Blackbeard and Pedro

Little did we know that we’ve been following Blackbeard the Pirate for the last few days.  While we were on the Outer Banks, a park ranger at Cape Hatteras told us about a museum exhibit about Blackbeard in Beaufort, South Carolina.  Since Beaufort was on our path, we decided to visit the North Carolina Maritime Museum to learn a thing or two about this infamous individual.

We found out that in 1996, a commercial salvage company reported the location of an unidentified shipwreck just outside Beaufort Inlet to North Carolina archeologists.  Extensive on-site investigations, excavations and historical research have led researchers to believe that the wreck is the long-lost flagship of Blackbeard the Pirate.



Queen Anne's Revenge Model

Blackbeard’s ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, ran aground in 1718.  After the loss of his ship, Blackbeard made his way to Bath, where he received the king’s pardon.  Blackbeard, however, soon returned to his pirate ways, but was tracked down and killed at Ocracoke Inlet.  We were just there yesterday.


Blackbeard at the Museum



Is That Tim on a Pirate Ship?

While the project to recover and conserve artifacts of the Queen Anne’s Revenge is ongoing, the current exhibit at the museum provides insight into what has been found to date.  Once more, archeology has provided a fascinating story.

We made our way inland from the coast on our way to Congaree National Park, which we plan to visit tomorrow.  As we neared the border between North and South Carolina, I couldn’t resist a stop at South of the Border.  For those of you who are unaware of this roadside attraction, South of the Border is the ultimate kitschy rest stop that has drawn tourists since 1950.  Its mascot is Pedro, an extravagantly stereotypical Mexican bandido.  Tim got one look and wisely decided to drive on.

Sombrero Tower

Pedro Welcomed Us

It Never Ends

On the Ferry

We spent most of the day on the water.  The only way to leave the southern part of the Outer Banks is by sea (or plane, if you have one).  So, we took a ferry from the village of Hatteras to the island of Ocracoke, and then another ferry from the other end of Ocracoke to Cedar Island.  It took the whole day.



Tiny Houses of Hatteras



Ready to Board

Kitty was not too fond of the first ferry ride.  It was a small ferry, and the engine made a lot of noise.  This ride was only forty minutes long, and she spent most of it in Tim’s lap.  Can you believe that this ride was free?  I’m surprised that any mode of transportation is free.



I Feel Much Safer Here

 

I Can Look Out for Birds

 

Did You See What I Saw?

We had time to spare when we arrived in Ocracoke, so we visited the ponies that once ran wild on the island, and then the Ocracoke Lighthouse.  The entire island, except the village of Ocracoke, is a part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  The village itself is a quaint beachfront community that is mostly unspoiled by new development.  We found a great restaurant where we picked up fresh fish sandwiches for our next ferry ride.



Ocracoke Ponies



Ocracoke Lighthouse

The trip from Ocracoke to Cedar Island took two and one-quarter hours and was not free. The toll was $30, since we’re longer than twenty feet.  Because of the length of the ride, the ferry was much larger, and quieter, and Kitty settled in for a nap during most of the trip.  So did Tim and I.

Lighthouses on the Sands

It was another windy day on the Outer Banks.  It was sunny, but very windy nonetheless.  We started with a visit to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, known primarily as the location of the “Lost Colony.”  It was here on Roanoke Island that Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored England’s first attempts at a permanent settlement in North America.

Between 1584 and 1587, England made three voyages of exploration to the island.  The goal of the voyage of 1587 was to establish a colony, and women and children were among the settlers.  Governor John White’s daughter gave birth here to the first English child born in the New World.  Relationships with the Algonquian Indians were tenuous from previous voyages, and supplies were in short supply.  Governor White returned to England for relief, but could not return for three years.  When he did return, he found no sign of the colonists, only the word “Croatoan” carved into a post.  The fate of the colonists has never been solved. The earthen fort has been reconstructed at Fort Raleigh, and the outdoor drama The Lost Colony is performed here each summer. 



Reconstructed Earthen Fort at Fort Raleigh

After a great seafood lunch, we made our way to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the first seashore to acquire such designation.  It was way too cold and windy to attempt a walk along the beach, but we enjoyed the scenic drive in the comfort of the RV.  We witnessed quite a bit of destruction that remains from Hurricane Irene, particularly in some of the smaller towns farther south.  The park seems to have recovered well, although fences are still down in places.

