Outer Banks, Bodie Island Light House: 10 '16

 It wouldn't be a real visit to the Outer Banks unless we stopped  to see at least one of the four light houses that stand guard over this rugged coastline. 

The nearest one to where we arrived was the Bodie Island Light Station,

 (pronounced "Body") 

 which is  is located just south of the town of Nags Head and Whalebone Junction, where Highway 158, Highway 64, and NC Highway 12 intersect. 

Visitors travelling towards Hatteras Island can't help but notice the black and white horizontal striped structure,   peaking out over a line of dense cedar trees on the soundside.

Outer Banks, Jockeys Ridge NC SP: 10 '16

A few miles south of the Wright Memorial, today's aspiring aerialists are continuing Orville and Wilbur Wright's tradition of learning to take flight from the dunes of the Outer Banks. The tallest living sand dune on the Atlantic coast is located a just South of the Wright memorial in Jockey Ridge NC State Park. With a view arcing from the Atlantic Ocean to Roanoke Sound, and year around steady winds, it is a premier location for hang gliding, kites, sightseeing, and sunsets watching.

A visitor center with museum, and 360-foot boardwalk with exhibits explain the dune’s ecology. All along the boardwalk, the names of each of the trees and plants in this maritime forest are labeled. 

The walk not only protects the fragile maritime forest plant-life, but provides an easy and gradual entrance to the dunes,

and a one-mile nature trail that opens onto wetlands, grassy dunes and maritime thickets.

The sound side access via the park's boardwalk is a different experience offering sunbathing, wading, paddling, and sand boarding (by permit only).

CC found the latter requirement quite amusing, since she has fond memories of sledding down the sand dunes of the West Coast on large pieces of cardboard as a child.

Outer Banks, Wright Brothers National Memorial: 10 '16

Wright Brothers National Memoria Park, located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, commemorates the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. The Memorial is located on the very spot where the Brothers first took flight. When the Wright Brothers chose this location, it was because they needed a location with a hill high enough to take off from, steady winds to help carry their craft aloft, and a soft landing spot. At the time they were building their craft, the field the field was a large sand lot, devoid of all vegitation, with a high sand dune at the southern edge. It was perfect for launching and safely crash landing their expeimental gliders. 

Today the site is covered in grass.  The tall memorial sits atop the sand dune from which their gliders tool  off,  a replica of the tool shheds and hangers they build to house thier experimental gliders sits in the middle of the field, and large stone markers are set into the gorund showing each successively longer flight.

We took turns taking pictures of one another standing  on the flight path with our Flat Stanley dolls of the grand kids

and of course we checked out the Visitor Center

 and all of its exhibits.

This really is a "Must See" attraction for any Outer Banks

 aviation enthusiast,  or history lover. 

Outer Banks, Getting there is half the fun:10 '16

Visiting the Outer Banks is a classic example of how circumventuous  traveling from one place to another can be in this part of North Carolina.  The Southern end of Highway 12 on the  Outer Banks is only a short distance east  of where we were staying in New Bern. But to get to it ,either one has to (a) take a long ferry boat ride along the Pamlico River and Sound, or  (b) drive 146 miles north, then east, to get to Nags Head. We opted for the latter as it allowed us to see more of the  Inner banks country side.

Inner Banks is a euphemism coined by developers and the tourist industry to describe the inland coastal region of North Carolina.  In reality,  much of this area is farmland used for growing  cotton, sweet potatoes, and soy beans.  Where the land is less fertile, managed pine forests have been planted  for harvesting by the lumber industry, and where pines won't grow due to soil saturation, hunting and fishing is big business.  ( Here's an aerial  view of the area courtesy of the Getty Institute: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/major-road-passing-through-farmlands-washington-stock-video-footage/637196587).

The closer one gets to the Atlantic Ocean the more water influences maneuvering through the landscape. NC Highway 64 is one of the two highways that links the outer Banks' Highway 12 to the mainland.  Below is the  Hwy 64 causeway across the Alligator River leading to the Alligator  Island National Wildlife Refuge.  

Once you get to the Alligator Wildlife Refuge, it is but a short drive in Hwy 64  through a small maritime forest of scrub oak to where you have to take another causeway across the  Croatian Sound to reach Roanoke Island, 

and then   NC Hwy 64 continues on across Roanoke Isle to another causeway before you link to NC Hwy 12. 

Getting to the the Outer Banks, doesn't mean that you will have a lot more room to roam. North Carolina's Outer banks is a 130 mile collection  of windswept sand bars and barrier islands many of which are barely more than one road wide .  Just take a look at what our Garmin showed around us as we drove through the Caper Hatteras National Wildlife Refuge.

Above is the view from the passenger side window of the car taken at the same point. ( Now imagine having to use these roads to evacuate during a  hurricane.)

That being said...it is their very isolation and remoteness that is part of the attraction and beauty if the place.

Inferno: 10 '16

We went to see 'Inferno' this afternoon. It is a well done film, What scared me more than the idea of a world-wide pandemic was that the bad guys were basing their actions on a problem that is very real, and is still looming over our heads. I remember reading about overpopulation when I was in high school, but today no one seems to talking about it, or even discussing how we will keep it from turning into the great extinction event the film predicts.

Temple B'Nai Sholem : 10 '16

We stopped by Temple B'Nai Sholem in New Bern this afternoon. 

