Bodie Island Lighthouse - North Carolina
This picture perfect lighthouse sits on the Outer Banks in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore about 15 miles south of the Wright Brothers Memorial. It was after visiting that memorial in April 2014 that Sarah and I continued the journey south to visit the lighthouse and enjoy a picnic on the beach.
The lighthouse really is the stereotypical picture of such a structure and looks absolutely stunning in the bright spring sunshine. Built in 1872 it stands 48m (156 feet) tall. Members of the public can climb the lighthouse but not until May, we were a couple of weeks too early.
There are a number of buildings in the vicinity including the fully restored double keepers quarters which now holds a gift shop selling all things lighthouse related.
The front elevation shows an almost perfect mirror image on each side, the keepers here must have been particularly impressed with the accommodation provided and disappointed to leave in 1940 when the light was fully automated.
There is a nice short boardwalk that reaches out into a sea water lake that rests in the dunes between the lighthouse and the North Atlantic Ocean. We saw huge shoals of small fish swimming in the shallow water which must be an ideal breeding ground away from ocean going predators
The site looks much more vulnerable from out on the boardwalk, standing tall in the open expanse must leave it at the mercy of those tropical storms that creep up the east coast from Florida
This is a beautifully restored lighthouse which is certainly worth tagging on to a visit to the Wright Brothers Memorial, in fact I would suggest it is a 'must do' if you are on the Outer Banks.
When leaving the lighthouse as the side road returns to highway 12 instead of turning left onto the highway to continue to our next destination we went straight across into the public car park there which provides access to the beautiful white sand beach.
We were greeted to a fly by from a small wing of Pelicans that are ever present on the east coast once you get to the warmer states, we also got to see an eagle grabbing his lunch from the ocean but at too great a distance to obtain a decent photo.
Once we had devoured our subway picnic the dunes make for nice exploratory wander for me whilst Sarah lays out in the midday sun (mad dogs and Englishmen)
The combination of the walk to the Wright Brother Memorial, walking around the lighthouse and wandering the beach left us both looking like east coast lobsters after cooking, but we're English and at the 'seaside' so that was a foregone conclusion.