Sunday, January 31, 2021

First Look at North Carolina

Things were about to get oceany. Today we crossed the line into North Carolina. It's interesting a lot of signs in both places would talk about "the Carolinas" like they were cousins. "Best soup in the Carolinas" sort of thing. I wonder how much they have in common besides the name.


Another view from the back porch of the Airbnb.


Oak Island Lighthouse was completed in 1958. It was designed to not sway at all in a 100 mile an hour wind. It's 128 feet tall and built with reinforced concrete. Instead of spiral staircases like most lighthouses it has ladders inside which sounds super unpleasant to climb.


When its original light was in use it was the brightest in the United States.








Things got even more watery when we took a ferry across the Cape Fear River to Fort Fisher.




















There were some serious birds following us.







Wilmington, North Carolina was our new playground.



Cape Fear is a pretty spooky ass place name. Some Wikipedia history on its name:


"The name comes from the 1585 expedition of Sir Richard Grenville. Sailing to Roanoke Island, his ship became embayed behind the cape. Some of the crew were afraid they would wreck, giving rise to the name Cape Fear. It is the fifth-oldest surviving English place name in the U.S."



I got my slave related culture for the day.

























There were signs every so often on the road denoting plantations that were nearby. We headed after one that looked worth visiting called Orton Plantation. I think the road to it was closed, but we admired the countryside anyway.







Goodnight!

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