The day started out at the Wright Brothers National Memorial (http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm) in Kill Devil Hills. Kill Devil Hills is the town just south of Kitty Hawk and our vacation rental. It was interesting to read about Orville and Wilbur Wright, who chose Kill Devil Hills because they needed wind and sand to test their flights. I am fascinated that it took at least 2000 years of civilization for man to sustain flight, but only took about 50 years for humans to escape the earth's atmosphere once sustained flight was achieved.
The memorial boasts few interactive displays, but the story is not lost. There is one exhibit that was interesting. It showed the 100 year celebration, where people tried unsuccessfully to replicate those first flights. Outside, there is a monument on top of a large hill dedicated to the two brothers from Ohio. On the grounds you can walk the distance each of the four first flights traveled (which was not very far). I am reminded of the first flight every day when I look at North Carolina license plates!
The park entrance fee is a mere $4 and you can get a year's pass for $20. In my opinion, the best value is the $80 "America the Beautiful" National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. This pass is good for a year and gets you into all the National Parks throughout the U.S. We bought this pass in 2008 when we did a west coast trip to The Grand Canyon and California. The pass is a great incentive to travel and visit the U.S. Parks, which have been preserved for us to enjoy. It is sad to hear that many of our parks are limiting their service. Millers on the Road have enjoyed some and hope to see many more!
After visiting the Memorial, we visited Jockey's Ridge State Park (http://www.jockeysridgestatepark.com/), just south of Kill Devil Hills, in Nag's Head. Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States. It reminded me a little bit of our exploration of Frasier Island in Australia, which is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 720 square miles.
At Jockey's Ridge, we stopped at the information center to grab a map and set out to explore the dunes. We started along the boardwalk from the information center and reached an area where everyone left their shoes. We did the same and it felt great to walk barefoot in the cool, soft sand.
There were hang gliding kites laying in the sand, but we didn't see anyone hang gliding. We also saw some people carrying cardboard boxes for sand-boarding, but didn't see anyone actually boarding.
The view from the top of the dunes was good and mimicked the view from the Wright Brother's Memorial. One nice feature at Jockey's Ridge was getting to see the bay up close. I have a feeling the sunset from the dunes would be amazing.
We opted for continuing to explore and left Jockey's Ridge to drive north along route 12. The drive through Duck showed us a really cute beach town that had some Newport, RI-like characteristics. While it seemed like we drove forever past Kitty Hawk (maybe 30 minutes), we still didn't reach the northern-most part of the Outer Banks - Corolla. As the sun dipped lower in the sky, we decided to head back to Duck to catch a sunset on the bay.
The houses between Duck and Corolla were enormous! It was fun to imagine who owned them and what kind of parties they hosted there. My guess is that they are corporate owned. I think someone said a former governor of North Carolina owns a house out there. Pop Quiz beloved readership: Anyone know who owns some of the mansion-looking houses out there??
We reached Duck just in time to see the sun dip below the horizon. It seemed like a perfect ending to our last day in the Outer Banks.
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