After we visited the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, we headed on down to the end of Cape Hatteras where the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum was. When we got out of the car, I looked over and, OMG, I saw that Gary and I had inadvertently worn the same t-shirt. Oh, heavens. Now we look like two cute little old people.
‘Isn’t that cute, they dress alike.’
Oh, shucks. Maybe if he walks backwards and I walk forwards, no one will notice.
Inside the museum, in the foyer, was the original Cape Hatteras Fresnel lens, the one that was removed by the Confederates at the beginning of the Civil War, the one that was ‘hidden in plain sight’ at the top of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, the one that was damaged, stolen and then found in a marsh on an anonymous ‘tip’ - yeah, that one. Cleaned up, refurbished but with spaces for all of the missing and broken prisms. Here it is in all its glory.
Now, I’m expecting to see a lot about the ships that sunk on the shoals and sand bars around Cape Hatteras for oh, so many years. I didn’t find as much as I had expected but I did find this map showing where all the various ships sank. And, this is only a part of the map.
But, here is a more telling map. It is the depth, in feet, of the water all around the Cape. Very shallow and, with the winds, tides, and waves, these depths are shifting all the time. What might be a channel one day, is not the next. It must be terribly difficult for the Coast Guard to keep the channel buoys in the right spots. And, when you note that it is 1’ quite a ways out, no wonder so many ships have sunk.
And, that’s why fishermen can wade out a block or more into the water and fish.
Ships have all manner of cargo. Here a ship with Fritos on its way to South America lost 4 semi containers of Fritos in a raging storm. They called it a ‘Chip Wreck.’
Then there was an interesting display on Blackbeard who terrorized the waters around Cape Hatteras for - 1 year. Did you know that Blackbeard terrorized ships for only a year? He got his ship as a reward from his captain in 1717 and was captured in 1718. All his renown stems from one short year. But he made it a memorable one: torturing, hanging, killing, theft - you name it, he did it. And, was feared. (Why we have romanticized pirates and parents let their kids dress as pirates on Halloween is beyond me. But, who wants to dress as teacher?)
He braided his beard and then used to set the little braids afire to frighten others.
He had 40 cannons on his ship, 300 crewmembers and the protection of the Colonial Governor of North Carolina, Charles Eden who was amenable to bribery. However, after 18 months of Blackbeard, the residents of North Carolina appealed to Governor Spotswood of Virginia, a neighboring state, for help and he sent Royal Navy Lieutenant Maynard to fight Blackbeard.
Cautiously, Maynard and his 2 ships slipped down the channel to the Outer Banks but, Blackbeard was already for him. Maynard’s 2 ships were badly damaged but he instructed his crewmen to go below and the entire ship looked like death. When Blackbeard and his crew boarded, Maynard and his crewmen surprised them and cut them down one by one. Blackbeard took 25 stab wounds and 5 bullets, died and his head was taken and hung on the Royal Navy’s bowsprit. His body was tossed overboard. That’s the story.
Here’s the legend: when his body was tossed overboard, it swam several times around the ship before finally sinking from sight. But, here’s the cool part: they think they had discovered his ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge off the coast deep in the ocean. But how do they know it’s this ship? Well, that’s a question for the archaeologists.
It took 10 years to discover the site and they are recovering what artifacts they can. The ship is the right size, it is long, sleek and built for speed. It has the requisite cannons for attacking and lots of various foreign coins, signifying a ship that dealt with many others of various nationalities. The group that is supporting this is the Friends of the Queen Anne’s Revenge and you can see more about their efforts on their website.
My favorite picture in the museum was this one, a picture of a tourist and his fish. Guess which one is the tourist. Look at that hat.
We left the museum and walked along the beach for a while looking at all the homes lining the shore. Most seem to be quite new. All have a story underneath for garage or storage that is not furnished to protect the home from a storm surge after a hurricane.
A five year old boy was sitting down to eat when his mother asked him to pray for his meal.
He replied, "Mom we don't have to. We prayed over this last night."
Sure enough - she was serving leftovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment