Monday morning, we woke up bright and early to head to the beach. Our beach house was about halfway between Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills and about a block off the beach. We walked down to the public access entrance and were laying on the beach by 8:30 am. Mac wasn’t in a sunbathing mood, so we headed back to the house after about an hour.
A local map and guide came with our rental packet, so we pulled it out to make a plan for the day. Because of where the house was, we opted to explore the Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills area on our first day. We decided to check out the Wright Brothers Memorial Park a few miles down the road. Since Mac is active duty military, we signed up for a free access pass to all national parks (cost is $80) and explored the park.
Be sure to stop by the Visitor’s Center. They have a good museum tracking the timeline for the Wright Brothers’ lives and work, and they also have a replica model of the first plane. From there, you can head outside and walk a path that traces the lengths of their first four flights. You can also hike up a hill to the official monument that recognizes the Wright Brothers’ achievements. I enjoyed the museum and property and think they’re a must see when in the Outer Banks.
After lunch at the South Beach Grille, we drove to the Bodie (pronounced “body”) Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1872 and is currently undergoing significant renovations. Once the renovations are done, you will be able to walk up the lighthouse. We sat through a park ranger presentation on the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and the ranger told us about a still visible shipwreck across the highway. Because the lighthouse was under renovation, there wasn’t much else to do. We popped over to Coquina Beach and stopped to look for the few exposed ship beams.
We were pretty much eaten alive by mosquitoes at the lighthouse, so we headed back towards the house. Mac spotted a putt-putt place called Jurassic Putt driving in Sunday, and he was quite eager to check it out.
After dinner, we headed back to the beach house to wrap up the first full day of honeymoon bliss.
