Category: North Carolina

Wisdom and Wildlife

© 2019 Snapping the Globe, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Beaches, sun, horses, lighthouses, churches…

There was much that I had discovered and enjoyed while visiting the Outer Banks and then I found a bit more!

While driving near the lighthouse, I noticed a sign for the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. I had some time to spare, so I decided to check it out.

The Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, located at Currituck Heritage Park, is dedicated to exploring coastal North Carolina’s wildlife, natural history and heritage. From the time you walk through the doors, you experience beautiful taxidermied specimens (including a large bear, perfect for a photo op) and dioramas showcasing the area’s history, species and residents that follow the “Life by Water’s Rhythm” theme. Emphasis is placed on the lifestyle and livelihood that is garnered from hunting, trapping, fishing and living along the coastal region.

Most interesting was a movie about the Sound, its resources and duck hunting history. A great deal was revealed about the Whalehead Club and how it’s existence as a lavish hunting retreat in the 1920’s shaped the area as a tourist destination.

My favorite part of the entire exhibit, however, was the display of handcrafted duck decoys. These beautifully crafted pieces made by James Best were captivating in their detail and craftsmanship.

After your indoor visit, make sure to take the outdoor nature trail where birds and nutria can be spotted in their natural habitat. Other activities include kayak tours, fishing, crabbing and archery and visits to the historic Whalehead Club.

If you need a little more than just a beach visit while in Corolla, make sure to check out this educational gem.

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education

The Real Ponies of OBX

© 2019 Snapping the Globe, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

There are approximately 60,000 free-roaming horses in the United States and Canada.

If you have the opportunity to visit one of the locations where they reside…you should take full advantage.

A couple of years ago, while visiting friends in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, I went in search of the many different horse statues that graced the barrier island.

These statues were placed throughout the different communities to commemorate the wild Spanish mustangs that roam the northern beaches of Corolla and Carova and are believed to be the descendants of shipwrecked horses from centuries prior.

This year, I went in search of the real horses.

Though you can access the northern beaches by four-wheel drive vehicles and search for these beautiful, four-legged creatures by yourself, there is always the risk of getting bogged down in the loose, deep sand. I wasn’t that brave.

For those who are not as adventurous (or do not own a four-wheel drive vehicle), there are safari-type tours that will drive you there (and back) in search of the horses and this is what I decided to do.

Leaving early in the morning, we headed out in the open-air, twelve-seat vehicle towards the end of the Ocean Trail to the North Beach Access Road where the pavement ends and the sand begins at the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge.

Not long after beginning our journey on the sandy expanse, we slowed our trek as we spotted a group of seven mustangs standing along the waterfront. Not to be intimidated by our presence, they stood in two groups, huddled against the morning breeze.

Advised that we would keep our distance, we strove to get the best photos from our viewpoint a short distance away while these creatures alternately stood together and sometimes took a rest on the sand.

After a short while, we said goodbye and moved onward in search of more, scanning the tall sand dunes that protected the beach homes that line the coast and driving inland on the many unpaved roads that harbor additional homes on the inlet.

There were many more horses to be spotted that day; two holding court atop a towering dune, a group of four grazing in a grassy field, the lone male trotting along down a sandy road, a group of three blocking our passage on Sandfiddler Road.

All in all, we spotted twenty-one mustangs during our excursion while also enjoying the amazing, beachfront homes, alluring landscapes and even a bit of history.

The Wash Woods Station provides an interesting change in the architecture along the beach and was built as a lifesaving station in 1917 to replace an outdated station (Deals Island Station #6) a few miles north. It was named for a small village located just north of the Virginia border and housed many guardsmen who kept lookout, especially during times of war when enemy ships cruised along the coast.

After the war, the need for personnel decreased until only a single caretaker remained. The station was decommissioned in late 1954 or early 1955. It served as a private vacation home for a time and then was restored in 1989. Today you can enjoy its construction from afar and occasionally even a horse on the property.

Eventually, we made our way back the way we had come, taking time to stop to enjoy the views from Penny Hill, the second largest dune in North Carolina.

Finally, our adventure was coming to a close and it was time for everyone to head back to their beach chairs and sun!

