Tag Archives: Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Take Me Back to August 27, 2012 – Part 1

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Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Today is another back spasms day.  What is even more frustrating is that the spasms are not coming from where the surgery was performed.  They are in an area of dead nerves that were diagnosed and unsuccessfully treated years earlier.

My guy called to see if I needed him to do anything for me.  I thought that was incredibly kind because he is buried with work.  I told him how I felt and he said he had sensed in my voice that I was unsettled today.  He said he hoped I would let go of the disappointments of the past few days because they are not necessarily an indicator of how the future will be.  The area of surgery is still healing and will not be totally healed for months.

One of my best ways of getting my mind off of being stressed is to look at photos from past travels and remember good memories from those trips.  I visited three of my most favorite North Carolina sites on August 27, 2012:  Cape Lookout, Fort Macon, and New Bern, NC.  These photos were from the first half of the day.

Trent River at Dawn - New Bern, NC

Trent River at Dawn – New Bern, NC

Trent River - New Bern, NC

Trent River – New Bern, NC

Back Sound - between Harkers Island and Cape Lookout, NC

Back Sound – between Harkers Island and Cape Lookout, NC

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Ocean side of Cape Lookout National Seashore

Ocean side of Cape Lookout National Seashore

Shackleford Banks and Horses - Cape Lookout National Seashore

Shackleford Banks and Horses – Cape Lookout National Seashore

Light(houses) and Beauty

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Four NC Lighthouses Built from the Same Plan

I love North Carolina’s four tall brick lighthouses. They are spaced about forty miles apart along the Outer Banks. From north to south, they are the Currituck Lighthouse, the Bodie Island Lighthouse, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Mariners called this stretch of the North Carolina coast the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” due to the number of shipwrecks that occurred along the Outer Banks.

The light beams from these tall lighthouses had a range of approximately twenty miles. The lighthouses were positioned along the coast so that ships would not be out of range of light very long in clear weather. Cape Hatteras is the most visited and most famous lighthouse, but my favorite is the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse and Sea Oats

These lighthouses were built between the late 1850s and the mid 1870s. They were not the first light stations to grace these islands. Earlier lighthouses failed since their light beams were too weak, their foundations were not strong, and the structures could not withstand powerful Atlantic storms.

Location of the first Cape Lookout Lighthouse

The current Cape Lookout Lighthouse is the second lighthouse on Cape Lookout. It replaced a lighthouse built in 1812. The first lighthouse was only 107 feet tall. The following facts are from the park newspaper at the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Year current lighthouse completed 1859
Year painted with daymark pattern 1873
Year automated 1950
Height above sea level 169 ft.
Height above ground level 163 ft.
Focal plane of the lantern above mean high water 150 ft.
Wall thickness at the base 9 ft.
Wall thickness at the top 1 ft. 7 in.
Base diameter 28 ft. 7 in.
Top diameter 13 ft. 3 in.
Number of steps to gallery 207
Number of stair landings 5
Number of windows 10
Number of doors 2

When this lighthouse was finished the U. S. Lighthouse Board knew they finally had a suitable plan for tall lighthouses.  The Civil War interrupted the construction schedule, resulting in more ship wrecks along the North Carolina coast.  Once the war finally ended, the government made construction of the remaining three lighthouses a priority.

You can drive to the Currituck, Bodie Island, and Cape Hatteras Lighthouses, but you have to take a boat to get to Cape Lookout.  I think that is why it has fewer visitors and is less famous.  You have to go out of your way to visit the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

Cape Lookout Lightkeepers’ Quarters and Lighthouse from the ferry

Once you arrive on Cape Lookout, you will find a wilderness island with few amenities, except the beauty of nature.

NC - Cape Lookout National Seashore - Square Crops

There are birds of varying colors and sizes. . .

Flashback from 2006 - Sea Shells at Cape Lookout National Seashore

. . . sea shells . . .

Flashback from 2006 - Cape Lookout Lighthouse

. . . an island forest . . .

Cape Lookout National Seashore on a late summer day

. . . and miles of unspoiled beaches.

Lighthouses appear often in church names in North Carolina.  The churches are the lighthouses, guiding us safely to our heavenly destination.  But like these tall brick Outer Banks lighthouses, churches are not perfect and wrecks still occur even when following the “light.”

