First of all welcome to our fantastic followers, thank you so much for your witty comments, I have many more pairs of funky specs. We took ourselves off to the beach first thing, through the wee tunnel. The surf looked angrier than yesterday, more about that later.

First stop The Wright Brothers memorial and first flight site,

We got in on a half hour talk and walk with Ranger Dave. Ian poses near a recreation of the hangar and living area, as used by the brothers, during their years in Kill Devil Hills.

As Dave explained, most of Wilbur and Orvilles formative years were spent in Dayton Ohio. The boys were not academics but great practical engineers, their mother and sister were the college graduates, helping them with the mathematics of flight.

Once they had satisfied themselves with the principles of flight, and a few years of using gliders and Kites to prove them, the time came for wind, privacy and sandy soft earth.
The people of " The Outer Banks " welcomed the brothers and their exciting project.

On December 17th 1903, using an enormously basic engine and having secured their plane to a dolly truck run on a track, The brothers managed to fly 120 feet before crashing, they tried 3 more times that day and finally achieved a distance of 852 feet in 59 seconds, thankfully a photograph was taken proving the feat.

A monument was erected in honour of first flight, during the lifetime of Wilbur, who witnessed its cornerstone being laid in 1928.

The monument was completed in 1934.

This is a lifesized model, we know the original plane to be in the Smithsonian museum in Washington.

Lunch at Henrys again, and a cooling dip in the hotel pool.

We had heard that hurricane Idalia is likely to make landfall in Florida tonight / tomorrow, putting paid to our plans to stay in Charlston.
We have plotted a route inland and have booked a hotel in Columbia to be on the safe side.

Opposite our hotel is Millers seafood and steakhouse restaurant, we were put off by the long queue yesterday, but tonight managed to get a nice booth just after 7,30.

Trip advisor highly recommends this place. They brought us a little plate of do-nuts with butter before our meal, Hush Puppies we were told??  Ians Burger was marvelous, I enjoyed my crab cakes.. The Calamari was a little too realistic for Ian!

Good night happy reader, Thinking of Jan tonight as her celebration of life goes ahead tomorrow. xxx