Bill & Carol's 'Head South' Tour: The Outer Banks

After leaving Chesapeake we headed south to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX). We saw our first Daffodils in bloom so we know we are heading in the right direction.

Our stops included the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, a walk on Jeanette's Pier in Nags Head, and a trip to Roanoke Island. This place has grown a great deal since I was last here almost 40 years ago but the Kill Devil Grill in Kill Devil Hills was still there (although it has grown from a small crab shack to a nice restaurant) and they still serve the BEST CRAB CAKE SANDWICH ANYWHERE!

THE OUTER BANKS

OBX stretches over 70 miles and was dubbed the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" for its treacherous currents, shoals, storms. It is a valuable wintering area for migrating waterfowl and fishing and surfing are considered the best on the East Coast.

Cape Hatteras is full of history relating to shipwrecks and lighthouses with the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse the most recognized and marketed lighthouse in America. At 208 feet from foundation to top, Cape Hatteras is the tallest lighthouse in the western hemisphere. When I would come here years ago with my brother Rich to fish, there were still shipwrecks sticking out of the sand on the beaches. Now when a storm uncovers a shipwreck they dig it up and move it to the shipwreck graveyard on Roanoke Island.

I was very disappointed that I could not take Bill to the Cape Hatteras Light House and drive along the Cape Hatteras shoreline while we were there. Because of this latest storm that hit, there was 3 FEET of sand covering the road in areas and the police had it blocked off. We were planning on going all the way to the end of OBX and take the three hour ferry from Ocracoke Island to the main land but no road to drive on and no ferrys running made us turn around and take the bridge.