August 9, 2011

We left Hatteras via Pamlico Sound and had another rough ride.  Weather forecast was 1 to 2 feet seas, but we think it was more like 5 to 8 foot.  Water was splashing over the bow and had to keep the windshield wipers going most of the way.  Glad I have auto pilot, make it a lot easier, just set the way point and let her go.  I could have gone to sleep real quickly with the rolling motion and cool breeze.

Made it to Manteo, on Roanoke Island, North Carolina.  This is another great town.  We are at the foot of the historic district which is pretty much the town.  This is a picture looking down the street running parallel with the water front.

The light house at the end of the Marina.

Picture in front  of the court house.  On Friday nights through the summer the town ropes off the main street and provides music.  This was a rock band very loud but we enjoyed listening for awhile.  Some of the shops served wine and goodies.

We rented a car as most of what we wanted to see was on the outer banks.  Our first stop was the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

This is a replica of the first aircraft to fly.

The memorial is on top of a hill where the Wright Brothers flew gliders in preparation for flying a motorized plane.

Looking over the Outer Banks from the Memorial.

Replica of the structures the Wright Brothers built and used while building and experimenting with flying.

The stone markers mark the distances each of the four flights made on the day that the brothers were successful.

Cape Hatteras light house.  The tallest light house in North America.  The light house was moved from its original location.  It was 100 feet from the ocean and in danger of being destroyed by the erosion.  They moved it 79 yards and took 29 days.  The cost for the relocation was 1.5 million dollars.  Our tax dollars at work. 

Picture of Cona when she found out how much the move cost.

On our ride down the Outer Banks we stopped and watched the hang gliders flying.  Hard to tell from the picture, but that is a person at the end of the kite.  The kite pulls the person on a surf board through the water at 30 to 50 miles per hour.  If the hold the kite in certain positions it will lift them right out of the water.

Riding down the cape we took several pictures of the dunes.  Really spectacular.

Our last night in Manteo we went to the out door drama of the Lost Colony.  Sir Walter Raleigh  got finances from Queen Elizabeth to establish a colony in America.  117 men, women and children attempted to settle on Roanoke Island.  They vanished two years later. 

One of the local t-shirts they sell around here says "DON'T ASK LOCALS FOR DIRECTIONS, THEY ALREADY LOST ONE COLONY".

This is a picture of the stage before the show.  The stage is on the north end of the island on the ocean side.  The ocean is behind what you see here.  Unfortunately the scenery blocks the wind coming in off the water and the night we were there it was miserably hot.



Tomorrow we are off to Coinjock.