Monday, June 6, 2016

A Day Off - OBX

In yesterday's post I mentioned that we decided to take a day and play tourist. We are waiting to hear back on quotes from a couple boatyards before we decide on our next stop, so we aren't in much of a hurry at the moment.  I also really needed a break from fixing the boat (crawling around the engines on hot and humid days isn't what I'd call fun).  We decided to take a trip out to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (something the locals seem to abbreviate OBX...I guess so it fits in one of those white oval stickers for their cars).

As a pilot and someone who has always had a fascination with flying, I wanted to go see the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The weather was nice, if not a bit hot, to spend a little time wandering the grounds where powered flight was demonstrated as reality.

Sculpture recreating the first flight.

The monument on Kill Devil Hill.

After the monument we didn't have anything planned and decided to just go for a drive down the outer banks to Hatteras island.  Much of this area is a bit too touristy for my taste, with t-shirt and beachwear shops scattered every block down the towns of  Kittyhawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head and others.  If it weren't for the Hatteras National Seashore, I'm sure these spits of land hanging off the U.S. coast would be fully developed from one end to the other. I'm thankful that some of our past leaders had the foresight to preserve places like these.

Bodie Island Lighthouse.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse...or the point south of which our boat
turns into a pumpkin according to our insurance.

It was a nice trip and a much needed break.  Now I guess it is time for us to figure out what our next plans will be...if we ever hear back from the boatyards.

2 comments:

  1. hi Mike,
    Great to hear you had the time to see Wright Bros Nat'l Memorial. I was fascinated by the wing warping mechanism and their use of what is now a modern item on planes- the forward canard. Sounds like the rest of the Cape has really gotten developed since I was last there.
    How is the work/fun ratio working out? Hope you get to see central atlantic region and NE this summer.
    Doug in VT

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    1. A couple production planes use canards, but most are found in the experimentals. The cape isn't as many high-rises as other areas, but it is fairly well developed.

      The ratio still needs some work...as does the boat. ;-)

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