The Outer Banks & Kitty Hawk

Well, my blog has been on a month hiatus.. Life just gets too busy sometimes and these posts are almost a month old, but better late than never! 

Connie, Linda & Sam presented us with this gorgeous nautical quilt as their hostess gift. I can't even imagine all of the thought and hours that went into it! Wow. Each stitch on it was made with oodles of love... And Connie and Linda made it all by hand! Sam of course supervised to make sure that the architectural ship renderings shown on various squares of the quilt were spot on. 

This beautiful quilt that we will forever treasure, even has a hand-stitched commemorative square. 

Special and thoughtful as can be! 

Meanwhile, back in NYC... The Met Gala raged on and I honestly could have cared less. However, as much mass hysteria as that event creates, it brings with it some good comic fodder! 

      Rhianna paid homage to Big Bird

           and shook up the red carpet

And SJP set the night on fire with her flaming chapeaux

 JLo may have forgotten her underwear...

 But we're not too excited about all that as there are WILD Spanish mustangs to be found!!

Wait. This is no mustang, but if I ride this little guy it would be a wild photo op when it breaks!

Here's our adventure hummer that we will cruise out on the OBX (that's Outer Banks for the newbies) dunes in the city of Corolla, NC.

Driving on the beach was really cool!

 And who knew there was two way traffic?

You never know what kind of vehicle you'll come across.

Even the fire department patrols the beach this way. There are no streets for some beach homes and this is the only way to access residential areas. We even saw the mailman driving down the beach. That was such a funny sight!

 We had a fabulous driver named Gary. 

Connie was his co-pilot and in charge of group applause. A crucial task. 

She did a fabulous job as I knew my sis-in-law would! Here's my spy shot I sneaked. 

We loved this sweet ride!

 These are typical homes in the OBX.

I was keeping an eagle eye out for the horses as they can often hide behind a sand dune.

 And then. Pow! Wild Spanish Mustangs.

I could have photographed them alllll day! 

Possibly the most celebrated among North Carolina's wild horses are the Spanish mustangs of Corolla, though they no longer actually roam the village of Corolla and surrounding areas as they did for hundreds of years. After highway NC12 was completed from Duck to Corolla in the mid '80's, it brought speeding cars, population growth and explosive development that proved too dangerous for the horses.

     Through the efforts of the non-profit Corolla Wild Horse Fund and other cooperating agencies, the wild Spanish mustangs were given protected status and were moved north of Corolla to the last remote and mostly undeveloped land on the northern-most reaches of Currituck Banks. 

Though the wild mustangs are mostly safe there for the time being, their future is still threatened by the pressures of incessant development.

  We then came upon a mom & dad who just had their new little foal the night before...right on someones back steps practically. 

 These rugged and hardy wild horses are proven to be descendants of the Spanish mustangs brought to the New World by explorers and colonists as long ago as the early 1500's. Expert examinations of their physical and physiological characteristics, as well as DNA testing confirm their lineage.

We had such a fun afternoon cruising the outer banks! But, it was then time for a change of scenery...

     So we ventured over to the Wright          Brothers museum in Kitty Hawk. 

Linda and Connie so enjoyed all the history of the infamous Wright Brothers. 

This is a replica of the Wright Brothers first plane. The original is housed at The Smithsonian of course. Hard to fathom all that these aviation pioneering brothers fashioned out of wood and muslin, with some expert engineering skills. 

They were definitely ahead of their time inventing and building the first heavier-than-air plane, powered by a human to fly! And...it all happened here in Kitty Hawk. 

These are rebuilt barns where they housed and built their planes. Below you can see Sam and Brad walking to check out the sheds. 

     Linda joined them out there too. 

Below are three markers which represent the first three attempted flights that the Wright Brothers made. 

After checking out the museum and the Kitty Hawk environs, we headed back to the marina in Manteo. 

We had a relaxing night enjoying a fabulous dinner our captain Bish prepared for us. What a great day!