Pike's Awesome Journey Across America

 Yay, Today we get to play! Steve doesn't see a leak & the batteries are holding, at least for now. Our first jaunt was to the Hatteras Lighthouse. Very interesting story about this lighthouse. When we visited the Co-Lightkeepers house, we learned that in 1803 the first lighthouse was built. Where it is now,  in the ocean! They built the 2nd lighthouse in 1870. It was built 1500 feet from the water. By 1999 it was 120 feet from the water. They literally moved this lighthouse!! They shored it up & removed the brick base. They made rails & transported it. Then they kept it shored up & built a new brick base. This is one of the tallest lighthouses I've ever seen! They moved it about 3,000. ft. The Lighthouse weighed 4830 Tons. They also moved the co-lightkeepers house & the Principal light Keepers house below. The co-lightkeepers house was shared by 2 families. It is now a museum called "The Museum of the Sea"   Lighthouses were very important here. T...

 We got up at 4 am to make it to the ferry terminal almost 2 hours away. We saw a very pretty sunrise, which we never see. The ferry began it's 2 1/4 hrs journey to Ocracoke Island. It was cold & windy so we stayed in the car. Steve slept & I enjoyed the ride. The Ocracoke Lighthouse The Lighthouse Keepers Home View of the harbor. The ferry terminal A couple of memorials to soldiers I wanted to visit the Workingman's museum which I think was about the Fishermen. They changed their days. We walked up quite a ways to Alberto's Taco Stand for lunch & of course bought fudge at the candy shop. (You have to buy resort fudge!) On the ferry over to Hatteras/Outer Banks Last evening after picking up my antibiotic, we got to our campsite. The little water leak Steve had tried to seal last week in our tank, became bigger, wetter, faster. Steve tried to seal it. No luck!! We just had gotten our tank filled because there is no water at the CG. I was checking the battery leve...

 Our last couple of days have been traveling up the coasts of North & South Carolina. We tried to stop at Georgetown SC but the parking was crazy. There was no parallel parking, even in the residential areas.  We went to Pauley's Island which is an old coastal town. The Old Town Hall Next up was Murrell's Inlet for a short wal We stopped for a picnic lunch at a city park. It was by a small pond with water fountains & a bridge across the pond. I am describing it because I can't find the picture. We got to Myrtle Beach & decided to stop for the night. It takes so long driving through these little coastal towns. Especially all the tourist traps!! They are very pretty though! Luckily we got a space at the state park campground. We took a walk down to the beach, & no sooner did we get in the trailer & a thunderstorm hit. It went on for an hour or more. Myrtle Beach Wednesday we continued our travels Northeast. We saw many more coastal towns in NC. We stopped ...

  Charleston is known for its 400 churches & it's religious tolerance.  In the Spring of 1670, 150 English colonists, indentured servants and slaves sailed into the Charleston (Charlestown) harbor on the ship "Albemarle. T he travelers landed on a promising location they christened Albemarle Point in April 1670. The Proprietors soon flattered their king, Charles II, by insisting the settlement be named Charles Town in his honor.   They moved to a peninsula called Oyster Point by 1672, between 2 rivers.  Colonists found out early that they needed to protect the Carolina settlement from attack.  Enemies of the colony included the French, the Spanish, hostile Indian tribes and pirates.  A wall constructed out of local materials (mainly brick, palmetto logs and tabby) emerged in the late 1690s. This was the only walled city in the US. Most of the walls were destroyed when they didn't need it but sections like this piece are being discovered. By 1718, the co...