Shifting Sands



Bridge Over Oregon Inlet

Our favorite part of the day was visiting two of the lighthouses on the seashore, first Bodie Island and then Cape Hatteras.  Bodie Island Lighthouse was completed in 1872 and is 150 feet high.  The National Park Service began a major restoration project here in 2010, but work has stopped due to lack of funds.  It’s a beautiful lighthouse.



Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

  

Bodie Island Lighthouse



  

 

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, also known as America’s Lighthouse, is one of the best-known in the country.  Built in 1870, it is the tallest lighthouse in the country and is fully functional today.  This distinctive, black and white spiral-striped landmark was actually moved from its original location in 1999 to save it from the encroaching Atlantic Ocean.  I followed the move at the time and still find it incredible that a structure like this could be successfully relocated.  What a beautiful sight.



This One Is More My Size



This Is a Really Big Chair







They Took To the Air

One of our thoughts in leaving Virginia for the Outer Banks of North Carolina was that we would be heading into somewhat warmer weather.  Wrong!!  Although it was nice when we arrived late yesterday afternoon, today was cold!  The temperature wasn’t so bad, maybe in the 50s, but the wind was fierce.  And we thought the wind in Estes Park was bad.

It was mostly because of the wind that the Wright brothers came to the Outer Banks.  When Orville and Wilbur Wright arrived in 1900, Kill Devil Hills was considered to be the sixth windiest city in the United States.  We could attest to that fact today when we visited Wright Brothers National Memorial.  It was here that the brothers learned to fly, and the stretch of beach near Kill Devil Hills provided not only strong winds, but also high dunes, soft landings and isolation.



Wright Brothers National Memorial

After solving three critical problems – lift, thrust and control – the Wright brothers were ready to fly.  On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright successfully took to the air.  The brothers flew three more times that day, with the last flight reaching 852 feet in 59 seconds.  Man had achieved powered flight.  The national monument tells the story of the Wright brothers, and it was fun for a change to visit a park celebrating technology, not battles.


Reproduction of the Original 1903 Wright Flyer



Reproduction of the Original 1902 Wright Glider



Reconstructed 1903 Hangar and Quarters/Workshop



December 17, 1903 Sculpture by Stephen H. Smith Recreating the Event

Moravians and Decorative Arts

After a jaunt south through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, we are making our way north again through the Piedmont area of North Carolina and then into Virginia.  It’s definitely a zigzag type of route, but it has enabled us to drive the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway, spend Thanksgiving in South Carolina, and visit the mountains of North Carolina before the weather turned too cold or snowy to make RV travel in those areas problematic. 

We spent the day at Old Salem Museum and Gardens in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  The town of Salem was founded in 1766 by the Moravians, a Protestant sect that began in what is now the Czech Republic.  Many of the buildings in the original town have been restored or reconstructed, and costumed interpreters recreate the life in the community.



Home Moravian Chruch and Salem College on the Square



Single Brothers' House, the Home for Unmarried Men



Interesting Architecture



St. Philips Church, the Oldest Standing African American Church in North Carolina



Reconstructed Log Church, the First Church in Salem
Built Specially for an African American Congregation

At least twenty buildings are open to the public, and many showcase the various trades for which Salem was known.  Many of the trades continue to be practiced, and we watched the gunsmith and joiner at work.  Naturally, my favorite was the baker, and we sampled sugar cake fresh out of the oven.  I found the ginger cookies that I still remember from my first visit to Old Salem at least thirty years ago.  They are paper-thin and so good, and we bought several tins to take with us.

Baked Goods Are Still Made in the Wood-Fired Oven



Various Spices, Roots, Barks and Seeds Flavored the Meals at Salem Tavern

Although the town was interesting to walk through and the tours in the various buildings well done, our favorite part of the day was our visit to the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), which is one of the museums at Old Salem.  The focus of MESDA is the preservation, documentation, exhibition and interpretation of Southern decorative arts from the 1670s through the early nineteenth century.

