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Outer Banks – Day 2

Let’s see, where did I leave off?  That’s right.  We were getting ready to head out for our second full day on the OBX and surprise, surprise, that’s just what we did.  As we are on an inner finger of land on the Currituck Sound, we had to drive all the way down, then turn right, go across a rather long bridge, and then turn left to go up the OBX.  Going north on the road was quite different than the trip south we took the day before.  Heading south, most of what we drove through was built up, lots of shopping centers, lots of places to eat, etc., Heading north, was mostly some houses and the very occasional store.  Not really that many choices of places to eat.  Our objective was the Currituck Lighthouse, and we met that objective. 

The lighthouse was the last one built (1873) on the OBX and they never bothered to pain it so it looks like a large chimney.  There were 220 steps leading to the top of this still active lighthouse and we walked them all.  At the first few landings there were things on the wall to read (yes, I took pictures) telling you all about not only the Currituck Lighthouse but lighthouses in general.  Then it seems that they ran out of things to tell you so the rest of the way up you just had to admit that you were resting at each landing because you were too out of shape to continue without a breather.  At least on the bottom portion you could claim that you were not tired, just stopping to read the information. 

By the time I got to the top, Sarah and Susie had already started down so, no standard selfie.  The view was great.  Interestingly, the lighthouse was just about directly across the Currituck Sound from where our KOA is, so we were able to see the light at night.

The way down those 220 steps was much easier than the way up (duh), and the gift shop was nice, but very narrow.  There was an outhouse on the property and Sarah managed to get a couple pictures of it. (I think she did that while I was somewhere on the stairs trying to breath.)  Seriously, climbing the stairs was not that bad but since going to the lighthouse and then some time shell collecting on the beach was all we did, I’m trying to make it as exciting as possible.

After another wonderful lunch of Oysters in different forms, we heading to beach.  To get to the water you have to walk over dunes and since it was low tide, there were lots of interesting shells to collect.  One type of shell, that I had never seen before, was what looked like a Scallop but was very small and completely black.  I got a picture of it so if anyone knows exactly what it is/was, please let me know.

We spent about an hour on our shell walk.  The beach was wide and up till the end of April, you are actually allowed to drive on it.  That would have been interesting, but we opted for the parking lot and the more traditional, get the sand in your shoes.  We did get our feet wet and yes, the water was cold but there were some kids swimming in the ocean, so I guess, not that cold.

We left the beach and found an Ice Cream parlor for a quick snack before heading back to the RVs for a well-earned afternoon break.  Susie made Fajitas for dinner and we got a few more sunset pictures before calling it a night. I added those pictures to the sunset pictures in the Day 1 post so head back over there and take a look.

Today, we make a very long, 57-mile drive to our next location, Virginia Beach where we will be spending 3 nights.  Most of that time will be spent hanging out with our extremely good and old, we’ve known them since 1981, friends, Ellen, and Quentin Sligh.  Its always great to catch up with friends.

TTFN