Cold water from the North meets the Gulf Stream off the coast of North Carolina, so there is a group of sandy islands in a chain called the Grand Banks. They are famous for Kitty Hawk,the "First in Flight" used on North Carolina number plates, and for the lair of the pirate Blackbeard.

Here Michael and Peter demonstrate the use of surfing body boards while three brown pelicans fly by. The water was comfortably warm, and one day some dolphins came to swim by.

Cape Hatteras lighthouse has been moved back from the shore as the island moves. The tower is so tall because shifting sandbanks out at sea mean the shipping channel is over 20miles out.

Laughing gulls were all around at K.O.A. Cape Hatteras, but we were forbidden to feed them because they ate the eggs of turtles and rarer birds in the Spring. Out West people would feed them all summer and shoot them in the fall.

Two good reasons to visit the Cape are the birds and the surfing. There is a surfer crossing sign in this picture.

Click here to take the Clipper Ship to New York.

Click here to take the Green Line to Washington.