Here are a few more pics

It seems David skillfully avoided the camera for most of the trip.

Last Day

Well, we are in the middle of preparations for leaving this morning. Our camera died on Thursday so we've not been able to post any more pictures. However, once we get home we'll get some of the Anderson's pics and share those with you as well. Thanks for sharing in our adventure this week. See you in Louisville.

First Flight

Here is the gang at the Wright Brothers museum and memorial. It's located on the spot where Orville and Wilbur made their first powered flight. Our picnic lunch was a little too chilly for some of the crew who decided to take their chicken salad and eat in the cars. The temperature was a balmy 55 with the wind coming off the ocean from the north. Makes for a pretty chilly breeze. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be near 75-80, so we should be on the beach all day. We do plan on running back down to the Cape and getting some good pics of the lighthouse.

Just an FYI

We are here on vacation with our good friends from Louisville, Hans and Vanessa Anderson (yes, no joking around, his name IS Hans Christian Anderson) and their lovely children Anais, Isabella, and Mateo.

Cool finds

We found this on the beach. Some proclaimed it to be a shark egg while others voted for a type of kelp. The verdict is in and these skate egg sacs are scattered all over the beach. We also found a string of hard disc-like sacs that resemble a snake's spine and ribs. Once again the vote was a type of seaweed but, lo and behold, they are the egg sacs of the whelk, aka the conch shell. I'll try to post a pic of this soon.

At the museum first the kids,

and then the grownups.

The USS Monitor

Just several miles off the coast of Hatteras, the USS Monitor foundered and sank taking all hands with her. The wreck has been salvaged and here you see a replica of the ironclad as she looked when in service.
There are two other great displays at the museum. First is a dedicaiton to Army Air Corps Gen. Billy Mitchell who conducted bombing tests just off the coast here to prove the superiority of air power over naval power with the use of pinpoint strategic bombing. Gen. Mitchell also reportedly devised the ideas for the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-25, which bears his name, and smart bombs. He also supposedly filed a report detailing the attack on Pearl Harbor, correctly predicting the country, arms, targets, AND THE DATE that the attack would occur, all years before 1941! The curator said his prediction even stated the time of day the attack would begin-however he was wrong on the time-HE MISSED IT BY TWENTY MINUTES.
The museum also has, submerged in saltwater, an Enigma machine and a transcription machine which were salvaged from the German UH-58, sunk by the USS Roper off near here. The Enigma was the coding machine used by the Germans and the codes were considered unbreakable until some of the machines were captured.

Graveyard of the Atlantic

Tuesday began a little blustery with winds from the south. So we decided to take advantage of some of the attractions of the area. The highlight of the day was a visit to the Graveyard of the Atlantic maritime museum on Cape Hatteras. The central display, which you see here, is the Frenzel lens assembly of the original lighthouse on the Cape. It is reconstructed here after a fascinating disassembly and journey to various parts of the country following the War of Northern Aggression. Its parts were even shipped to Stanton Island packed in the official handwritten records of the state of North Carolina. The museum was able to track most of its journey through a well-defined paper trail.

Supper time! BTW, if any of you are ever in Hatteras do not miss
the opportunity to dine at the Sandbar and Grille. Absolutely awesome!

The gang in the hot tub

Here is our resident mermaid, Anais

Here's John Mark at the beach

We're getting small

Well, we've been here for two days now and we are "getting small." This is a good friends way of describing the realization, especially as we gaze out at the vastness of the ocean, that it's not all about us. It usually takes a couple of days and we're starting to feel it. Although the wind is cool and the water is freezing, we've been able to enjoy several hours playing on the beach each day. Avon suffered a very strong storm the day before we arrived and we found some of the effects washed up on shore; a small dolphin, a small sand shark and about a mile of commercial fishing line. Our house is in the middle with the turret, which is where I'm sitting now. The kids have been having a blast kayaking on the lake.

Vacation: The Journey Begins

Well, we've finally made it to the beach. After a long journey from our home in Pewee Valley, Ky we've arrived at long last. Our travels began early Saturday morning after about four hours of sleep. Dad said we had to leave the house at 3 and well, me being a teen, you can probably imagine what I was doing for most of the trip. I slept, of course. Anyway, nothing truly exciting occurred until we reached West Virginia. We looked ouside and snow was pouring out of the sky, it was 29 degrees. As it captured little of my immediate attention, I decided to return to slumberland, only to awaken a bit later to the sound of my brothers' giggles as they found more active ways to pass the time. (How they have that much energy with so little sleep, I'll never know, although mom tells me that I too had such energy when I was their age.) Now Unable to get a decent nap I extracted my new computer and began a video diary of our trip. My brothers, sitting behind me, had other ideas of what should be done to pass the time (Did you know that in the word brother, if you simply eliminate the first 'r' you get the word bother? Just a thought...) So, in oder to keep them from "brothering" anybody else I let them have some fun. If I can I'll upload the video so those of you who want to see my little bothers in their natural form, you can (Viewer discretion is advised ;p just kidding). We finally reached our destination in Avon, North Carolina at 6:00 and have basically vegged since. We're about a 3 minute walk from the beach and have already been shell collecting once, though we will most likely be out there a lot, it's cold here however. Anyway, I'll be uploading pics and keeping you posted on happenings here.
Thanx for reading