Outer Banks, NC - Part 1

These pictures were all taken during our recent trip to Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We went down for a 3-day weekend at the end of January, beginning of February. It was cold, but so relaxing, and even though a lot of the island's stores and restaurants were closed, it was really fun, too. We discovered something weird on the beach that turned out to be a shark skull. You never really see shark skeletons, only the jaws and teeth, because the rest of their skeletal structure is made of cartilage and deteriorates rapidly and completely once they die. This skull hadn't had time to do that yet, so we got to see something pretty unusual. (Of course, we didn't keep it....it smelled to high Heavens!)

This is a close-up of one of the seagulls that kept cart-wheeling past our balcony...

Bodie Island Lighthouse, on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The original lighthouse was built in 1848, then was lost to the sea. The second lighthouse was built shortly thereafter and destroyed during the Civil War. This is the third lighthouse and construction began on it in 1871. The light can be seen for 18 nautical miles. We couldn't climb it, but I was able to get a wonderful picture....

Ocean Lace...I love the way the seafoam looks like lace on the shore...

Some of the small shells we found scattered along the shore...

The view from our balcony...isn't that beautiful? It was so peaceful falling asleep to the sound of the ocean waves rolling in...