As I sat in my chair later that day, I turned my head and looked northward. I thought about the magnificent ponies that hold court not that far from where I was seated. Though they were not as colorful as the ones that I had sought out two years before, they were the true color of the landscape.

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Horse Tour Companies


Carolina Chapel

© 2019 Snapping the Globe, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

There are many historic sites in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Those located in Corolla give visitors a chance to incorporate a bit of antiquity with the sun-filled vacation.

As I was driving near the Currituck Lighthouse a couple of years ago, I spied the Corolla Chapel. A quaint little church, tucked behind the lighthouse, on the north end of the village, it sparked my interest. On that day, however, I had a carload full of teenaged boys who had already agreed to an interruption of their beach time for a visit to the lighthouse…I knew I would be pushing my luck to require them to prolong their absence from the sun and sand.

This time, there was only me.

I had just come from one of the horse-spotting tours and remembered this historic church. With time on my hands, I decided to investigate.

The Corolla Chapel is an interdenominational Christian fellowship that dates back to 1885. The original sanctuary was situated across the road from its current location and moved and expanded in 2002 to accommodate the expanding number of attendees.

The chapel still retains its original interior walls and contains many of its original items including its pews, pump organ, pulpit and pulpit chair.

As I walked around the small space, I marveled at the stained glass windows and the cross-shaped plan of the building. Though it was a weekday, I envisioned that the best way to really understand this small church was to attend one of the services that are held throughout the year and on special occasions.

Maybe I will have to come back again.

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Corolla Chapel

  • https://corollachapel.com/
  • Address: 1136 Corolla Village Rd, Corolla, NC 27927
  • Hours: Sunday services, 1000. Additional service at 0800 from June 11 until September 4.
  • Admission: free


Painted Ponies

© 2017 Snapping the Globe, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Having heard about the wild horses in the Outer Banks, I had hoped to see some wandering around.

Though none were sitting on the front lawn as we arrived (as happened to friends one year), I found that there were a few tour companies providing jaunts to the stomping grounds of the wild Spanish Mustangs that roam the area.  Though we would have loved to join them in their safari-type vehicles, there wasn’t much time on this trip.

Instead, I found an easier way to spot Corolla horses.

In celebration of the 2003 Centennial of Flight, a public art installation was brought to the community by the Outer Banks Press.  Ninety-nine life-sized fiberglass horses, with aluminum aircraft wings, were decorated and displayed throughout the Outer Banks from May 2002 until October 2004.  Businesses and individuals purchased horses and commissioned artists to decorate them.  The horses were displayed throughout the community and some auctioned off with profits being donated to Corolla Wild Horse fund and other charities.

 

Today, a large number of horses remain and visitors can drive around and see how many they can spot throughout the Outer Banks communities.

We found quite a few!

Here’s a list to help you with your scavenger hunt!

Corolla

  • Water Wings 
    Corolla Classic Vacations & Corolla Real Estate
    next to Corolla Pizza & Winks
  • Collie
    The Island Bookstore
    1130 Corolla Village Rd. (horse is inside)
  • Lady-Go-Diva
    The Inn at Corolla Light
  • Reflections of the American Spirit, AKA Spirit
    ResortQuest Outer Banks
  • Mimmie Lou
    Stan & Mary Virginia Polonsky (private home)
    846 Corolla Dr, behind Food Lion shopping center
  • Corolla Speed Steed
    Corolla Raceway
    Timbuck II Shopping Center
  • Monto’ac
    Currituck Outer Banks Visitor Center
  • Foaliage
    Mike Mogil & Barbara Levine (private home)
    689 Hunt Club Dr, past the Currituck Visitor Center

