A TRIP DOWN TO NORTH CAROLINA - PART 4 - WRIGHT BROTHERS MEMORIAL AND DUCK

 One last photo of the sunrise taken by family. This one I didn't share in my other post but I think you will enjoy it. I am not sure which one of our family photographers took it.

One day we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial, link here. 

I parked myself on a bench while family enjoyed looking around and I took photos of dogs. They occupied my time beautifully (I have been to this memorial many times over the years. We lived three hours away for quite a long time and we took all our visitors). Though I didn't do much while here this time, these beautiful pups kept me happy.

I had quite a few people chatting to me as I sat there. One person I met was a very nice lady who had her adorable four-legged friend with her, and he was very curious about me (not in these photos). She was concerned and tried to gently pull him away, but I assured her he was no bother at all and that I was enjoying him. True!

Showing a little relief she told me how happy she was that this was such a dog-friendly state. She was visiting from Pennsylvania and she had met many nice people who welcomed her pup. I was happy to hear that. We saw a lot of dogs on our travels, and there were many at the memorial.

Gregg later joined me and showed me this photo, a likeness of the Wright brothers...

but these were about all we took between the two of us. We knew a family album would be up online sometime, and I will be able to share more later.

Another place we visited, not on the same day as the memorial, was a town called Duck (maps below with names in white, corresponding to the area where these places are located). 

A timeline of its history can be found at this link. It is a charming little town and has a long boardwalk overlooking the Currituck Sound. After pointing the family in the right direction, Gregg and I found yet another place to enjoy, right next to Duck's Cottage Coffee and Books, which I remembered from our many visits previously. They have seats on the side of the building next to a small pond. It's a pleasant, fun little shop that also sells pastries, muffins, biscotti and others. Traditional coffee is served but you can also choose house lattes with names like Nutty Duck, Mucky Duck and Swan Other, with customer favorites of the Purple Martin, Ruddy Duck, Peep in a Cup and the CocoDuck. I only just found this out at their website and thought the names an absolute hoot.

We were spotted...

and dear sweetie was also, as our dueling photos show.

Below is the water tower which is a well known sight. Its original tower was built in 1963 and was demolished in 2020. That one was a 200,000-gallon steel water tower. A new, larger 400,000-gallon water tower, (160 feet high) was constructed in its place and began serving the community in June 2020.

And there you go, that's more information that I've learned about any other water tower ever, says I with a smile! I can highly recommend browsing around Duck if you are ever in the area.

The day is getting short, I have a few things to do around here, so I will finish my latest post. More coming!

Thanks for visiting and 

I hope your day is a great one.

A TRIP DOWN TO DOWN TO NORTH CAROLINA - PART 2

No Monday Morning recipe today as I have quite a few posts to share with you. I can honestly say we were on the go the whole time we were together, and didn’t make anything except for a very simple meal on Easter Sunday. 

Every day we gave them a few choices as to what they would like to do. We went to the National Air and Space Museum-Steven F. Udvar Hazy, where Gregg deposited me at the cafe for another sit-down. I drank a cup of coffee and Gregg joined me shortly afterwards. We waited for a while until our family had a good chance to walk around and joined us. For me it was fun seeing all the activity, people and families going back and forth. I will share the photos they took eventually.  

We gave them three days to relax and then traveled to North Carolina, staying with Gregg's sister and husband. It took us about 7 to 7-1/2 hours to get there. A good journey considering. It was so kind of them opening up their home to us all and thanks to them, we had a great time.Gregg's sister loves collecting shells and sees the beauty even in the broken ones. I agree as I thought those displayed in this vase were delightful. She has more upstairs, whole ones. She also gave me two conch shells a few years ago that are still treasures on our family room bookshelf.

I found this online. You can enlarge all photos for better detail.

One of the days we found ourselves at Bodie Island Lighthouse.

 Our niece with Uncle Gregg.

Here she is again.

I am including three maps showing the location of the lighthouse.

The current Bodie Island Lighthouse (Bodie is pronounced 'body') is the third that has stood in this vicinity of Bodie Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and was built in 1872.

It stands 156 feet (48 m) tall and is located in the Roanoke Sound side of a portion of peninsula that is the first part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse is just south of Nags Head, a few miles before Oregon Inlet.

It was renovated from August 2009 to March 2013, and was made climbable by the public. There are 219 steps that spiral to the top. 

The 170-feet structure is one of only a dozen remaining tall, brick tower lighthouses in the United States, and one of the few with an original first-order Fresnel lens to cast its light. 

You can read a lot more of its history at this website, which is where I got the above information.

On the itinerary? A sunrise! They got up at 0-dark-thirty. I again stayed at home as not only wasn't I able to walk too far at all but walking on the sand in the dark would have been an accident waiting to happen, so I was very happy to get a peck on the cheek from Gregg upon which I slide back under those nice, warm, cozy covers. His sister took them to the beach. I enjoyed the conversation later telling me all about it.

Our dear niece, photo taken by Gregg...

and another he took of the rest of the family watching the sun appear over the horizon.

With Uncle Gregg again.

Brother and sister who always enjoy each other’s company. They are looking forward to getting together with their other brother not too far down the road.

These photos were taken by various family members. Looks like they had a wonderful time.

That's all for Part 2 and more to follow.

Thanks for looking and I hope your day is a great one.

WHEN THE SUN…

 “When the sun of compassion arises,

darkness evaporates and the singing birds come 

   from nowhere.”  

~Amit Ray~

Amit Ray (born 12 August 1960) is an Indian author and "spiritual master". He is known for his teachings on meditation, yoga, peace and compassion. He is best known for his 114 chakra system, Om meditation, and integrated yoga and vipassana meditation techniques. He is author of several books on meditation and other spiritual topics. He was one of the pioneers in proposing compassionate artificial intelligence. 

More information can be found by clicking on his name underneath the poem.

(Photo was done in AI with a prompt from me, "give me a sunrise over water".  I downloaded the app onto my Ipad.  It is called AI Art Generator. )

THIS IS THE BEGINNING…

This is the beginning of a new day.  You have been given this day to use as you will.  You can waste it or use it for good.  What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.  When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever.  In its place is something that you have left behind.  Let it be something good.  

~Author Unknown ~

(Photo taken overlooking Monterey Bay from Cannery Row, California, in 2009.)