We had an amazing guide who led us through the twelve gallery rooms that contain furniture, paintings, pottery, silver and other decorative arts from the three regions of the early South – the Chesapeake, the Low Country and the Backcountry.  The rooms are not decorated as period rooms, although some do contain architectural elements removed from historic houses.  Instead, each room interprets a theme through the decorative arts on display.  MESDA is a great museum and one I’d highly recommend.



Many of the Historic Buildings in Old Salem Are Privately Owned



Various Periods Are Represented in the Buildings in Old Salem

Mountain Memories

We decided to give the Blue Ridge Parkway another chance today, even though the weather reports were a bit iffy.  We only planned to drive on the parkway for about twenty-five miles roundtrip from Blowing Rock, North Carolina, so that Tim could see the Linn Cove Viaduct.  This seemed to be doable.

It was a beautiful day to make the drive from Asheville to Blowing Rock.  After the last few days of rain, the sun was a welcome sight.  We started to see snow on the sides of the road as we climbed above 3,000 feet, left over from yesterday’s snow showers.  The roads, however, were clear.

We entered the Blue Ridge Parkway at Blowing Rock, and immediately encountered a winter wonderland.  I’d never seen the parkway in the snow, so this was a new experience for me.  The road was a bit icy in places, as we climbed from 3,600 to 4,315 feet.  As we passed milepost 304, we caught a glimpse of the Linn Cove Viaduct in the distance.  Because there was no traffic on the parkway, Tim did something that he never does – he actually stopped on the road so we could take photos.



Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Linn Cove Viaduct is a design and engineering landmark and the last piece of the Blue Ridge Parkway to be completed.  Although parkway construction began in 1935, the area around Grandfather Mountain was never finished.  How could a highway be built without destroying the mountain?  It took almost half-a-century to figure out a way.  The viaduct, completed in 1983, was designed to protect the beauty of the mountain and is adapted to the existing contours so that it actually appears to be a part of the mountain.  The viaduct has become one of the most recognized segments of the parkway.


Linn Cove Viaduct



Linn Cove Viaduct, A Little Closer



Linn Cove Viaduct, Even Closer



On the Linn Cove Viaduct

It started to snow as we crossed the Linn Cove Viaduct, so we headed back towards Blowing Rock as planned.  We’ve now experienced rain, snow and fog on the parkway.  I keep remembering the sign as you enter the parkway that advises one to avoid the road in those three conditions.  At least we made it, and it definitely was worth the trip.



Is That Snow?

 

Neither Rain, Nor Fog, Nor Snow Will Keep Us from the Parkway

Boone, North Carolina, is just eight miles from Blowing Rock, and Tim wanted to see the area where I spend parts of every summer while growing up.  My grandparents lived in Boone, and I loved to come with my parents to visit them.  My grandparents were pioneers of sorts and had opened the first motel in Boone in the late 1940s.  I’m not sure they would recognize the town today.  It’s no longer a sleepy tourist town, but it has lost much of its character.  I can’t say I like what the town has become.

In 1958, my grandfather donated his family’s log cabin to the Southern Appalachian Historical Association, and I took Tim to visit the cabin.  The cabin was built around 1775 and is considered to be the oldest log cabin in Watauga County and one of the oldest cabins in North Carolina.  The cabin was built by Revolutionary War officer James Tatum, and five generations of Tatums lived in it.  The cabin was originally located near Todd, North Carolina, and my grandfather dismantled it, numbering each log, and reassembled it in Boone.



The Tatum Cabin

As a child, I remember going to the cabin with my grandfather, and I loved to listen to him explaining its history to the visitors who came by.  The cabin was one of my favorite places.


Back at the Cabin Again

Boone has had a big influence on me.  It’s where I developed my love for the mountains, and is likely where I first began to appreciate and love historic buildings.  I’m glad that I could share a piece of my past with Tim.

Waiting Out the Rain, and Snow

The weather turned nasty yesterday, with nonstop downpours.  Flash flood warnings were in effect for neighboring communities, but luckily we didn’t have to worry about that.  We decided to stay in Asheville since travel would be a nightmare.

