Hatteras Things to Do

A tour of the museum is free but donations are accepted and go for a good cause. This is about some of the 600 ships that went down off these treacherous water which are some of the most treacherous in the world. The Hatteras Lighthouse was the 1st in the US to warn ships away from land not as an entrance to an inlet. Some ship that went down were not just victims of the waters or hurricanes but of pirates like Black Beard who set up camp so to speak just down in Ocracoke Island which was his favorite spot too. So check it out for some very cool history of these islands.

Now if you have plenty of time and can time the shoot just right, you might get lucky like I did! I have seen many times in the Outer Banks over the ocean there can be a lot of lightning activity, just thought I would see what the camera could do, no tri-pod.

You can take a short drive up route 12 to Buxton to visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This lighthouse was the first lighthouse ever built in the USA to warn ships away from land. There were more than 600 ships that had gone down near the cape, this area was known as The Graveyard of the Atlantic. The first tower at 90ft was completed in 1803 but was named the worst lighthouse in the US by sea captains because the light was to dimm and not tall enough. After battling the ocean and elements for almost 60 years it was renovatedin 1854 with a boost to 150ft and givin a new lens, after the Civil War congress approved a new lighthouse, completed in 1870 the now standing 198ft tower could be seen for almost 20 miles out to sea. This lighthouse was moved back from the beach in 1999 due to the ocean taking more and more of the beach. You can climb this tower for a few dollars and 256 steps for some fantastic views at the top.