I specifically asked about an instructor. Twice. Then we met the guys who delivered the boards to the Sound side of the island. I asked about instruction. They told us: when you fall off, just stand up, it's only waist deep; and start by lying on your stomach and use your hand to balance the board while you stand up. That was it for instructions. It was trial and error figuring out where the center of gravity on the board is, and that it was better to be barefoot than in flip-flops.
Cassie was pretty good at it!
I tried it but ended up doing sit-down paddle boarding (after falling in a couple of times). Everyone assured us that it is SO EASY and that we'd LOVE it. Well, it's not so easy, and I didn't love it. It also wasn't terrible. Mostly I think that paddling around the sound is just not that pretty. The water is very shallow, and it's murky, and there is tons of sea grass floating on top, and there's not much to look at. Had we not experienced kayaking in Alaska before paddle boarding in North Carolina, it may have been more fun, but there really is no comparison. Also, we saw some jellyfish, and nobody told us they'd be there, or if they are the stinging kind of jellyfish. So, ew.
After our paddling adventure and a shower, we made our way down the coast to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Did you know they MOVED it? In 1999, the lighthouse was moved a half mile up the beach. Fascinating! Watch it on YouTube here.
Obligatory lighthouse selfie. :-)
Those granite stones sit in the original location of this lighthouse. The names of all the lighthouse keepers are engraved on the stones. You can't walk over there, though. And we did not pay to walk up the 9 flights of spiral stairs to the top of the lighthouse. Go to the Museum and watch the video instead.
Further south is the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. They promised PIRATE stuff, so we had to go. (No photos allowed of the artifacts, so this one is all you get to see.) Just after we arrived, there was a garbled announcement over the PA system about something starting in the film room in 3 minutes. Not sure what that was, so we went in and asked the lady what she had said, and she explained that an oceanographer was there to discuss his studies of ocean currents and whether or not some pile of ship rubble was actually Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. We were unsure, but it sounded interesting and science-y, so we stayed, and it was really cool. I can't explain it, of course, but these shipwrecks from 300 years ago bury themselves on the ocean floor until eventually they come to a layer of sediment that is too dense for the ship to burrow into, then a storm comes along and the ship is deposited on a beach, or uncovered enough in the water for a diver to find it. And yes, the wreckage in question is likely the QAR.
On the way back to our campground, Cassie and I were discussing signs, and what kind of sign I needed before I would KNOW where it is I'm supposed to live. Then we debated whether or not we wanted frozen yogurt, and pulled into a grocery store parking lot to pick up something for dinner, and there was a frozen yogurt coupon in the parking lot. $1 off eight ounces or more! It was A SIGN! We were supposed to get frozen yogurt! And as we walked toward the yogurt place, we found ANOTHER coupon! Both had clearly been run over by cars, but they were still good, and so was the yogurt.
As far as the sign telling me where I belong, I'm still looking for it. And a little voice in the back of my brain is saying "just go home."
Side note about today's adventures: I think I was in middle school when my family visited Cape Hatteras and there was a mechanical failure (as well as a mechanic's failure) which left us all stranded here for four days in pouring rain (my memory is foggy, perhaps another sibling can fill in the details). Anyway, when we arrived yesterday at the Cape Hatteras KOA, my Kia's "check engine" light came on. My initial response was "very funny, Daddy." I texted my sister so she could share in my amusement. Today in texting with Mikie, he asked if I had put the gas cap on tightly. Of course we're buying gas every day and when he asked I remembered that this had happened before (way back in Sitka). I tightened the gas cap and the light is now off. Asked Mikie to mail me a bill for his services (which is a joke, because I don't have a mailing address), and all is right with the world once again.
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Broken u-joint on the truck and Dad let someone else fix it and they broke it, rented a Chrysler car, explored all the island. I think this is where the picture of the 4 of us in the tree was taken? Remember some rain but not bunches, still have my kitty hawk model and a vague idea how to build a scott sled kite.
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