Our WeeKend Road Trip this week takes us to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. First stop, Jockey’s Ridge, the tallest sand dune in the eastern United States. The height of the dunes vary from 80 to 120 feet depending upon the weather and winds.

Jockey’s Ridge is located in Nags Head, N.C., home of world-record fishing, shipwreck remains, and the pirate, Blackbeard.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the country. Standing at 208 feet tall, it’s also the tallest brick lighthouse. The light’s beacon can be seen from 20 miles out to sea, warning sailors of the dangerous Diamond Shoals off the coast of Hatteras.

In 1999, the 6,250 ton Hatteras Lighthouse was moved further inland due to an ever-eroding shoreline. A circle of stones marks the lighthouse’s original site. In the photo above, the lighthouse can be seen in it’s new location.

 

Names of former lighthouse keepers are engraved in each stone in the circle.

 

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, N.C. was first lit on December 1, 1875. It remains unpainted to distinguish it between the two nearby black-and-white-striped lighthouses.

The marsh near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

Walkway through the marsh.

 

A family of geese enjoy their protected status.

Beach at Nags Head.

Nags Head coastline.

Footprints in the sand are the only sign of human presence. Part of the attraction to Nags Head is the seclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capitola, California is located in Santa Cruz County on Monterey Bay. In the early 1960s, a large group of normally passive birds began attacking Capitola residents and tourists.

Nearby Santa Cruz was a favorite vacation spot for a well-known movie director. He’d read about the bird attacks and decided to make a movie about it. The director’s name was Alfred Hitchcock. The movie…The Birds.

One of my favorite spots in the world…

 

Well, another week has come and gone. Now, let’s load up the car, leave the city lights, noise, and smog behind us because it’s time for The Weekend Road Trip. This week we’re traveling to the south rim of The Grand Canyon, near Williams, Arizona.

 

 

 

 

* Next week we’ll be featuring some exciting guest bloggers:

Monday – author/attorney Leslie Budewitz

Tuesday – literary agent Janet Reid

Thursday –  author/police dispatcher Tracey Seybold

 

The Hearst Castle is perched high above the Pacific Ocean at San Simeon, California. The castle was built by William Randolph Hearst and architect Julia Morgan. The project began in 1919 and lasted thirty years. The main house consists of 115 spectacular rooms. I can’t even begin to describe the awe-inspiring detail in each of the rooms. The estate is also home to the largest private zoo in the country. Exotic animals still wander throughout the hilltop property. The castle was built to serve as a weekend retreat for Hearst.

Looking out toward the Pacific Ocean from the castle.

Stairs to the main house.

Outdoor pool

Marble statues surround the outdoor pool.

Indoor pool. Each tiny mosaic tile on the walls and in the pool is made from 23 carat gold.  Famous guests, such as Winston Churchill, Joan Crawford, Charles Lindbergh, and Cary Grant often enjoyed a weekend swim. In fact, Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan) made a few dives from the balcony above.

 

Indoor pool

Fountain in front of the Gothic Study

Gothic Study

Seals lounge on a nearby beach front.

Thanks to author Terry Odell for sending this photo of  Fat Albert, a weaner.

Until today, I thought this was a weiner.

Sunset at San Simeon.

 

 

This week our Weekend Road Trip takes us to Sydney, Australia. Catch up on your sleep because the journey is a fifteen hour plane ride from San Francisco. First stop, the Sydney Opera House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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*Monday’s guest blogger is Lt. Dave Swords. Lt. Swords is a thirty year veteran of the Springfield, Ohio Police Department. His topic – Search and Seizure.