Duck and Southern Shores

  • Floral Flight
    ResortQuest Outer Banks
  • Fitz
    Laura Fitzpatrick (private home)
    122 Sandy Ridge Rd, oceanfront
  • Horsefly
    The Waterfront Shops
  • Prince Charley Horse
    The Blue Point, Barr-ee Station & Duck’s General Store
    The Waterfront Shops
  • Corolla 
    Life’s A Beach
    The Waterfront Shops
  • Star Grazer
    Sea Dragon and Candy & Corks
    The Waterfront Shops
  • Steve’s CottEdge Blend, AKA Java
    Duck’s Cottage (Steve Alterman – sponsor)
    The Waterfront Shops
  • Polaris (the Stallion of the Cosmos)
    Herron’s Restaurant
  • Wings of Rescue
    Soundfeet Shoes
  • Pirates Pony
    Osprey Landing Shops
  • Stirrup Your Imagination
    The Island Bookstore
    Scarborough Faire Shopping Village (horse is inside)
  • Sea Biscuit
    The Kerr Family (private home)
    2 Fourth Ave, oceanfront
  • Isaiah
    First Church of Christ, Scientist
    Sea Hawk
  • Zee Colt
    Southern Shores Crossing Shopping Center

  Kitty Hawk

  • School Spirit
    Kitty Hawk Elementary School
  • Sir Spirit Scotch Bonnet Shellsworthy of First Flight
    Aycock Brown Welcome Center
  • Kinnakeet 
    Stack ’Em High Pancakes
  • Dreamcatcher
    Professional Floors
    500 Sand Dune Dr, behind Pizzaz Pizza
  • Whitey
    Black Pelican
  • Mighty in Flight
    Mighty Maid Cleaning Service
  • Sea Star
    Alfred and Susan Bevan (private home)
    3613 Meeting Twain Ct, turn on Tateway St, 2nd right
  • Miss Kitty and Fancy Flyer
    Kitty Dunes Realty

Kill Devil Hills

  • Lights, Kam-era, Action! 
    Chilli Peppers
  • Doubloon
    Jolly Roger Restaurant
  • Outer Banks Bay, AKA “Flipper”
    Goombays Grille & Raw Bar
  • Hurricane
    Days Inn Mariner
  • J.J. 
    Mako Mike’s
  • Wilbur Bushwacker
    Days Inn Wilbur & Orville Wright
  • Chamber Charlie
    Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce
    Colington Rd.
  • Happy Daze
    Town Hall
    next to Chamber of Commerce
  • Horse-oglyphics 
    First Flight Middle School
    behind First Flight Elementary on Colington Rd.
  • Skye Dreams
    Colington Harbour Entrance
    end of Colington Rd.
  • Starry Starry Flight
    Kill Devil Hills Cooperative Gallery
  • The Wright Stuff
    Nags Head Shop
  • Captain Seabourne
    Ramada Inn
  • Pegasuits
    Birthday Suits
  • Ameri-Go-Round 
    Southern Ice
    400 W 8th St. (MP 10)

Nags Head

  • Hospitality
    Kelly’s Restaurant
  • Aviatrix 
    Outer Banks Family YMCA
  • Shiner 
    Kitty Hawk Kites
  • Butterfly
    Bad Barracuda’s
  • Butterfly Jubilee 
    Outer Banks Hospital (horse is inside lobby)
  • Chloe’s Flight 
    Village Realty (horse is inside)
  • Odyssey of the Hands 
    Harrell & Associates
  • Chillin’ Out
    Penguin Isle Restaurant
  • Eyeland Nag
    Frank & Catharine Freda (private home)
    112 E. Sea Holly Ct., oceanfront
  • Wind Nags Point
    Windmill Point Restaurant
  • High Speed Steed
    Nags Head Raceway
  • Sir Stanley
    Tanger Outlet Center

 Roanoke Island

  • Dorothy and David
    College of the Albemarle Dare Co.
    2 horses (horses are inside Tech Bldg.)
  • Joe
    20/20 Realty

Hatteras Island

  • Hattie
    Kinnakeet Shores
  • Lighthorse 
    Outer Beaches Realty Waves, Avon & Hatteras (horse is moved to different locations)

Ocracoke

  • Constellation (a Rider from the Cosmic Carousel)
    Howard’s Pub
  • Emilio
    Back Porch Restaurant
  • Garcia Lorca
    The Island Inn
  • Seahorse
    Ocracoke School

Currituck Mainland

  • Premonition
    Prospect Generation Systems
    Freedom Business Park
  • Old Tom Morris
    East Coast Game Rooms and Golf (horse is inside store)

Off the Outer Banks

  • Tiny Timber
    Dismal Swamp Welcome Center
    2356 US Hwy 17 N, South Mills, NC (horse is inside welcome center)

Check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe for more pictures.

