My Road

When we visited North Carolina last summer, we were delighted to have the opportunity to visit the Hatteras Light House.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest in the nation and famous symbol of North Carolina. The lighthouse site houses a visitors center that is open throughout the year and houses displays on the island’s maritime history. Pictures do not do it justice. When you stand next to it you will feel dwarfed. At least, that is how I felt. The beacon from the light can be seen some 20-miles out to sea and has warned sailors for more than 100 years of the treacherous Diamond Shoals, the shallow sandbars which extend some 14 miles out into the ocean off Cape Hatteras. A story tells how the lighthouse was supposed to be painted in diamond colorations but that they painter got his plans mixed up. Cape Lookout received the diamond pattern and the Hatteras Lighthouse was painted in winding stripes. It is often referred to as the big barber pole.