We only ventured out to attend to a few errands, include grocery shopping, and discovered Greenlife Grocery in downtown Asheville.  This store is part of the Whole Foods Market chain and is a wonderful, natural foods grocery store.  Like all of the Whole Foods Markets we’ve visited, it has a café where you can enjoy the freshly prepared foods that you purchase in the store.  That was a perfect spot for lunch.  I love to look at their prepared foods, and we also took home dinner for the next few nights.  Yum!

The weather forecast for today was not much better.  Although the heavy rains were over, rain and snow showers were predicted.  We are on the edge of the rare November snowstorm that is affecting the South.  First a freak Halloween snowstorm, and now one in November.  What next? 

We want to venture farther into the mountains of North Carolina, but travel there was not advisable today, so we are staying in Asheville another night.  We did venture out and visited the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in nearby Flat Rock.  This property was the first unit of the National Park Service to honor an American poet.



Carl Sandburg Home

Connemara, as the house is known, was the home of Carl Sandburg and his wife Lilian from 1945 until his death in 1967.  The rooms look exactly as the Sandburg family had left them.  Endless shelves of books, piles of magazines, Mr. Sandburg’s guitar and photographs by Mrs. Sandburg’s brother Edward Steichen provide insight into the family.  Carl Sandburg published many poems and works of fiction and nonfiction during his years at Connemara, and he earned his second Pulitzer Prize while living here.

Connemara was also Lilian Sandburg’s farm, and here she raised her champion goats.  The National Park Service still maintains a small goat herd, and Tim decided to ask about the park’s goat management plan.  The ranger “sheepishly” admitted that they were still working on it.



Connemara



Christmas at the Biltmore House

Tim and I gave the Blue Ridge Parkway another chance today and drove part of the way from its terminus at Great Smoky Mountains National Park toward Asheville, North Carolina.  The weather mostly cooperated until we reached the one-mile high point, or 5,280 feet, and then the fog set in.  We had been looking forward to the 360° view of the Great Smokies from Waterrock Knob, but all we saw was a sea of fog.  Luckily, visibility wasn’t as bad as it was last week, and the skies cleared as we descended toward Balsam Gap.  It seems that we just weren’t meant to drive much of the parkway.



Beautiful Views from the Blue Ridge Parkway



And Then, the Fog Started to Roll In



The "View" Near Waterrock Knob



And Then the Skies Started to Clear

We arrived in Asheville and promptly made our way to the Biltmore House.  There are so many superlatives associated with the Biltmore House that it’s hard to know where to start.  It is the largest private house in the United States and contains 250 rooms.  Built in 1895, the Biltmore House was the home of George and Edith Vanderbilt and is still owned by Vanderbilt’s grandson, William A.V. Cecil.  December is a favorite time to visit because the house is decorated to the nines for Christmas.


Welcome to the Biltmore House

We couldn’t think about touring the house on an empty stomach, so we had lunch at the Stable Café in the nineteenth-century stables.  The food is surprisingly good, and I chose the Carolina barbeque, while Tim enjoyed a chicken pot pie.  Naturally, we had dessert, and the café features a sampler plate.  How perfect for us!


Barbeque and Pot Pie



A Dessert Sampler

Biltmore House is a bit overwhelming, both in size, architectural style and furnishings. Luckily, we saved our visit for today.  We were told that more than 10,000 visitors toured the house each day on Friday and Saturday.  Today, it was relatively quiet with only about 3,000 visitors.  The tour of the house is self-guided, and we were able to take our time or speed up as we liked.  It was not at all crowded, as it had been the last time I visited.



Biltmore House



Entrance Tower



View from the Balcony

The Christmas decorations are everywhere and are beautiful.  I think there is at least one Christmas tree in every room.  No tree, however, can compare with the one in the banquet hall.  It is absolutely enormous, not just in height, but also in diameter.  What is just as amazing is that the tree is replaced each month.  Christmas starts at the Biltmore in early November and lasts until January 1, so two trees are required.  I only wish that photography had been permitted in the house so I could have photographed that tree.


Even the Lion Was Decked Out for Christmas

I guess the Christmas season has officially begun for us.  It’s going to be fun touring houses that are decorated in holiday finery.  We have no idea at this point where we’ll be for Christmas, but we will enjoy the holiday throughout the month.


Kitty Wonders, "Am I Just a Pawn in Their Day to Day Lives?"