The 18th day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

The View from the Mt. Everest of Light Houses
Cape Hatteras Light
Buxton, NC

The best thing about going to the Outer Banks of North Carolina is letting the air out of the tires of your four wheel drive vehicle when you get there.

The worst thing is pumping them back up when you have to leave!

It's that simple.

If you have never been-----take the kids to a pawn shop---hock them and go.

No, on second thought you need to take them with you, they need to see it too.

Anywhere along an outer bank or off shore island on the east coast would work, but when I speak of THE outer banks I refer specifically to North Carolina and ideally, for me, that area between Nags Head and Ocracoke. There is, that elbow, of that formidable spine of sand, that is a tenacious outcropping of sand called diamond shoals. The "Graveyard of the Atlantic", where 2000 ships have been said to have sunk since 1526. This is the spot that warrants the tallest lighthouse in the country. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveyard_of_the_Atlantic

I cannot describe the scene to you other than to say that the northern currents meet the southern currents and they collide to form giant ocean peaks. Waves, from three to ten feet high in triangular collisions of such magnitude that only the naked eye can appreciate. The camera cannot even come close to describe the grandeur. Even my camera (s). And this incredible natural confusion goes on for at least 8 miles out to sea. As this is one of the premier surf fishing spots in the world the beach side is four deep with four wheel vehicles and looks like a super market parking lot.

But then there are the times when there are the storms and there are no people there and then it is really special. That's the bottom photo. And that's when I want to be there.

These photos were taken before the light was moved in 1999-2000. Because of erosion it was moved some 2870 feet inland on a long runway and was quite something to see. See the second to bottom image to see how close it the ocean it was before the move. Actually an incredible feat when you think of moving a hugely old structure which could crack at any moment about a half mile over a very unsteady surface. There are photos and links on the wikipedia page to show the move.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Hatteras_Light

The light is 208 feet high and 268 steps of narrowing walkway. It's not an easy climb and it's like climbing in your closet with some very narrow windows every once in a while add the screaming kids and panting parents yelling at them. Just your typical afternoon at the theme park. The second photo gives you and idea what the human body on a surf board looks like from 208 feet in the air. Unfortunately there were no sharks to give you a size comparison, but there have been such images made from that location in the past. The top image is just a nice historical picture of the light on a nice sunny day.