New Plan -- Going to Kill Devil Hills

"Jay Honeck" wrote

So, we're looking at heading to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina instead.
The progs look great for at least three or four days, and I'm sure
there is plenty to see and do in the Southeast -- an area that we have
not explored very much.

Any recommendations?

Jockey's Ridge. It is dunes; of the type that the Wrights likely used to
try their early gliders.

As a matter of fact, the parks department runs a hang-glider class, from the
dunes, there. My daughter and son-in-law took it a couple weeks ago, and
had a great time. You get the morning to run down the dunes and get briefly
airborne-solo! That might be fun for _all_ of you to try.

Also, if you can spare the time, go and see the Cape Hatteras Light House,
http://www.hatteras-nc.com/light/ one of the most famous in the world. It
is the one that they moved 2900 feet, away from the eroding beach.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/lrp.htm It was an engineering marvel,
just figuring out how to do it. Unfortunately, you can only go up in it,
from April to October. The keepers' house is there, and open, and has been
converted into a small museum. It has a lot of pictures, facts and
artifacts. You get a pretty good feel what lighthouses an life-saver
stations are all about, from the displays.

There are many small airports, with nice long runways at most, all up and
down the seashore, and the barrier islands. Do some googling to find the
things you want to do, then pop in and do them.
--
Jim in NC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Of course, there is also the Battleship Wisconsin docked in Norfolk.
And the Air and Space Museum in Hampton.

Thanks, Don. I presume there are tours of the Wisconsin? I'd love to
see that....

Sounds like we'll be heading to Virginia after Kitty Hawk!

If there is not, the Wisconsin's sister ship, the North Carolina, is at
Wilmington, and does offer tours, and is a whole lot closer.
--
Jim in NC

Jay, see:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/11...html?th&emc=th

"Jay Honeck" wrote

Anything else to see in the area besides the Wright Bros Memorial?

Jockey's Ridge. Large Dunes. Very close to Wright Bros. Memorial.

Don't miss the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola. It's better than
the NASM, Dulles included. Second only to Wright-Pat.

It is fantastic. I won't begin to compare one to another. I know I didn't
have enough time, while there.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote

Anything else to see in the area besides the Wright Bros Memorial?

Jockey's Ridge. Large Dunes. Very close to Wright Bros. Memorial.

Plus, you can take a hang gliding lesson while you're there.

BDS

Jay Honeck wrote:
By all means spend a day (at least) at Colonial Williamsburg on the
way to Kitty Hawk. Wonderful place to visit and a marvelous
educational opportunity for your kids.

We're planning to spend the night tomorrow night at Beckley, West
Virginia -- a place we chose completely at random as being more than
half-way to Kitty Hawk. Don't know anything about the place, but
we figure to only sleep there unless someone tells us it's known
for...something.

BKW was pretty empty the only time I visited. I'd recommend LWB (Lewisburg)
just a little east of there. Friendly folks, nice new terminal. Restaurant
on field, etc.

Although the Outer Banks don't have much Civil War history, it's still
one of the most beautiful areas to visit. Just south of FFA is Hatteras.
Worth a turn or two around the lighthouse. It's now about half a mile
inland from where it was built. And no, it wasn't relocated via hurricane.

One of my favorite places to go is Ocracoke. W95. Some people don't like
going there due to smallish runway and sometimes gusty winds, but it's
really not that bad and the only other way to the island is a pretty long
ferry boat ride. Make some calls as you approach to Howard's Pub. If they
don't answer, just call at the pay phone (252) 928-4441. They'll sent out
a little cart to take you to some excellent food and cool location. If you
don't mind walking, it's maybe a half mile away and another half mile
past that to the village. Not many people go there in the winter, so it's
pretty empty now, but still worth a visit. Be careful of all the restricted
areas. If you follow the Outer Banks though, you don't have to talk to any
one.

--
Don Poitras

Enroute to First Flight...

Ashville NC
Fly the "gap" at 4000 feet MSL. Go visit the Biltmore.

Elizabetown NC
Stop and see the WW2 blimp hangars (are they still there?)

First Flight
Fly in spend the day. Fly across the bay to Dare County Airport. Spend
the night, rent a care, drive Naggs Head and Cape Hatteras.

Charleston SC
Enjoy the charm of the Old South.

Savannah GA
More Old South charm. Spend the night at one of the hotels in the old
riverfront. The area has been rehabed and has excellent restaurants and
nightly entertainment. There is free outdoors entertainment as you
stroll the riverfront.

Pennsacola FL
Museum of Naval Aviation (contact Tom Callahan ? from the binaries group
for local information).

Cedar Key FL
Lunch

Mobile AL
Lunch or dinner with Dan Luke

Huntsville AL
NASA propulsion facilities

A few notes from when I lived in Chapel Hill and flew an Ercoupe a few
years ago.

