North Carolina - Day 1 - "First in Flight"

3/25/17, “First in Flight”

Raleigh, North Carolina

This is all very familiar.  I could take the entry I wrote 52 weeks ago today and substitute “Raleigh, North Carolina” for “Columbia, South Carolina” (not Charleston as mistakenly wrote last night), and I would have an entry that is almost exactly the same as the one I am about to write.  An assortment of National Park Sites, BBQ at the state’s “most iconic restaurant,” an entry written at the state capitol, and a trip to the local cigar shop.  That is what I did in South Carolina 52 weeks ago today, and that is what I did in North Carolina today.

These weekend domestic trips have been a lynchpin of my travels over the past four years.  They are how I have managed to check off the bulk of the sites necessary to complete my travel goals domestically, all while boosting my NPS unit count up to 268 (270 by the end of the trip).  I am almost 2/3 of the way to having visited each and every NPS unit.  There are slightly more than 400 of them.  This trip was designed around a National Memorial, which on its own is sufficient to justify a trip, but I will be picking up 4 additional units this trip.  That’s a very good weekend for me: a new state capitol and 5 new NPS units, including a National Memorial.

I will not be able to say, “North Carolina Complete,” but I will come close.  A year ago, I was able to say, “South Carolina Complete,” but I had had a head start, having previously visited Fort Sumter and one other unit in the state, whose name escapes me.  This trip was long in the making, and Day 1 was intense but successful.

After I closed last night, I published and walked back to the hotel.  I went to sleep almost as soon as I got to my room, waking up a little after 6 AM.  I changed and went down for breakfast, which consisted of half a waffle, sausage, potatoes, along with a too-small cup of coffee.  That would be a serious problem later.  I found my car and prepared to get on the road.  That’s when I realized I had forgotten my phone charger.  The phone would not last the day, especially if I planned to use it for GPS.  I parked the car outside the hotel and retrieved my charger.  By this point, it was after 7 AM, and I was behind schedule.  An audible was available to me, and I could have went to the state capitol now that the sun had risen, rather than having to worry about getting back here before dark.  In hindsight, I should have done that, but I had posted a picture at the state capitol after midnight last night, and I deemed it too early to post my ceremonial picture there this morning.

Instead, I made straight for Cape Hatteras NS, which would be the main activity for the day.  The plan was to go to Cape Hatteras NS, then Wright Brothers NMem, then Fort Raleigh NHS, then dinner at Skylight Inn BBQ, then back to the state capitol before dark.  I thought sunset was 7:45 PM, which meant I would have until 8:15 PM, at which point civil twilight would end, and it would be too late to take a ceremonial picture.  Reader, I told you it would be a long day.  I lit up my traditional Davidoff Yamasa Toro to start off the trip (though I will be going back to an Escurio Toro for the next few trips) and put on “Red” when I got on the highway.

That was followed by the soundtrack from the new “Beauty and the Beast” and a Cuban Stock, which brought me to the entrance to Cape Hatteras NS.  I entered the NPS around 10:30 AM.  It was another hour from there to the lighthouse, and including other than the stamp at the entrance and Cape Hatteras lighthouse, there was one more stamp.  I wanted all three.

Bodie Island Lighthouse was the second stamp, and it was actually the lighthouse on the brochure, even though it was the less famous one.  I got a keychain, but not a replica at the VC, since the only replicas they had were rather large.  I lit up an Aurora, and that brought me to Cape Hatteras.  Along the way, I drove through Rodanthe, which made me want to rewatch “Nights in Rodanthe,” a movie I have always enjoyed.

I was quite impressed with the lighthouse once I reached it, and I loaded up on souvenirs at the VC, including two replicas, which were the same size as the Bodie Island Lighthouse replica that I had chosen not to purchase.  I lit up a Partagas and took my ceremonial picture at the lighthouse, which was also a National Historic Landmark.

From there, I headed to the beach, since this was, after all, inscribed as a National Seashore.  I was starving at this point, but I was tight on time.  Very tight.  The unit had taken far more time to visit than I anticipated.  There was a place with pizza and subs.  I wanted a sub, but that would take, inexplicably, ten minutes.  The pizza would take a minute.

I got the pizza and chips, scarfed it down, lit up a Graycliff, and headed back towards the mainland.  I was regretting not buying the Bodie Island Lighthouse replica, so I considered stopping there on the way back, even though I was tight on time.  As I was driving, two things happened that made driving almost impossible.  First, I got an allergy attack from the pollen.  Second, I started falling asleep at the wheel.  This was around 1 PM.  I could not figure out why, but twice I almost veered off the road.  (I would later realize it was because of the meager amount of coffee I ahd this morning.)  I knew that I would need to stop at the Bodie Island VC for a short nap and to wash the pollen out of my eyes.  That would eat up half an hour, but I had no choice.  Falling asleep at the wheel and getting into an accident would take up a lot more than half an hour.  I took a brief nap, and I woke up fully refreshed.  I cleaned out my eyes and bought my replica before getting back on the road, lighting up an LFD.

The next stop was Wright Brothers NMem, the main purpose of this trip.  It was just some monuments to mark the spot where they succeeded in their first flight in 1903.  We’ve come a long way since then.  There was nothing to do there other than take ceremonial pictures, which I did, but it somehow took longer than I expected.  It would be very tight to get to the state capitol even by 8:15 PM at this point.  As I was recalculating my times, I checked sunset.  That’s when I learned that sunset was actually at 7:30 PM, not 7:45 PM.  Fuck.  I figured that there was no way I could get to the state capitol before it got dark at 8 PM.

After taking a moment to appreciate the significance of the site, I continued to Fort Raleigh NHS, which had some remains of the first British colony in America from 1585.  That was cool.  Okay, from there it was a straight shot to Skylight Inn BBQ, the “most iconic restaurant” in North Carolina.  I figured it would be like the Salt Lick in Texas, so I would need 30-45 minutes.  I lit up a Camacho, which lasted the whole drive, and I was soon there.

I had been listening to country music all afternoon, and they were playing the same music in the restaurant.  It was much more like Scott’s in South Carolina than the Salt Lick.  I could be in and out in 15 minutes.  They gave me a dish of BBQ pork, a dish of Cole slaw, and a big piece of corn bread.  It was delicious, and I ate it with chopsticks, as is my tradition.  It was very similar to Scott’s but I liked this better.  At this point, the unthinkable happened.  My Navigation said I would be at the state capitol at 8 PM.  With luck, I would get my ceremonial picture before dark.

The Navigation took me through some back roads, but the timing was looking good.  I lit up a Fuente was on my way.  I double checked when civil twilight ended, and it said 7:56 PM.  Reader, guess what time it was when I pulled up to the state capitol, after more than 12 hours on the road today?  7:57 PM.  I had missed it by a minute.  My mind played every minute of wasted time from the day.  I could have made it if I was more aggressive, and I had no one but myself to blame.  It took me another five minutes to park, and I first had to take my cigar photo with the NHL plaque and a NHL picture with the cigar, before the sans cigar picture to treat it as a state capitol.

It was now about 8:05 PM, but I deemed it was still light enough out to take a ceremonial picture.  Reader, by the time I posted the photo to social media, it was already too dark.  I made it in slimmest of margins, elegant in the extreme.  I then sat down in my spot from last night, where I lit up my trusty Ardor and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close and publish so that I can get my cigars and take it easy for the rest of the night.  Tomorrow will be another long day.