Clator's Photo
Galleries
Driving Europe
Pictures of our three
week tour of The Alps in 2002 are in a separate
gallery. Please excuse the crude formatting of the pages; 450 images
was a large number of JPEGs to process and the pictures are what counts
anyway, right?
My Favorite Outer Banks Shots (now
classics)
I was fortunate enough to see the Outer Banks of North
Carolina before today's gross over-development and commercialization spoiled the quaint
beaches and mystical costal lore. This pictorial
comes from different trips I took there in
the early '90s, preserving a visual archive of that unspoiled glory. Climb aboard your
bike with me and tour these memories of the Ghost Coast. Click on any image to download a
full-sized picture.
 Bald Head Island
Beginning at the southernmost point of North Carolina, we
visit the private Baldhead Island, home of "Old Baldy." Located on the Cape
Fear, it is the oldest lighthouse still standing in N.C. The inlet is now guided by a more
modern lighthouse on Oak Island, but "Old Baldy" still stands as a monument to
the past.
 Cape
Lookout
Moving north, Cape Lookout is even more remote, accessible
only by private charter. The Cape Lookout Lighthouse was the first built in the 1850s
using a new design, later used for the Currituck, Bodie Island and Cape Hatteras lights.
Lookout is still utilized by the U.S. Navy for navigational purposes. The white diamonds
directly face north and south.
 Ocracoke
Island
Ocracoke is an old fishing village on an island
only accessible by ferry. The light still shines in the evenings, guiding boats into
Ocracoke's harbor. Like Baldy, it is one of the older lighthouses in the country.
 Cape
Hatteras
Perhaps the most famous of the sentinels is the once-endangered Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. After a near brush with Hurricane Felix, its future
was at its most uncertain. A successful feat of engineering
successfully relocated the light 1/2 mile inland in 1999. This shot is
of its original home. Located in Buxton, the Cape Hatteras light stands the tallest of all the lighthouses in the
country. Also, note the base; after the Cape Lookout Lighthouse was successfully
constructed, different elaborate bases were constructed for each of the later models.
Hatteras' base is the largest and most elaborate.
Bodie Island
Guarding the shoals of Oregon Inlet, between the northern
shores and Hatteras Island, is Bodie Island Lighthouse (pronounced "body" not
"bodey"). Trails cut through the marshlands where a plethora of coastal wildlife
can be spotted.
Corolla
At the northernmost end of the Outer Banks, in the little town of Corolla (pronounced
"Car-RAWL-a"), is the Currituck Lighthouse. Notice how the Currituck Lighthouse
differs from the others. This particular beacon was never painted to distinguish it,
retaining its red-brick beauty. The lights at Lookout, Hatteras and Bodie all look like this underneath
their intricate paint schemes.
 Currituck
Caretaker's House
This bird's-eye-view of the Currituck Lighthouse caretaker's
house was taken from atop the light. From there, one can also see the Albemarle Sound, the
Atlantic Ocean, and, on a clear day, Virginia Beach to the north and developing
communities to the south.
Oregon Inlet
Some moments you are lucky to catch on film. This was one of them. Taken from the Hatteras
Island side, this picture shows the sun setting behind the Oregon Inlet Bridge.
Camp Don Lee
This is a mother turtle covering eggs she has just laid beside "Lake
Pugh" at Camp Don Lee, near Arapahoe, N.C.
Currituck County
Perhaps
Currituck County's most attractive feature is its wild Spanish mustangs, which roam freely
in the horse sanctuary. Here, a small herd grazes on the front lawn of a development.
 Where
the road goes no further
This
shot is poetic on so many levels, I'll let it inspire you for your own
interpretation. It sums up the whole experience for me.
|
