The museum has many artifacts from the more than 1,000 ships that have sunk in the area outside the Outer Banks. This museum is free and had a lot of interesting information about shipwrecks; but photography was not allowed in most of the museum. Pictures were allowed of the display of the top of the first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
After leaving the museum, we went back to the camper for lunch and then went on a 13 mile round trip bike ride to the Frisco NPS Campground. The campground has paved sites that are spaced far apart but have no hookups.
We treated ourselves to some ice cream at The Hatterasman restaurant on the way back to the camper. The owner had some very large lizards (he called them dragons) for sale in cages outside. Don't think we need one of those! :)
After our bike ride, we sat outside and rested for a little while and then decided to drive out to see the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse since the weather had turned out so nice.
We could have bought tickets and climbed the 268 steps to the top of the lighthouse; but after having just biked 13 miles in the wind, we decided to pass on that adventure today.
At 210 feet high, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the United States and the tallest brick lighthouse in the world.
This lighthouse is the second lighthouse erected at Cape Hatteras and was completed in 1871. What was one of the most interesting things about this lighthouse is that it was moved 2,900 feet from its original spot in 1999. And I don't mean taken down brick by brick and then rebuilt. The surf was getting way too close to the base of the foundation where it had originally been built and the National Park Service decided they needed to move it. The foundation was jacked up and then moved 2,900 feet to a site further away from the shore.
AMAZING!!! There were 60 sensors attached to the tower that would have alerted project engineers if the tower began to tilt. It never slipped during the entire move; at an average of 130 feet a day, the move was completed in only 23 days!!
The National Park Service also moved the houses where the lightkeepers who serviced the lighthouse lived which is where the NPS museum is now located.
One of the other interesting facts we learned while going through the Cape Hatteras museum was how German U-boats (submarines) sank many ships off the Atlantic Coast during the early stages of World War II. Other than Pearl Harbor, I didn't realize America was that close to the battlefield. Thankfully, the US put an end to the "American Turkey Shoot" through increased air and surface patrol craft and advanced anti-submarine technology.
Another tidbit of interesting information the ranger told us was regarding the Fresnel lens that are used to create the great distance lights of the lighthouses. The Fresnel lens are basically priceless. Back in the 1930's, the lighthouse was temporarily decommissioned because the surf had come too close and they were afraid it was just going to fall over into the sea. The government security responsible for the lighthouse forgot to lock it up and many of the Fresnel lenses were stolen. The NPS ranger told us that every now and then they get a box from an anonymous source returning one of the lenses that were found in an attic somewhere most likely from an elderly relative who had died and who may have taken one of those lenses from that unlocked lighthouse.
There was also a picture of what the roads looked like many, many years ago that the cars would travel on to get to Cape Hatteras.
After we left the lighthouse, we drove through Cape Point Campground, another NPS campground with lots of paved sites but no hookups. We saw this deer in the grass behind one of the sand dunes.
You could also see the lighthouse from the campground area. Chuck decided that Cape Hatteras is his favorite lighthouse of all the lighthouses we have seen.
On the way back to the camper, we stopped for dinner at a fundraiser cookout for the Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation and enjoyed a lot of good food...
at the Hatteras Marina...
for a very good cause. The Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation has assisted 122 islanders with cancer and their families since 2000. We couldn't help but think of a family member, Allen Fuqua, who is fighting his own battle with cancer right now. Allen, we're praying for you and your family!!
As we drove back home, we were able to see our motorhome from the bridge that crosses the canal backing up to the campground.
After we got back to the camper, we visited with Charlie and Karen from Naples, Florida, for about an hour before calling it a day. A very good day! :)
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