TUESDAY 9..24.19 NORTH CAROLINA (OUTER BANKS)

Today we took in the Wright Brothers Memorial.

The last time we were here we couldn't go into the pavilion to see the display as it was under construction with a complete remodel. It was well worth the wait. 

In one wing was a life size replica of the Wright Brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer.

The pavilion now has many interactive displays. I was also able to get our National Parks and Monuments Passport stamped today which I couldn't do last time.

We got back in the truck and drove up to the outside display.

Here is where we saw another life size replica of the Wright Flyer, this time made of stainless steel, as its taking off for its first successful flight.  

Orville Wright is laying on the lower wing controlling the plane.

Can you imagine what he must have been feeling those first moments when he felt the lift?

Thrill?  Fear?  Exhilaration?  Anticipation?  Joy?  Confidence?  I can't even imagine.

This is a bronze statue of Wilbur running along side with his arm reaching out until the plane is now out of reach.

A little more than 80 back is photographer, John Daniels who is ready to squeeze the bulb to activate the shutter on the camera.  

The last sculpture is of friends cheering them on.

Every piece is done to perfection.  The detail is incredible.

At the base of the memorial above is a sculpture of the Wright Brothers.  In October, some idiot decided to take the bust of Wilbur Wright and in the process damaged the granite base when it was toppled over.  I hope they catch them!

I'm looking at the two pictures above and taking in the difference in the sky.  These pictures were taken about a half hour apart.

A mural on the side of the visitors center.

The plan WAS to go down to Hatteras but neither one of us felt like driving that far. So I won't get the lighthouse pictures after all but I took them last year when we were here.

We couldn't have gone over to Ocracoke on the ferry anyway because so many workers are going over there to help after Hurricane Dorian hit. The island still doesn't have power! Unless you have business there they are asking to keep the ferry open for workers and supplies.

After seeing Wright's Memorial we stopped in at Tuesday Morning as that is where we find good toys for Boss. Besides dog toys we also found a new hamburger press to replace my broken one.  Well, we did find some toys for Boss that we know he can't destroy for Christmas but we also bought him a toy to play with today.  This is the toy we thought would be ok for these jaws about a half hour after we gave it to him.

Boss was happy just to be with us. Didn't matter that he had to sit in the truck he was just happy to be in the backseat. We had good laughs at his expense today. As we were going down the road he was hanging his head out and in the opposite direction a firetruck was coming with siren blaring. Boss started to howl. Boss is terrible at howling. He just doesn't know how to do it. When I first heard this strange noise I was thinking a fender or something had fallen off the truck and we were dragging it. Walt busted out laughing and I looked in the passenger side mirror and see Boss in mid-howl and then watched him choke. He just doesn't get it.

We took him to the beach this afternoon. He's afraid of the water. He runs from waves and then chases them barking all the way. Its a vicious cycle.

Listening to the waves crashing is music to our ears. Growing up on the east coast we were at the ocean a lot both in our childhood years and in our adult years. We didn't realize how much we missed our Delaware beaches.

Walt walked down the beach to see if this fella was catching any fish.  No, but he's feeding something he said.

One last picture before we leave the beach and head home.

We have seen maybe a half dozen people here in the park since Sunday evening. This place has emptied out but I bet Friday evening it fills back up again when everyone returns to their rv's and park models.