North to Currituck and the Wild Horses

Monday, May 13, Day 21

Today we are off to explore the north end of the Outer Banks.  Along here at first, we see a lot of older structures.  

The roadside is being built up with sand along here, although Cedric says the dumping of sand has caused greater erosion in many areas.  People are willing to put up with hurricanes, flooding, loss of homes and belongings, etc., which is really dedication to this area.

The north islands are almost solid homes all along the road, whereas the south road we took yesterday is sparsely populated in comparison.

We arrived at the Currituck lighthouse.  This one isn't painted and I realized that all the rest we have been are made of brick as well.  However, they have the different paint and stripes to be identifiable at sea.  Currituck was built in 1875, and provided the last link among the lighthouses on the Outer Banks.   This area has a little village, lots of shops, and places to explore.

John takes a seat at the light keepers renovated house, which is now a gift shop.  Guess where Cedric and I are!

They had a little food shop outside, where we got some barbeque sandwiches  The pulled pork here is flavored with vinegar, so it has a different flavor than the sweet sauces of other parts of the South.  But,  this really good! 

Cedric and I opted for a walk along a boardwalk built over a wetlands. 

We spotted this little nutria munching away.  Looks cute, but these big members of the rat family have really taken over a lot of areas.  Or are they related to the beaver?  I forget... but still cute!

We went to a bookshop and I couldn't resist this picture of a David Sedaris book display outside.  The same book Chris and Kayla had sent me the day before on my Kindle.

We headed past the lighthouse out to the end of the island where the Wild Horses are supposed to be.  However, you have to drive out on the beach to get to where they are.  These horses have been verified to be Spanish mustangs from shipwrecks.  They live on 7500 acres and are supported by a nonprofit called The Corolla Wild Horse Fund.   You can take a tour out here, but we weren't prepared to do that,  and we don't have four wheel drive, so we have to be content to read about them and look at the birds along this fence that keeps the horses on their end of the island.

As we head back south, Cedric takes us on a little detour to see a lone house, the one left standing, after all the others along here have fallen into the ocean.

I didn't notice until I loaded this picture, but it is obvious that grasses have been planted along here to try to stop further erosion. Hope it works!