From Kennedy to Kittyhawk

Outer Banks, NC, April 14 -- Just over a week ago we were touring Kennedy Space Center and reliving all the accomplishments human-kind has made in mastering flight, especially the exploration of outer space. Today we time-traveled backwards from the space age to the first successful powered flight. Not quite 105 years ago Orville and Wilbur Wright opened the doors to the exploration of flight when they successfully flew -- on December 17, 1903 -- a small motor-powered airplane.

They spent several years -- and their own time and money -- observing birds, researching previous attempts at flight, building kites and gliders to try to find better ways to control the machine. They built a wind tunnel and tested different techniques for wings and propellers. Finally, after numerous tests and experiments, Orville piloted the machine in its first flight, which lasted 12 seconds and went 120 feet. They flew the machine three more times that day, with the final flight lasting 59 seconds and traveling 852 feet.

“It is not really necessary to look too far into the future; we see enough already to be certain it will be magnificent. Only let us hurry and open the roads.” This statement is attributed to Wilbur Wright. One wonders if he had any idea of where their first flight at Kill Devil Hills would eventually lead: to the moon, to Mars and beyond, to a manned space station. Sadly, he barely lived long enough to see his work come to fruition. He contracted typhoid fever and died in 1912 at the age of 45. Orville, however, lived until 1948 and saw many of the advancements of aeronautics that built on the work he and his brother had done.

It was interesting seeing the place where these early flights took place. The Kittyhawk-Kill Devil Hills area was chosen because of the “breezes” (it was blowing something like 27 mph on the day they first flew), the soft sand for landing, and the remoteness and privacy of the area. Both days we were on the Outer Banks (also known as OBX), the wind was blowing strongly.

After our chilly tour of the first airport we found a place for lunch: Dirty Dick’s Crab House. I had a delicious crab melt sandwich with sweet potato fries, and I finally had a hurricane. Jeff had gator tail again and shared some with Charlie. He didn’t like it as much as the gator he had in Florida. Charlie liked it just fine, and the sweet potato fries, too!

We also went into a few shops, including one called the Outer Barks. The owner gave us two treats to take back to Charlie, who had been left to protect the car. He told us about the Yappy Hour they hold on Fridays, featuring canine cocktails, and said in the summer they sometimes have up to 70 dogs attending. Of course, they are required to bring their owners. He was a very friendly guy who told us we will love Ashville -- it’s similar to Seattle but without the Sound, according to him.

Some of the funny names of this area include Kill Devil Hills, which was named after the rum that washed ashore from the many shipwrecks (more than 2,000) in this area, know as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The locals claimed this nasty rum “would kill the devil.” Nags Head is named for the old practice of tying a lantern to a horses head and walking along the beach at night, thereby luring ships to thebeach where they could be plundered. Tar Heels has some obscure beginnings but supposedly it alludes to the tar, pitch and turpentine that were early products of North Carolina. Folklore also claims that during the Civil War General Lee praised the North Carolina soldiers for sticking to battle like they had tar on their heels, or alternatively, it was claimed that Lee needed to put tar on the heels of other regiments who weren’t as steadfast in their duties as the North Carolina soldiers.

There is a great history of pirates in these islands that stretch 130 miles from the Virginia border. Edward Teach -- Blackbeard the pirate -- was beheaded in the waters surrounding Ocracoke Island in 1718.

Beyond the islands, this area of North Carolina is mostly flat farmland. There are a few swamps but for the most part it is lovely country. Right now the flowers are blooming everywhere and we look forward to seeing more as we travel west tomorrow.