One of my favorite things to do is to go visit lighthouses. In our 31+ years of marriage we have seen our fair share of lighthouses and I really should have kept track of each and every one but alas—I have not been that organized and there is no documentation that I have done other than disorganized photographs.
On our recent trip to North Carolina we visited 2 separate lighthouses and of course I took tons of pictures—-all of them look basically the same but hey—-you can never have too many lighthouse pictures in my humble opinion.
Our first lighthouse we visited was the Oak Island Lighthouse in Caswell Beach. The community currently has the responsibility of maintaining the lighthouse and grounds while the Coast Guard maintains the light itself. Volunteers staff the tours that are available on a limited basis and it is just a really wonderful lighthouse to be able to get a glimpse of up close.
The Oak Island Lighthouse was completed in 1958 at a total cost of $110,000.00. The lights are 169 feet above the water. A misconception is that the lighthouse itself is 169 feet tall. The actual structure is 153 feet tall, but it stands on a slight rise. Therefore, the height of the light above the water is 169 feet, and it is so reported on nautical charts. There is no spiral staircase as found in most older lighthouses, but instead a series of ships ladders with a total of 131 steps to the lantern gallery level. (From the Oak Island Lighthouse website)
Come with me and enjoy a bit of warmth and sun today as I share a few of my favorite snappies of the Oak Island Lighthouse. Click on any picture to start a slideshow with larger images.