I think that is the case with many religions when it comes to gay people.  Most churches don’t know what to do with us, so we are criticized, reviled, cast out, or beaten down until we walk away.

Looking across the dunes of Cape Lookout

I made a strange discovery some years ago. I felt closer to God on this island, out in nature, and in my home than I ever felt in a church. I can’t visit these islands often, but I can enjoy the beauty that surrounds where I live.

I feel rejuvenated each time I visit Cape Lookout. And while I am not anxious to leave, the journey from Cape Lookout back to Harkers Island and then to my home is beautiful.

Back Sound looking towards Shackleford Banks, between Cape Lookout and Harkers Island

May you find light and beauty on your journey.  And if you are really lucky or blessed, may you, too, find a tall brick lighthouse. :)

Solo Travel

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I traveled solo with work two to four times a year for twenty years.  I got accustomed to eating by myself.  I also got accustomed to not having to coördinate schedules with other people.  I did not have to adjust to solo travel when I divorced since that was how I traveled with work.

I loved the solo life the first few years after the divorce.  My brother could not understand me.  He had to have an adult to talk to.  He jumped into dating within a couple of months after his divorce.

Solo travel was not as enjoyable as time went on.  The trips I did earlier this year were great, but my prevalent thought was, ‘I wish I was sharing this with someone.”  Posting photos on the Internet gives me the chance to share after the fact, but that is not the same as sharing the experience.

One of my trips was to my son’s state.  The happiest times of my travels this year were the times with him, sharing the experience.

I am so accustomed to doing things on my own that I wonder how I will adjust to having a partner.  For example, on beach day trips, about 25% of the time I change my mind on which beach I will visit while en route.  Will that drive someone crazy?

I woke up last week planning to go to the beach.  The sky was overcast so I checked the weather maps.  I saw it was mostly clear north and west of me, away from the coast.

Winkler Bakery – Old Salem – Winston-Salem, NC

I left home thinking of stopping at Old Salem in Winston – Salem.  Ten minutes into the drive I decided I would rather go to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Mabry Mill – Blue Ridge Parkway – Virginia

I first thought of Mabry Mill in VA, but did not want to do a three-hour one way drive.   I decided to go to Hanging Rock State Park (HRSP).  As I approached the exit for the HRSP exit I decided instead to go to Mt. Jefferson State Park.  Thirty minutes later I decided to go to Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway instead.  That’s what I settled on, but ten minutes before I reached the exit for Stone Mountain State Park, I decided that was where I would go.  Those random changes would drive my ex-wife and son crazy.

I was at a retreat over the weekend.  Since my dogs were boarded and I had critter sitter arrangements for the cats I decided to do the beach trip I did not get to do last week.  I left the retreat center Sunday afternoon, not sure which beach I wanted to visit or where to stay.  While in route I decided to visit Cape Lookout along NC’s central coast.

Cape Lookout National Seashore – North Carolina

The two hotels I previously stayed at have been torn down.  I rarely travel overnight without hotel reservations, but I did not have time to check out lodging alternatives before leaving for the retreat.  About two hours before arriving at the coast I decided to stay in New Bern, about 35 miles inland, and not stay at the coast.  I found a hotel on the Trent River.  I traveled to the coast on Monday and visited two of my favorite sites – Cape Lookout and Fort Macon.

Tryon Palace – New Bern, NC

I also visited the Tryon Palace in New Bern late Monday afternoon.

Solo means I can be spontaneous.  I have been spontaneous for eleven of the fifty-seven years I have lived.  I love it, but I am at the point where I will gladly give it up to be with someone if they can’t handle that spontaneity.

“Coastal North Carolina Lighthouses and More” 6 Day Tour

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Here is the longer coastal tour.  Click on the photo to go to the flickr page with the description.

“Coastal North Carolina Lighthouses” 4 Day Tour

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Planning a vacation? Don’t know where to go? How about coastal North Carolina and its famous lighthouses.

This was posted to my Flickr.com account in 2009. It has been viewed over 2,800 times.  Click on the photo to go to the original posting and description on Flickr.