The Guiding Light

© 2017 Snapping the Globe, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

The Outer Banks.

Many of my neighbors and friends vacation here every summer.

Strangely enough, having lived in nearby Virginia for the last twenty years, I had never been down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina!

Friends of ours were vacationing in Corolla, North Carolina and discovered that there was plenty of room in their beach house.  Since we were heading down to the southern border of North Carolina for a convention that my husband was attending, we decided to make a detour to the Outer Banks to stay with them for a few days.

After working on my tan for a day and a half, I decided that I needed to venture out and see what this area was comprised of.  Driving around a bit, I discovered that there are…beach houses…beach houses…and then…more beach houses perched upon pristine white sand and gazing upon emerald waters.  All amazing, but towards the end of the island, in Corolla Village, there is a sight to behold!  A lighthouse!

Towering above the flat landscape and keeping watch over the ocean is the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, completed in 1875. Having the largest of seven Fresnel lens sizes, it is characterized as a first order lighthouse and can be seen for 18 nautical miles.  The light, illuminated every evening at dusk, has a twenty second flash cycle…on for three seconds, off for seventeen seconds…and is extinguished at dawn.  An aid to navigation, it not only warns mariners but also enables them to determine their locations.

To reach the lighthouse, we drove along Ocean Trail, following the signs along the way.  There was ample parking near the lighthouse and we were greeted by a volunteer who immediately showed us the best places to capture an amazing photograph of the unusually unpainted lighthouse.

The impeccably manicured lighthouse grounds are also comprised of a couple of other historic structures including a Victorian “stick style” Lighthouse Keeper’s House, a smaller residence (once used for a third keeper and his family, now operating as a Museum Shop), an outhouse and a storage building.  The Lighthouse Keeper’s House is currently being restored and not open to the public, however, the Museum Shop is open from Easter through Thanksgiving.

The lighthouse, which had fallen into disrepair, when automation deemed lighthouse keepers unnecessary, has undergone a huge preservation by the Outer Banks Conservationists since 1980.  Visitor have been allowed to enter and climb the structure since 1991.

Taking our place in line to await our turn to climb to the top of this towering structure, some members of our group used the time wisely to walk around the grounds and investigate what the gift shop had to offer.  In order to keep congestion in the lighthouse to a minimum, only a small number of visitors are allowed inside at one time.  So, as visitors leave, others are allowed in.

Finally, our turn had arrived and we began the long, hot, climb to the top…220 twenty steps, stopping only to catch our breath and read the museum-quality displays on each level detailing the lighthouse’s history.

After one last exhausting push, we exited to the top platform into the cool breeze, admiring the expansive views of the Atlantic, the barrier island and the sound.  Worth the climb?  You bet!

Though access to the lens room is not permitted since the lens (the original) is still a functioning one, it was thrilling to look out over one of the top vacation spots in on the East Coast.

After making our way, slowly down the winding stairs, sadly, it was time to end our visit.  Getting our sticker, we were ready to return to the beach…and work on our tans!

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

 

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

  • http://www.currituckbeachlight.com/
  • Address: 1101 Corolla Village Road, Corolla, NC 27927
  • Hours:  March 20-December 1, 0900-1700, daily (weather permitting).  Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the lighthouse will remain open on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 2000.  Closed Thanksgiving Day
  • Admission:  $10.00 to climb the lighthouse tower, cash or checks only.  Children under 8 years climb free with an adult.  Admission to the grounds and parking are free.  On opening day, March 20, the lighthouse is open for free climbs.
  • Getting There:  At the junction of Highway 158 and Route 12, take Route 12 heading north towards Duck and Corolla. The lighthouse entrance is 20 miles from the junction, on the left, just beyond the Currituck Heritage Park sign. You may also enter at Currituck Heritage Park and ask the guide at the entrance for directions from there.
  • After your visit to the Currituck Lighthouse, you can check out The Whalehead Club, The Wildlife Center and Historic Village.