Up and at ’em! It’s laundry day! Bob got up at 6:30, so I did too to start the laundry before anyone else did. Out of 4 washers, 3 were out of order since yesterday. With only one washer working, things were a little tough. Lucky for me, no one else had the same idea of doing laundry at the ungodly hour of 6:30 AM. By 9:00, I had 3 loads of laundry done and was eating my breakfast. It was a sunny day and breezy. We left around 10:00 for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
It was still early and the crowds weren’t too bad yet. I bought a ticket to climb the lighthouse, but Bob didn’t want to climb the 257 stairs to the top. I waited just a few minutes before my group was called and then I made the climb.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick beacon in the world standing at 210 feet tall. In 1999, the lighthouse was moved a 1/2 mile inland, to save it from the encroaching sea. It is now as far from the ocean as when it was originally constructed in 1870. The black and white spiral pattern on the lighthouse is recognized far and wide. It took me about 15 minutes to make the climb with a 10 minute stop at the top.
I could see Bob below as he waited for me near the museum.
I asked this nice lady to take my picture while I was up at the top.
From the top, I could also see the original site of the lighthouse from where it was moved.
It was clear enough to see all the way to the ocean.
The walk down took less time– at about 10 minutes. Bob and I left the lighthouse site and drove a few minutes to the Cape Hatteras beach. From our spot on the beach, we could still see the lighthouse in the distance.
It was breezy, but hot. I took a dip in the cool, refreshing water and it felt great! Many people were surfing today, but the beach was fairly empty.
We watched a dad and his young daughter “surfing” near the shore. She would lay on the surfboard and he would hold the board until a good wave came by. Then he would aim the board towards shore and swim with it with her on top. She would stand up on the board with her arms outspread and ride the wave to shore. She couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 years old. It was precious to watch. She was fearless and together they had such a great time!
We left there about 1:30 and checked out the Hatteras campground nearby. There is also an area where you can get a permit to drive on the beach if you have 4-wheel drive. We didn’t, so all we could do was look.
On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store for some milk. On the way back, we also noticed this boat. Bob said this guy finally got his docking skills down. He didn’t even need any fenders.!! (Check out this gal cleaning the fishnets.)
Once we got back, we had to take a swim to cool off. The pool was busy, but it felt so good! This is a 6:30 AM shot when the pool was empty. I took it while I was doing the laundry.
We noticed that there were quite a few wind surfers and kite surfers on the water near our campsite. We took Auggie for a walk down to the beach and sat in the shade to watch. They were really flying in the wind!
Back at the campsite, we relaxed and had a cocktail before dinner. Auggie took a snooze. We relaxed in the shade after dinner and walked down to the beach in hopes of seeing another beautiful sunset. We weren’t disappointed.
We both crashed early after getting up early this morning.
