Cape Hatteras has something for everyone -Excellent beaches, amazing fishing, stunning vistas, southern hospitality and as we experienced- violent storms.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore is run by the National Park Service, but all of the houses and towns are excluded from the park area. Really this is the best of both worlds, cool little towns surrounded by beaches without souvenir stands.
We did not want to embarrass all these southern boys down here with their pick’ em up trucks on the sand, so we left the VW at the campsite and walked.
Most of the locals drive right onto the beach and fish from the beach. They have unique fishing rod holder’s mounted on the front of their trucks. Apparently 1-2 people need a selection of 6 or 8 rods. And of course you need a large cooler. I am sure most start the day with a cooler full of beer and if all goes according to the plan, the beer is eventually replaced with fish.
The Thunder storm intensified around 9:30pm, and was over by 10:00pm.
The storm was in the distance and was not bad at all, no rain and we went to bed around 10:30 with no thunder or lightning visible anywhere.
A few hours later….. 3:00am, we are awoken by a Lightning strike hitting land very close to our campsite. The noise was like an earthquake. From 3:00 to 3:45 am, we heard thunder like we have never heard before, two more land strikes, lots of hail (it was over 30 C during the day) and constant lightning for 45 minutes. The best way to describe it is total daylight at 3:00am. We won’t admit that we were scared being in a tiny RV during this storm, lets just say we were concerned and leave it at that.
Soft Shell crabs are popular in these parts.
There is always a lighthouse that you have to see:
In the nearby town of Kill Devil Hills, NC is where the Wright Brothers made their historic flight in 1903. I am sure there is a great story behind that town name.
The Wright Brothers made the first flight in a powered airplance from this spot in December 1903. The Wright Brothers were from Ohio, but chose Kill Devil Hills because of the high wind, sandy ground and it was away from crows of people who might interfere with their work.
Atop this hill stands the Memorial you will see in the pictures below. The Brothers ran the airplane down this hill until they had enough speed to lift off- the first flight was 12 seconds, the last of the day before they crashed was 59 seconds.