On the Road Again: North Carolina Aquarium, Bodie Island Light Station, and Kitty Hawk, NC- Tuesday, February 20, 2024

We like this hotel, but when Scott originally made the reservations here, he mistakenly had it that we check out on Tuesday, which is today. When we thought about it, we figured we'd probably want one more night in the Outer Banks, but we were unable to add another night to this hotel. As a result, we had to pack up everything this morning and move to the hotel next door. It also meant we had to drive around with our stuff in the car this morning.

Our hotel didn't offer breakfast, but Julie found a place called Stacked Up in Kitty Hawk and we went there. The food was OK. Abby ate pancakes and jelly. Not pancakes with jelly-- first pancakes, then jelly, scooped out of the little containers with a fork.

We went back to the town of Manteo on Roanoke Island, near where we were yesterday. Here's a fun fact: Andy Griffith spent time in this little town and had his first acting job in The Lost Colony play that we saw the stage for yesterday. At least one book claims Manteo, not Mount Airy, is the "real Mayberry." Manteo is where he was living when he passed away.

In Manteo, we went to the North Carolina Aquarium. We didn't know we had to make reservations for an entry time and the guest relations guy was a little grumpy about it. We did get in though. It's a small aquarium compared to many we have seen, and focuses on the species that can be found in and near North Carolina, but within that theme they have a few very interesting exhibits. There's a wetlands exhibit where there are turtles and other animals we were probably near yesterday, but the animal that might have bee the most interesting looking was an albino alligator swimming in amongst the usual colored ones. There was the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (STAR) center where people were actively working to help rescued turtles. That was followed by a set of stations where Abby helped a toy turtle get better. An interesting setting was created as we walked into the wreck of a Spanish galleon. A video of the ghost of the captain greeted us and told us the story of how his ship sunk off the coast of North Carolina and became a habitat for the fish that we could find swimming around it. His story was true and may have helped inspire the story of Treasure Island.

After walking through this creaking wooden shipwreck, we came to a surprise. The USS Monitor from the Civil War was one of the ironclad battleships in the famous battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack (a.k.a., the CSS Virginia) in March, 1862. That battle is seen as a draw, though the Virginia withdrew first. In December of that same year, the Monitor was out on the Atlantic Ocean and a storm ended up sinking her near Cape Hatteras. Here at the North Carolina museum are several displays of artifacts from the Monitor, and if inside a replica of its famous round turret, a movie tells the story of this ship. The signs tell of how the wreckage became a new habitat for marine life and it was declared the first National Marine Sanctuary. Scott was very puzzled by this story, though, because he had seen the Monitor some years ago. We learned that it was only the famous round turret that was recovered, and the rest of the ship is now a home for the corals and fish.

While Scott was looking at the Monitor stuff, Abby and Mom were watching sharks and other fish swimming behind glass that stretched the entire length of the wall. In the gift shop, Abby was excited to get a "red" mermaid with pink hair, but was very disappointed that the mermaid was now alone because we didn't bring any of her friends along. The mermaid spent much of the rest of the day pouting about that, and nothing that the rest of Abby's stuffed friends could do would get her out of that funk. Julie bought Abby a t-shirt from the aquarium, because Abby's long sleeves had gotten wet at the touch tanks, where she was leaning in touching rays, horseshoe crabs, urchins and other critters. Scott added a pin to our zoo and aquarium collection.

After we left the aquarium, we were heading through Manteo, Julie saw that the place called the Carolina Bar-B-Que Company was open. We had passed it other times only to find it closed, so we decided it was fate that we should have lunch there. Finding real Carolina-style barbecue was one of thing things we wanted to do while we were here. Last night, when Julie asked for extra barbecue sauce, they brought her a little cup of the regular kind of sauce. We thought it was a good sign that the table here had two bottles- one labeled, "Carolina Style Barbecue" and one labeled, "Yankee Barbecue Sauce." We were not disappointed. It wasn't exactly like the sandwiches at King's, but it wasn't far off. We complimented them on our way out. It was also an interesting place to eat in because it was decorated with many flags- some pirate flags, some Confederate flags, some Carolina sports banners, and others.

