“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for
boats to save; they just stand there shining.”
Anne
Lamott
One
of my favorite things to do when my husband, Joe and I are traveling
on the coast is to see the lighthouses. This trip up the coast of
North Carolina on the Outer Banks gave us a great opportunity to see
three lighthouses. On this trip, we had the joy of taking a relaxing
ferry to Ocracoke Island and saw the beautiful Ocracoke Lighthouse.
Then after another ferry to Hatteras Island. we got the see the
magnificent Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Now was our chance to see the
Bodie Island Lighthouse and we couldn’t wait to see it.
It
took about an hour to drive from the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to the
Bodie Lighthouse. It was an interesting ride driving up the narrow
stretch of land that is the Outer Banks. At times, we could see
both Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean when there was a break in
the Dunes. It fascinated us that this land mass was so narrow and
that so many people lived so remotely. Hurricane Dorian had really
moved some sand as now the dunes were damaged and the extra sand that
had gotten blown on the roads had been piled up on either side of the
road.
Passing
the town of Rodanthe, brought to mind the movie “Nights in
Rodanthe” written by my favorite author, Nicholas Sparks. The
house from the movie is actually ‘The Inn of Rodanthe’ which we
saw passing but the location looked different and I wasn’t really
sure if it was it. Then I read they had to move it two years after
the movie was made since the ocean started to overtake it. I am
not sure if it was damaged from the hurricane Dorian since we were
not that close to it. I do know you can rent the entire Inn. How
fun would that be.
We
pulled into the Roanoke Sound side of the Cape Hatteras National
Seashore and saw the stunning black and white striped Bodie
Lighthouse. This is the third lighthouse that stood in this area.
The original two were built on Pea Island, not too far from the
current location. The first light house was built in 1847 but
failed not long after it was built because the foundation starting
sinking; tilting towards the ocean making it resemble the famous
Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was so bad they had to take it down.
The next lighthouse was built in 1859 but was destroyed two years
later by Confederate troops who feared it would be used as an
observation post. The Confederate Army stacked explosives inside the
tower and blew it up. The location where the first two lighthouses
were built is now underwater on Pea Island.
The
current lighthouse was built in 1872 further inland after the US
Lighthouse Board acquired a fifteen acre plot for $150 in 1846. The
double keepers cottage was completed soon after. Later on October
15, 1953 the US Coast Guard transferred the 56 plus acre Bodie Light
Station property to the National Park Service. This is one of only
a dozen brick lighthouses that remain in the US and is located just
south of Nags Head. It stands at 170 feet tall and has 214 stairs or
about 10 stories high. Since being renovated between 2009 – 2013,
you can now climb it for a cost of $10 for adults and $5 for seniors
and children. It is open from the third Friday in April through
Columbus Day. They do advise you to buy your tickets in advance as
only 22 people can go up at at time and the tour last 45 minutes. I’m
told the scenic views from the top are impressive.
This
lighthouse has a First Order Fresnel Lens and the light is visible
for 18 nautical miles. The light has a cycle of 2.5 seconds on, 2.5
seconds off, 2.5 seconds on, 22.5 seconds eclipse with two cycles
each minute. The black horizontal bands circling the lighthouse
are 22 feet tall. Bodie Lighthouse remain manned until 1940 when it
became fully automated. In 1953, the lighthouse disconnected the
generator and was connected to the commercial electric grid.
Bodie
is pronounced Body by locals and the folklore states the island got
its name from all the dead bodies that washed up on shore after the
hundreds of shipwrecks off the coast in what was known as “The
Graveyard of the Atlantic”. But that is just folklore. The real
reason this island was called Bodie Island is because the Body family
owned the land prior to 1811 when it was still a separate barrier
island.
We
enjoyed our stop at this impressive lighthouse and picturesque double
keeper cottage. It had been a great day with us stopping to see
three lighthouses in a day. We couldn’t have asked for better
weather for the end of December which was a such a blessing. If you
are on the Outer Banks, this historic site is definitely worth your
time. Bye for now.
“Lighthouses
are endlessly suggestive signifiers of both human isolation and our
ultimate connectedness to each other”.
Virginia
Woolf
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