and then headed back south. The trail was not only paved but also shady for most of the way.
When we got to town, we turned down a street that led to the Manteo waterfront and ended up at the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.
The original lighthouse was built in 1858 and after the Civil War, a replacement lighthouse was built in 1877 about 100 yards southeast of the original lighthouse...and out in the middle of the water.
After the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1955 and replaced with a modern piling light, the lighthouse was lost into the sea when a private party tried to move it. Then, as part of Manteo's Centennial celebration, the lighthouse was rebuilt and placed where the wastewater treatment plant formerly stood...
...which is a lot more pleasant to look at than a wastewater treatment plant. :)
Before going into the lighthouse, we noticed this little snake swimming along the docks.
Inside the lighthouse, some of the exhibits honored a local boatbuilder, Warren O'Neal. When someone asked Mr. O'Neal how he got into building boats, he replied "Well, nobody ever showed me how to do it or gave me training. I just felt like it was something I could do, so I went ahead and did it." Once he figured out how to build boats, he built a lot of them:
As we left the lighthouse, I noticed a sign that showed how high the water rose during Hurricane Irene in 2011. It's where the red line is on the sign Chuck is looking at in the picture. It rose 7 feet 11 inches above sea level!
There was also an exhibit of an old screw pile that would have been used to anchor down the lighthouse.
The harbor around the lighthouse was filled with lots of boats including this old schooner...
...and this fancy-smancy yacht. Wonder how much that cost??
On the way back out of town, we rode by this Methodist church with beautiful stained glass windows.
We also rode by the Manteo Cemetery where we saw several markers from the 1800's.
One of the weirdest things we saw on our bike ride was this driveway made of broken glass. How do they keep from cutting their tires????
We went back home for lunch and then drove down to Waves, NC, on the Outer Banks to watch some of the kiteboarding competition. Unfortunately, it had finished up the day before and there were just a couple of people kiteboarding way, way, off from shore. We were surprised how big the kites were.
It's amazing how fast they glide across the water.
The competition may have been over but the partying was not. They were going to be doing some serious eating later today.
After leaving Waves, NC, we stopped by the Bodie Island Lighthouse on the way back north to the campground.
The lighthouse is 164.4 feet tall and has 214 steps...
...but we didn't climb them today. :)
After we got back to the motorhome, we had sauteed scallops for dinner. :)
And then, we went to see The Lost Colony, the longest running outdoor drama in America, at Fort Raleigh.
This drama has been playing since 1937.
The play was good and the changing colors of the sunsetting sky behind it added to the ambiance of the evening. :)
Another busy but fun day at OBX.
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