For more about this Temple, and the Jewish communities of Eastern North Carolina,

check out http://www.bnai-sholem.org/about-us/our-history.

Golf at the Fairfield Harbour Fairways 10 '16

 This morning we played a round of golf at the Fairfield Harbour Fairways

The course is very very narrow  

with lots of long par 5 holes surrounded by water and sand traps

and Bermuda grasses cut so long you can't find your ball even when you know where it landed.

It was definitely a challenging course.

Our new home for the week is 10 '16

Our  new home away from home for the next week is

 in the Fairfield Harbor Fairway Villas  in New Bern, NC.

We will be using this as our base camp while we explore the Inner and Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We have  been able to see many of North Carolina's other regions over long weekend trips, this corner of North Carolina  is a maze of wetlands,  rivers, sounds, and other natural barriers.  While these geographic features have fashioned a unique and beautiful landscape,  they do make getting from point A to point B a lot more difficult and time-consuming.  Accordingly, we have carefully planned the next week to insure that we have time to see some of the historic sites, several of the state parks and natural areas, and of course, portions of the Outer Banks.

A day in the life of a mole: 10 '16

 This mole makes his home is on the edge of our golf course 16th sand trap. The tracks he left in his escape route tells it all.  Clearly the mole was not prepared for the storm surge.

On the lighter side, Marsh eggs: 10 '16

On the lighter side, Bruce a received an unexpected gift from Hurricane Matthew.  The tidal surge seemed to have collected lots of the golf balls,  which errant drives had landed in the marsh, and  re-deposited them together in neat nests of cord grass at the base of our sea wall.   Bruce plucked up an entire large  shopping bag full  of some of the best quality balls  on the market. Thank you, Hurricane Matthew.

Outside of our plantation: 10 '16

Outside of our plantation, conditions were much the same across most of the Grand Strand With the exception of the barrier islands and ocean-facing properties, there was very little structural damage, but there were a lot of downed trees that played havoc with the roads. When the trees toppled  atop  the power lines all along Highway 17,  it not only stopped power to the nearby homes and stores, it eliminated every traffic light  along the entire length of that primary coastal thorough fare.   Driving was so hazardous that many schools remained closed even after the storm had passed because it was not safe for parents or school buses to try to transport the kids on the highways.

Fortunately, along the Grand Strand there was not much water on the roadways. The only flooding I found on Hywy 17 was near the entrance to  Huntington Beach State Park.

  We had to slow down to go through it, but the water was not deep enough to stall out in. 

The ocean facing properties took a really heavy hit from Mathew. Even before the front half of the storm had passed, local news stations were reporting that the waves had breached the dunes in front of the big hotels in Myrtle Beach.

 The ocean front beach is now missing from Pawleys Island.

But  on the bright side, 

we have a new beach on the marsh side of Spring Road.

Both Litchfield and Pawleys Island suffered heavy beach erosion.  They had just replenished the sand on those beaches after last October's storm surge; now it is all gone again. 

Fortunately,  beyond a house which caught fire and a wind-damaged roof, there does not appear to be much other structural damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ29GPKnTTg&sns=fb

Above is a link to an aerial view of the damage to Pawleys Island’s South end (courtesy of Georgetown County).  All that sand you see the National Guard crews moving used to be dunes in front of the houses; Now Spring Road, behind the houses, is a creek side beach.

Georgetown,  is another story. This small river town is located 10 miles South of us on the Wynah Bay. Portions of the town were hit hard by the rain, with 5' of water in some areas, including Front Street. Quite a few homes, apartments, businesses, and automobiles took a hit. For awhile, Hwy 17 was closed on both sides of Georgetown, although it is open now. Georgetown schools have been closed this week, and will continue closed on Weds. I have not heard anything specifically about Maryville, so I can't comment. The Georgetown Times has been covering the situation down there well -www.southstrandnews.com/georgetown-times

Matthew vs. Pawleys Plantation Golf Course: 10 '16

 

If anything in the golf course could be said to have taken a hit from Matthew, it is the golf course.   Like all the rest of our plantation there were a lot of fallen trees and debris all over the course. Their sandy soil is often very loose from all the water used to keep the fairways grass green.  That made it easy for trees to be toppled in the wind. 

Fallen tree on 18^th Fairway near Club House

But the fairways closest to the marsh were dealt the heaviest blow as they are most exposed to the wind.

Trees toppled on 18th Black tee off (above)

And Red tee off (below)

The wind also removed most of the sand from the back nine sand traps (and in some locations replaced the sand with trash)

The sand trap on 13 is down to bare earth and at marsh level.

The marsh bordering fairways also are located in the lowest elevations on the plantation. Five of the back none fairways showed evidence of being partially covered in salt water during the peak of the storm surge.  Needless to say, salt water and golf grass do not mix well,  so most the marsh bordering fairways will need new soil and sod.

Marsh Cord grass left behind on the 12th, 

16th, 

Marsh cord grass  on  the 17th 

and

  18^th fairways.

Dock and cordgrass on 12th fairway

There was enough of a high water surge to float some storm loosened crab docks onto the 12^th and 16th fairways

 Crab Dock on edge of 16th fairway and its sandtrap

The golf course maintenance people already have most of the debris cleaned up, but it is going to take awhile to get the course area re-sodded.