Cape Hatteras National Seashore

We had to cross over two long bridges to get to the Outer Banks - this was the first one... ...and this was the 2nd one - the white stripe there on the horizon are sand dunes A friendly sign at the visitor center welcomes you to the Outer Banks We had to make a quick decision - which way to chose :) We entered the National Seashore Park on Cape Hatteras We've visited the Bodie Island Lighthouse : The current Bodie Island Lighthouse is the third that has stood in this vicinity of Bodie Island on the Outer Banks in North Carolina and ... Read Full Story

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization say 25 national parks are threatened by climate change. A report called "National Parks in Peril: The Threats of Climate Disruption" say the changes in landscapes and ecosystems are harming plants, trees and wildlife, but also threaten human activity in the parks and manmade structures. The factors include a loss of ice and snow, including melting glaciers; a loss of water, especially in the West; and higher seas and stronger coastal storms, which leads to flooding in coastal areas. The parks on the list are Acadia National Park, Maine; Assateague Island National Seashore, ... Read Full Story

We arrived today in a pretty fishing village in the Outer Banks , close to Nags Head, at the beautiful and HOT Atlantic Coast of North Carolina (more pictures will follow). The Outer Banks is a 200-mile (320-km) long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina , beginning in southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States . They cover approximately half the northern North Carolina coastline, separating the Currituck Sound , Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean . The Outer Banks is a major tourist destination and is known for its ... Read Full Story

Segway trips to see wild horses and moonlight tours of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse are some of the things you can do this summer on the North Carolina coast. In Currituck, try offroad Segway tours through rugged terrain. One tour takes you to a private reserve for Spanish mustangs; the other rolls through beaches and dunes. Tours last four hours and are by appointment; reservations suggested. Details at http://www.outerbankstours.com/segs-onthebeach. At the Corolla Wild Horse Museum, kids can pet live mustangs on Wednesdays, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they can paint a cutout of a horse and either take it home or leave it on ... Read Full Story

Photo Courtesy of Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation The first lighthouse on Cape Canaveral was built on the Cape in 1948. It was made of brick, stood 60 feet tall and held 15 lamps each with a 21-inch reflector. Sailors criticized the lighthouse saying it wasn’t bright enough and sat too low to effectively warn of the Cape’s reefs. The government then contracted a new lighthouse to be built but the civil war soon put a stop to construction. Fearing Yankee raids, the lamps themselves were removed and buried in the lighthouse keeper’s orange groves for safekeeping. The newly constructed lighthouse was finished in 1868 ... Read Full Story