Another beautiful sunrise over Virginia Beach this morning, but it's time for us to move on.
We are exploring aviation history today (as if Smithsonian Air And Space Museum in Washington DC was not enough). We are driving to Kitty Hawk in North Carolina, site of the first ever flights by Oliver and Wilbur Wright back in December 1903.
First we have to cross Wright Memorial Bridge to get from the mainland out onto the island where Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers National Memorial is.
Kitty Hawk today is a small town and the flight site is actually just south of town. The site is managed by US National Parks and there is a $4 fee per person to get in.
We arrive just in time to hear a presentation by one of the National Parks guys inside the Visitors Centre, in the room below and in front of the replica airplane of that the Wright brothers were using.
Facts and figures... And this replica cost US$1.2m to build and is confirmed that it can fly, although that has not happened.
Outside the Visitors Centre, there were these 3 stern looking guys. Well, 2 of them meant business and the 3rd guy should not be there. The Wright Brothers Memorial in the background up the sand dunes.
The actual site from where those 4 initial flights took off.
With each attempt that morning, the Wright Brothers flew a little bit further. The 4 landing sites are marked with stones below.
This is the landing site for the 4th and final flight, the one that the brothers considered a success. At the time, for a flight to be considered successful, the plane had to be in the air for a minimum length of 300 feet, about 100 meters.
The walkway to the sand dunes where the Wright Brothers Monument stands.
And this is the Wright Brothers Monument up close.
Looking back from the Wright Brothers Monument towards the site of the actual flights. The Wright brothers, with help of the local lifesavers, took their plane to the top of the dune to get gravity to help them start. So it must have been an anxious moment when the pilot is on the plane and pushes the lever, allowing the "Flyer" to slide down the slope on a trolley and rail, guided on the ground by the other, then lift off (to the left of the sheds).
The two wooden sheds are the hangar for the planes to the left and the Wright brothers residence to the right.
OK, this just looked cool. The brothers as part of the Wright Brothers Monument
Hans "rubbing shoulder" with legends...
Moving on, we continue south on the island and then west crossing Roanoke Island and over the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge back to North Carolina's mainland.
State Road 64 is closed due to Alligator River Bridge maintenance so we have no choice but to go south on road 264. We knew this beforehand and road 264 also takes us to our final destination for the day so that was fine. We suspected that it would be a pleasant drive through reserves and wildlife refuges and it was.
This, we think, is Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, but it could have been part of US Navy and Army bombing site. Along road 264 in north eastern mainland North Carolina it is, but things were passing fast outside the car windows.
Right of a sudden we stumbled onto a place called Stumpy Point and Stumpy Point Bay. Clearly a little fishing / seafood port that times have not been very kind to. We thought it was fantastic.
Time for lunch and we try to find somewhere to eat in a little town called Engelhard, NC. We went through the whole town to the other side before we found any diner of sorts. However, this was THE diner.
Sunday post church buffet was lunch for the whole territory it seemed. We just had to try Martelles "Feedhouse". This is part of their very busy parking lot.
And here is part of their Sunday buffet and the local punters. We didn't really see this as a place to eat anymore, although that was the reason we went there in the first place, but a sort of traveling event.
Among the guests were:
- the "local politician" who walked around and shook everybody's hand while exchanging a few words,
- the farmer who had the broadest "cinematic" accent we had ever heard,
- "Willie Nelson" in an orange Harley Davidson t-shirt, bandana and ponytail,
- African American extended families dressed up in their most colorful church clothes
The food was very good too. Salads bar, fantastic southern fried chicken, popcorn shrimp, crab balls and lots more, with desert, as much as you can eat, all for $11 per person including tax.
A post lunch photo of Di. Doesn't she look pleased?
We continue traveling west on state road 264 and crossed the Intercoastal Waterway and the views from the top of the bridge were amazing.
Somewhere between Belhaven and Washington, NC, we stopped to change drivers. Some amazing very green fields (we think sweet corn...?)
Down the side road...
Eventually around 5pm, we arrive at today's destination Greenville, North Carolina. We check in and stay in the room, have soup for dinner as we already had that enormous buffet for lunch and took it easy.
We really have no idea what Greenville may have to offer, but we've seen enough for one day and tomorrow we will have another long day of driving down to Charleston, South Carolina.
Now, we are verifying that there really is not anything worth watching on TV...good night.
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