OBX

Next stop- OBX, or the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We are actually staying at a campground on the Inner Banks- you really have to learn the language everywhere you go! The campground is nice, with a lake in the middle and the campsites all around it. The only problem is there are a million horseflies! We have to be really careful every time we go in or out of the trailer or the car- it’s a hassle, and poor Jerry got bit a couple times!

We went to the Outer Banks to visit Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers flew a motorized plane for the first time. There is an excellent visitor center, which has this recreation of their plane (the original is in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum):

The visitor center has lots of information:

Outside there are different things to see, including the hill is where they launched their gliders, which were the precursor to the motorized plane.

At the top of the hill is a fantastic monument which says “In Commemoration of the Conquest of the Air by Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright Conceived by Genius Achieved by Dauntless Resolution and Unconquerable Faith”

Down on the flats you can see a reproduction of the launch rail used to launch the motorized plane, and a rock that commemorates where the plane first took off.

There are 4 rocks from this large one and the rail, each commemorating the distance of one of the first flights: The first flight took 12 seconds and went 120 feet; the second went 175 feet; the third went 200 feet. The fourth and final flight on December 17, 1903 went 59 minutes and 852 feet!

The fourth rock that indicates the length of the last flight is way out by the trees. We found Kitty Hawk to be very interesting, and recommend you visit if in the area!