Wright Brothers Memorial

Waves, North Carolina High 75 Low 72

Today was pleasant, but tonight is supposed to be a lot warmer.

We drove to Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brothers Memorial. There is a Visitors Center with a replica of the glider that was flown in 1902.

There is also a full size replica of the gas powered plane that the Wright brothers   finally flew on December 17, 1903. They made a total of four flights, each a little longer, until the fourth in which Wilbur flew for 59 seconds and went 852 feet. They took turns flying with Orville going first until Wilbur’s forth flight.

From this simple beginning Aviation was born. On the walls of the Center, there are pictures of firsts in aviation. The ones I found most interesting were: Charles Lindbergh was the first to fly over the Atlantic Ocean; Wiley Post was the first to fly around the world solo, Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic, and later went missing when she tried to fly around the world. There are many more examples of firsts on the walls.

Outside there are markers to show how far the first four flights were. They are also on the same spot where the historic event took place.

On top of the hill there is a large monument to Orville and Wilbur Wright. At the base of the hill there are bronze statues depicting the first flight. It was an interesting place to visit.

We then went to lunch at Bob’s Diner. The sign caught our attention when we first came to the Outer Banks several years ago. Every time we have driven by there were a lot of people, so we decided to try it and found the food, not only good, but also very reasonably priced. The first time we went there and went to pay, the cashier jokingly said “Now you know what to do”. I remember laughing with her about it. The first time we went there because of the sign, and other times for the good food.

We felt like we had a fun day and finish it with Penny running on the beach. She sure seems to like going there.

Thanks for visiting.