I rolled down dry roads in the sunshine toward Cedar Point, North Carolina and pulled into my campsite. It was lovely!
It was a U.S. Forest Service campground. Nice level sites and electricity for $22 per night, and the reservations are through recreation.gov, so there isn’t even an additional fee for making the reservation!
The best part of the campground, though is the location, location, location! It is so close to the shore, as in Atlantic Ocean.
And, since it was after the “season”, parking at the beach on Emerald Island was free.
Here I am! From sea to shining sea! Just six months earlier, I was on the Pacific.
I was enjoying walking in the surf and just looking around, soaking in the sun. I saw these guys that were poking at something in the sand right at the waterline.
I walked up to them and asked them what they were doing. They told me that they were hunting for sand fleas.
He showed me his collection of sand fleas. They were going to use them for bait. I always thought that sand fleas were insects, but they are really crustaceans.
There were a lot of people fishing. Well, there were a lot of people with fishing poles. I saw a guy walking up with his poles and coolers and such, and I asked him about fishing. I had never seen fishing done in the surf before. He told me that he was getting ready to fish.
Just a few minutes later, he had already caught one.
He proudly brought it over to show it to me.
He worked the hook out of its mouth and then took it back to the ocean.
While he was fishing, some flying contraptions came up the beach.
They were propelled by some sort of a motor. I had done parasailing behind a boat in Puerto Vallarta many years ago. (MANY years ago!) This looked like fun.
I splashed around in the surf and collected some shells.
I love collecting shells and pebbles. Such color and variety!
My HISTORY Here app told me that Fort Macon was at the end of the island, so I thought I’d drive down and see what there was to see.
The War of 1812 drove home how exposed the country was to attacks from the ocean, and the country began to work on beefing up fortifications along the shore. It took them a few years to get it done.
I’m not sure what it was used for, but in April of 1861, only one person was on duty as a caretaker. The Confederates marched in and took over as soon as word about the victory at Fort Sumter came through.
They lowered the American flag and used the cloth to create a new flag.
In the displays inside, there was a fragment of the flag they created.
The fort was in fantastic condition, and was not all gussied up as a tourist destination.
I particularly liked this sign. A little further down the path, and I found out what they meant.
These walls are straight up and down and there are no railings!
No railings at all. I wonder if they get many field trips from schools?
The walls of this five-sided fort were almost five feet thick.
This is inside the fort. The stairs go up to the top where there are cannons, with the business ends pointing out.
One thing that made the cannons even more effective is the hot shot furnace. They would heat the cannon balls up and then fire them. This was especially effective when used against wooden ships. The hot munitions would set the ships on fire.
The narrow archways enable soldiers to move between the rooms, which are properly called casements. You can see how thick the walls are.
In April 1862, the Union Army retook the fort. It sustained an eleven-hour bombardment and was hit 560 times. The Confederates surrendered when the fort was too heavily damaged to be able to to defend. The key to the Union’s success was the use of rifled cannons, which helped the shells’ accuracy.
This sign in the museum caught my eye.
I had heard that people south of the Mason/Dixon line referred to the Civil War as the War Between the States. I had never seen it used before.
I headed back to the beach. I had to see the sun set!
How wonderful!
And the great thing is that it rises again in the morning.
Or so I’ve been told. I’m willing to take it on faith. No need for me to get out and check!