Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Outer Banks - Currituck Beach Lighthouse

After lunch, we left Manteo and drove to the Outer Banks and continued North to the town of Corolla.  We knew we had a lot of territory to cover and a limited amount of time.  We didn't actually see much of Corolla as we had two destinations in mind...the first, Currituck Beach Lighthouse and the second, Whalehead Club.

I  l-o-v-e  lighthouses and was disappointed that on my first trip to the Outer Banks we didn't make it to any lighthouses.  This time, I did my homework and was prepared with GPS, addresses and driving directions.


 First glimpses of Currituck Beach Lighthouse...



S-o-o-o-o beautiful...

The base is really huge (more on that later)...

My partner in crime wore Cowboy Boots - probably not a good thing when climbing steel stairs...

Close up of stairs...






Notice how thick the walls are...


 This is a view of our next stop...

View from the top...


If you've read this far, I hope you've enjoyed the photos.  Now, for a little information about the lighthouse.  I have climbed lighthouses all over the United States - at least most of the West Coast Lighthouses and Great Lakes Lighthouses.  Well, this one scared the crap (excuse my French) out of me.  At first I thought it was old age, but after doing some reading later, I realized this lighthouses is 162' tall (including the base)!!  For example, Tawas Point Lighthouse in Michigan (on Lake Huron) is a mere 67' tall. (So, no wonder the Currituck Lighthouse has such a huge base!)  When I got to the top, I had to sit on the step of the doorway where I took the last two pictures.  After a few moments, I stood up and started to walk around the top, but lost all my courage and retreated back into the tower.





to be continued...


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