1. My favorite place in the Outer Banks is Ocracoke (as mentioned
above), the airstrip is not bad but bring tie-downs as there never
were any there in my time out there. Howards Pub is a fine place for
lunch, easy walking distance to stretch the legs, although it's on the
two lane highway, it's the only road around and has a huge shoulder,
so is safe. There are nicer places in town, Howards is nice for a
quick lunch. Ocracoke village is really a great place to spend a day
or two just relaxing. Really my all time favorite spot in NC (and I
lived in Chapel Hill!). The flight down the rest of the outer banks is
really quite neat to Cape Lookout, around the light and over to
Beaufort, NC which also has its charms. The Civil War fort at Fort
Macon is an interesting side trip from the Morehead City/Beaufort
area. Nice landmark to fly over as well. I can't stress enough how
different Ocracoke island is from the built up condo and vacation home
hell of Kitty Hawk and Nags Head can be!

2. There is alot of restricted/military airspace around the outer
banks, but everytime I called up Cherry Point MCAS or any of the other
radar facilities in the area for flight following (like Seymour-
Johnson AFB), they were cordial and accomodating. They all sounded
like they were 18 y.o. though! It was quite seamless in the transition
from RDU's hand off, or vice-versa.

3. I've been on the USS Wisconsin and the USS North Carolina. The
Wisconsin was still officially in mothballs (or some sort of reserve
designation) so other than walking on the main deck and poking your
head around a few places, it was closed to tourist traffic. That visit
was in December '03, so things may have changed since. The North
Carolina, berthed in Wilmington is much more comprehensive in your
ability to wander around and really explore the vast majority of the
ship. You will need several hours!!!

4. Patriots Point just outside of Charleston, S.C. is a big complex
with the centerpiece being the USS Yorktown (CV-10, not CV-5 which is
not available for tours for obvious reasons!), a destroyer, a larger
Coast Guard cutter, and a post-war sub. Another place you could spend
a whole day, and highly recommended! Having been on the USS Midway, I
thought the level of presentaion was much better on the Yorktown.
Charleston is another great town with charm in the tourist area. I
liked it alot. Take the ferry out to Ft. Sumter, although short in the
time allowed on the island itself, was well worth it. There is quite a
bit of post-war construction which has changed the looks of the place.

5. Savannah has Fort Pulaski, another massive brick fort that was
state of the art in 1861, but quickly fell to rifled artillery of a
new era. This is a National Park Service site about 20 minutes outside
of the city out near the beaches, and is interesting to look around.
My wife and I had a hotel on the riverfront, and it was really quite
neat and interesting to see the massive container ships about 100
yards outside your window. I raised my beer to a deck crewman (from
somewhere in Asia) from my balcony (which was on his same level) and
he waved back...Cool. Savannah is another great town to spend a few
days in to get the feel for the place. The squares are interesting,
the night ghost tours are neat (if you get the right person leading
it, we took more than one evening organized walk, one history, one
ghosts, great for before or after dinner).

6. I could go on and on about all the battlefield in the east to
visit, they all have interesing parts to them and the National Park
Service does a uniformly good job of presenting the history (despite
their budget issues). But the one that stands out in my mind, and I've
been to almost ALL of them at one point or another, is the one
mentioned in a previous post, which is Antietam. I got the feeling
that it was closest to its original form (unlike all the touristy
shlock at Gettysburg), not completely inundated with monuments, and
far enough away from suburbia (unlike Bull Run and Fredricksburg,
amongst the most threatened) to really get a feel for what the
battlefield was like. If I may say so, the best way to get to know
these fields is to WALK them. Not drive the usualy park service circle
tour (which I've done many times when time is short); but to really
know it is to walk it!!! Shiloh is another.

So there. My tidbits from a northerner living in the south and
spending alot of time getting to know the place. I really enjoyed
living down there.

Ryan in Madison, WI
email me if you want particulars

A few notes from when I lived in Chapel Hill and flew an Ercoupe a few
years ago.

snip of great stuff

Wow -- thanks Ryan, Jim, "John", Vincent, Don, and anyone else I'm
forgetting. Sounds like we could easily take a month just to explore
that area of the country!

The weather will dictate our schedule, as it always does, but I think
it's gonna be W. Virgina tonight, Kitty Hawk Monday, up and down the
coast Tuesday, Pensacola Wednesday....and by then, who knows? We're
like gypsies on these trips, so it doesn't do any good to think much
beyond Wednesday...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mar 10, 10:31 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

We're planning to spend the night tomorrow night at Beckley, West
Virginia -- a place we chose completely at random as being more than
half-way to Kitty Hawk. Don't know anything about the place, but
we figure to only sleep there unless someone tells us it's known
for...something.

Only a few miles north of Beckley is the bridge over the New River
gorge. It carries US19 over the river at Hico. It's great to view from
the air.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/neri/bridge.htm

GrtArtiste