From there we headed back over the bridge to the Outer Banks and turned south through Nags Head and into the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. We wanted to stop at the Bodie Island lighthouse, which isn't too far south. When we got there, Julie said she wanted to close her eyes for a moment, so Scott and Abby went into the small visitors center to look around. When it came time to get a good view of the lighthouse, Abby didn't want to go any further. The temperature was probably only in the high 40s, the skies were mostly overcast and the wind was cold and blowing. She stayed in the car with Mom while Dad continued to explore. There is a wooden boardwalk that takes you out to a viewing area over the marsh that surrounds the lighthouse and gives you a slightly different view. Scott took the .2 mile walk out and back to see the views. When he returned, Julie was ready to get a few quick pictures.

It was only about 1:30, but we wondered if our next room was ready. We drove back up to the Kill Devil Hills area where our hotels are and thought we'd give it a shot. We were able to check in, and while Scott brought our things up, Julie and Abby rested. In fact, Julie ended up taking a little nap, which helped her.

When we were ready to go again, we went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, which is very nearby. We all went into the visitors center there. They don't have a film, which surprised us a bit, but there were some interesting exhibits. The displays go into quite a bit of detail about Orville and Wilbur's lives (Orville played mandolin while Wilbur played harmonica), as well as the engineering problems that the experimented with in order to develop their Flyer. Some of their original tools are on display. In the next room, overlooking the field where the first flights took place, is a full-scale reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer. The original, of course, was restored and is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, but there are some original pieces on display here. There is an original piece of fabric from the wings that you can view by holding down a button. This set up limits the amount of harmful light that will damage the material. There is an original propeller that broke and a few other pieces of hardware from 1903.

Scott walked outside to the field where the first flights took place. After you pass replicas of the wooden barn-like hanger and living quarters that they used, you find the stone that marks where there take-off took place. The flights all started in the same place because they had a rail, like one from a railroad, that they used to help their takeoffs. From this spot, there are four other stones, marking the lengths of the first four flights that took place on December 17, 1903. The first flight, made by Orville, went 120 feet in about 12 seconds. The second flight, made by Wilbur, went about 175 feet in 12 seconds. The third flight, made by Orville, went about 200 feet in 15 seconds. Scott walked these past these first three stones with the video camera on. The fourth flight went 852 feet, but Scott didn't walk out to that farthest stone, but he did note it in the distance.

Since Abby and Mom were waiting, Scott turned around and headed to the extremely large dune known as Big Kill Devil Hill. The Brothers had lugged gliders up to launch them from this hill while they were conducting experiments before adding the engine to the machine. At the top of this hill today is a large thick obelisk built as a monument to Orville and Wilbur. It was a tough, windy climb today, but Scott took pictures and video from various angles. He was surprised as he was taking a shot towards the car below and he heard Julie call out, "We're here!" He thought her voice was carrying up from the car below, but in fact, she and Abby had climbed the hill behind him. We took the opportunity for even more pictures. There are two large metal doors in the monument and Abby really wanted to go in, but they were locked and clanged with a loud dungeon-like boom when we tried them. Abby had wanted to climb the hill and had promised mom that she wouldn't cry if they went up. However, she hadn't made the promise about going down. We made it back to the car, though. Scott wanted one more set of pictures at the life-sized statue of the plane, the brothers, and the crew that they had helping them, but as he was walking over, a park ranger's car pulled up along side him. It was the same woman who had sold us our admission at the front gate, but she was now shepherding people out so that they could close at 5:00.

We looked for something simple for dinner and decided on Little Caesar's, since it was cheap and close. Julie got a Starbucks and Scott filled his mug at 7-11, both of which were right near our hotels. Abby was sleeping by that point. The cold had certainly taken a lot out of all of us. We ate dinner at a table in the hotel lobby before returning to our room. There's no pool at this hotel, so it will be a quiet evening in tonight.