October/November 2021 Vacation Day 14 · · PAGE 45.

November 8, 2021:  Monday continues southbound into North Carolina on state route 168, the same highway number used in Virginia.  We crossed the state line at 11:53 AM.  When we passed this way I mentioned to Linda about a place called "South of the Border" over on Interstate 95 just inside South Carolina.  It is a motel complex with some entertainment rides, etc.  They have a lot of highway billboards on I-95 in both states attracting tourists.

This place named Border Station is a fuel stop, restaurant, and souvenir store.  You can find a You Tube video from a guy who always stops here on his way to the Outer Banks area south of here.  He mentioned he drives eight and a half hours from his home to get to this place.

North Carolina route 168 ends at the intersection of US 158 coming to the Outer Banks resort area just 18 miles inside North Carolina.  US 158 exists only in North Carolina and is 350 miles in length.  We are going south on US 158 from here until it ends in the Outer Banks at the eastern end of US 64 where we will head WEST.  Traffic was moving well as we arrived at this intersection at 12:13 PM.

This bridge takes us from the mainland to the Outer Banks on US 158.  The Wright Brothers had their first airplane powered flights just over 10 miles from here.  This bridge named for them is just over 2.8 miles in length.

Here is the official sign welcoming tourists to Kitty Hawk, NC.  We passed this Chevy dealer at 12:44 PM.

We arrived at our tourist destination for today in Kitty Hawk, NC at 1:04 PM.

In the week before we began this trip I added my Veteran status to my Florida drivers license and visited the gate to the Canaveral National Seashore to get my Veteran's National Park annual pass.  When I presented my pass to the US National Park ranger at the entrance to the Wright Brothers National Memorial I was greeted with the words "Thank you for your service" and granted free entry.  The exit road is on the left edge of this image below, but we will get to that later.  These Google Earth images from 2008 are of a lower resolution than the ones from 2019 and newer.  I did some post processing of this image to "sharpen" it.

This is the Wright Brothers museum building as seen when walking back from the outdoor exhibits.  The time stamp on the image is 1:58 PM on November 8, 2021.

Linda got her chance to see what was inside the museum while I sat on a bench outside with Chase on his leash.  He watched all the folks coming and going looking for his mom Linda.  This photo has a time stamp of 1:22 PM when she first went inside. It is a full scale replica of the original Wright Flyer aircraft.  November 8, 2021.

This photo was taken at 1:23 PM.

This image taken at 1:24 PM shows the chain drive connections to the engine flywheel to turn both propellers in opposite directions.  November 8, 2021.

This is a wonderful painting of the Wright Brothers and their 1903 Wright flyer first flight.  November 8, 2021.

This outdoor replica of the first flight shows both brothers after the aircraft takes flight.  November 8, 2021.

The Wright Brothers built two buildings when they came here to make their historic flight.  They built a hangar for their airplane and a hut to shelter them from the cold December winds in 1903.  The reason they chose this place near the Atlantic Ocean was for the prevailing winds that would make the takeoff safer.  These two buildings are replicas of the original buildings created by the National Park Service.  The replicas are built on the locations of the original structures.  November 8, 2021.

This is my first attempt to take a photo through the clear window that protects the artifacts inside the living quarters building.  This looks like a double-exposure due to the reflectivity of the window and sun angle on the building.  There is a table and two chairs inside that are the desired image, but the reflection has been asserted here from the sidewalk and Linda's presence in front of the window.  November 8, 2021.

This information plaque tells of the three summer visits in 1901 and 1902 testing gliders, and the engine-powered 1903 flyer that put them into the history books.  November 8, 2021.

This is the inside of the hangar storage building.  November 8, 2021.

This image depicts their first powered flights in December 1903.  Some tourists are reading each of the markers showing the length of each flight.  November 8, 2021.

This display leaves little to the understanding of the first powered flights.  November 8, 2021.

Many tourists take photos of the markers in the field just as I did here.  November 8, 2021.

This plaque is mounted on a granite marker stone.  November 8, 2021.

This medallion is embedded in the concrete in front of the plaque seen in the image above.  November 8, 2021.

Here is my photo of all the landing spots from the flights in 2003.  November 8, 2021.

This monument is on the top of Kill Devil hill from which the glider flights of 1901 and 1902 were launched. I used the zoom lens feature on my camera to capture this image.  I found the complete inscription from the base of the monument online and quote it here.  November 8, 2021.
 " If you've ever been to the top of hill, you'll notice there's an inscription at the base. It says “In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, conceived by genius, achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith.”  Apr 24, 2017"  

Here is the view of the monument without the zoom lens magnification.  We started our slow drive around the park at 2:04 PM with the first stop at this monument at 2:12 PM.  We are looking EAST toward the monument.  November 8, 2021.

My camera position for the two photos above was at a location of a road to the First Flight Airport.  I captured this Google Earth image from a road just outside the park south of the runway.  It shows three airplanes at the parking ramp for aircraft.

Here is the other side of the memorial inscribed with their names.  We stopped at a parking area at 2:17 PM to take this photo and give Chase a break before we get back on the road.  We pulled out of the parking area at 2:24 PM and headed toward the exit to US 158 at the main entrance.  November 8, 2021.

On the EAST side of the monument is this full scale model of the 2003 Wright Flyer adjacent to the road around the monument.  I captured this image with my camera shooting through the open passenger's window of the car.  November 8, 2021.

The image below is from Google Earth.

Departing the scenic drive heading for the exit are these buildings that may be storage, but the one in this image has doors that look like hangar doors.

Here is the aerial view from Google Earth for the Wright Brothers National Memorial site.  There is a real airport on the site with aircraft parking at the south end of the runway.  The number 3 is at the south end and 15 at the north end.