worth of maritime disasters.
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum was right around the corner from the aborted ferry-to-Ocracoke landing. It turned out to be a very interesting place. Here are some of the pictures I took outside and inside the Museum.
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There were several plaques embedded in stone walls outside the Museum. This one related the loss of the USS Monitor during the Civil War.
This Fresnel lens, manufactured in France in 1853 and installed in the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, was removed from the lighthouse by the Confederacy on the eve of the Civil War so it couldn't be used by the Union troops to aid their blockade of shipping off the North Carolina coast. It was hidden during the Civil War, and considered lost and presumably destroyed for the next 140 years. It was rediscovered in 2002, damaged and with many of the prisms missing, and is now on loan to the Museum and displayed in the Museum lobby. It's impressive, even with many of the prisms missing. Here's a picture of the lens along with some other photos I took at the Museum.
Before it was removed from the lighthouse, and with all its prisms intact, this lens threw out a powerful, bright beacon.
This is the kind of rescue boat that would have been launched from an official lifesaving station to try to save a foundering ship and its crew off the coast of the Outer Banks.
This type of German submarine, designated U-140, was active off the Outer Banks during World War I, sinking several American ships. This is a scale model of a U-140.
A bell typical to smaller ships in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, used to signal other ships during times of low visibility. This bell was reovered from a ship sunk by a U-140 during World War I.
Having finished making the rounds at the Museum, we headed north towards the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We were looking for a place to grab some lunch, but wanted a nice restaurant, not a raw bar or crab shack, both of which types seemed to be plentiful in most of the small towns we went through. We were about to give up when we spotted the Captain's Table. A nice clean place, friendly atmosphere, not crowded, an attentive waitress, and good food. Quite enjoyable.
The entrance to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse grounds was right across the street from the Captain's Table. We headed there next. Patty's objective was to climb the 257 steps to the top, while Tom's was to remain below with his camera and gimpy right knee.
Yes, the lighthouse was originally built close to the water, but as the years passed the ocean encroached, and the decision was made to move the structure inland. Here's how they did it.
The tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S. at 210 feet, and quite elegant at that.
She made it, and doesn't look too worse for wear. I told her I was waiting down below to take a photo of her leaning on the railing at the top, but she advised me that, having once achieved the lighthouse balcony, she had kept her back firmly planted against the wall out of my sight 257 steps below.
We finished our tour of the lighthouse and keeper's lodging and began a leisurely drive north again, stopping several places where there were paths to the beach. (Okay, and stopping once at a Dairy Queen for a little afternoon refreshment.) The ocean was close to the road, but mostly out of sight behind huge sand dunes, although Pamlico and Croatan Sounds on the other side of the road were often visible. At the end of our journey was the First Colony Inn's happy hour. Dinner was at the Miller's restaurant across the street from the Inn. Decent food, but loud and crowded and family/kids oriented. Back to the Inn and some relaxing time on the porch swing on the second-floor balcony as the sun set over the mainland. An all-around very good day.
