Tag: Lighthouse Page 5 of 7
After visiting the ponies, we headed into the Village of Ocracoke. Coming from Hatteras, the first thing you see when you get to Ocracoke is just road and dunes. Once the island widens out, you get through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and you reach the Village of Ocracoke. Of all the towns in the Outer Banks, Ocracoke has the most character. The small size of the island causes the village to be kind of tight with cars sharing the roads with golf carts, and in some cases, pedestrians and bikers too. There are quirky shops, boutique hotels, and interesting restaurants all without walking distance of each other.
Located in the heart of Ocracoke Village is the The Ocracoke Island Lighthouse, the second oldest operating lighthouse in the US. It is the smallest of the lighthouses of Cape Hatteras Lighthouses, standing at only 75 feet tall (NPS). Like Hatteras Lighthouse, it is an inland lighthouse, but unfortunately, The Ocracoke Lighthouse is not open for climbing. If you plan to check out the lighthouse, be aware there are only 2 or 3 parking spaces nearby. If possible, I would recommend walking or biking to the lighthouse.
Located in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, a short drive from the Village of Ocracoke is the Ocracoke Campground, where we camped for two nights. One nice thing about this campground is that they have a generator-free loop, meaning you won’t be hearing air conditioning all night long. It seemed like when we were there, most people chose that loop, so we traded generator noise for people noise. We chose a dune-side site so we were able to walk over the dunes right onto the beach which was really nice. One thing that was tough about all of these National Seashore campgrounds is that there was no tree cover and our second day at Ocracoke was rough because it was 92 degrees at ten in the morning and we had to pack everything up. The heat was really starting to take it out of me. I don’t know that I would tent camp on the beach in the summer again. Luckily, we had an hour ferry ride back to Hatteras to cool down and relax.
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We woke up early our first day at Frisco and headed to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to get there before the crowds and the heat. We arrived and got our ticket to climb the 256 steps to the top. My view fromthe top is pictured below.
Later that evening, we came back for a night sky ranger talk on the beach. We used our experience shooting the night sky the night before and put it to use with the famous lighthouse as the foreground.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has an interesting history. The original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1803 but was too short to warn passing ships of the nearby Diamond Shoals. In the 1850s, the lighthouse was added onto, making it 150 feet tall. But, by the 1860s, the lighthouse was in dire need of repairs so the current lighthouse was constructed and was finally lit in 1870. In 1935, the lighthouse was decommissioned due to beach erosion and replaced with a skeletal steel tower. The lighthouse was then transferred to the National Park Service and in 1999 the lighthouse was moved inland to its current location to protect it from ongoing beach erosion (NPS).
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I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I LOVE planning trips. Its possible that I enjoy the planning as much as I enjoy the trip itself. As we are getting closer to our summer road trip, I am really buckling down on the planning. Furkot has been very helpful in planning this trip and where to stop along the way.
Here’s our plan: 2 nights in Williamburg, Virginia; 2 nights in Frisco, North Carolina; 2 Night in Ocracoke, North Carolina; 1 night in Nags Head North Carolina; and 1 night in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.
One thing that is tough about planning this kind of trip is that there are not a lot of resources out there for camping road trips. A lot of the recipes I’ve found online are campfire recipes, which are fun, but when you’re not camping to relax around the campsite all day, you don’t have time for that kind of cooking. I’m having a hard time finding quick and simple recipes that we won’t get sick of on a 10 day trip.
The photo is from my last visit to the Outer Banks, back in 2009. That was before my DSRL days. This photo was taken with my old Samsung point and shoot. I did pull it into Lightroom to do some basic edits. I think it turned out OK for a mid-day shot with a low level camera.
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This past weekend, we ventured out to our first camping trip of the season. We’ve been wanting to check out the Jack Pine campground at Ludington State Park since we discovered it on our first visit to the park several years ago. What really intrigued us about this campground is that it is a hike-in campground a mile from the Big Sable Point Lighthouse. We were really looking forward to this because it would allow us to stay at the lighthouse later and photograph it during blue hour without worrying about our car getting locked in the day use area parking lot. The light didn’t end up being as phenomenal as we were hoping, but it was nice to spend sunset on Lake Michigan. We absolutely loved our campsite (site F). It was secluded and quiet but also close to the road to the lighthouse. One night wasn’t enough. We will have to make plans to stay at this campground again sometime soon!
If any of you are heading to the Jack Pine campground, one tip to know is that the path to the campground is actually a gravel road used to service the lighthouse. They say everything must be backpacked or biked in, but we brought a foldable wagon and it worked great and held more than a backpack would. While Chris’ arm got tired pulling it, I have to think it was easier than carrying everything on his back.
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Over Labor Day Weekend I had the chance to visit Manistee. This was an important visit because it checks the final box on my Lake Michigan beach town checklist. I have been to St. Joseph, Muskegon, Ludington, Traverse City, but I had yet to visit Manistee. There is a lot to see and do in Manistee and we enjoyed exploring the 1.5 mile riverwalk and crossed another State Park off our list at Orchard Beach. Of course, we ended the day watching the sunset at Fifth Avenue Beach. Afterwards, we stopped at House of Flavors for a yummy ice cream treat!
About the Photo:
The Manistee Lighthouse is a popular evening fishing spot so I really wanted to capture the action with my shot. I knew I wanted all of the lighthouse in focus so I went with a small aperture and long exposure. The long exposure caused the ghost effect in a few areas, but I think it shows the story of the fishermen on the pier. I did basic color adjustments in Lightroom but went into Photoshop to create the beam of light.
Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 55-200 kit lens on a tripod
Date Taken:
September 4, 2016
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