Made it to the Outer Banks

Our timing was really great. I arrived at the rental office to pick up the house keys and knew that Mary and Michelle were close behind. They arrived when I was still in the rental house and we got settled in. We didn't realize how out in the country we are as the nearest grocery store is something like 20 minutes away so we found a pizza place that delivered and that was quick and easy and was exceptionally good.

But my day started in Hampton, Virginia, when I realized I might be near Hampton University, one of the original schools for ex-slaves, now a big deal university primarily for African Americans. Booker T. Washington is a Hampton graduate. I googled for directions and it turned out to be 9 minutes from my hotel, so that was my first stop this morning.

The campus is really beautiful.

Meanwhile the previous evening I'd read about a tree on campus called the Emancipation Oak which is the place where the school started. A freed black woman taught escaped slaves under this tree in 1861., Not the tree above. Then, two years later the Emancipation Proclamation was read for the first time in the state of Virginia under the tree. It's called the Emancipation Oak, and still exists. So I'm driving around the campus looking for this tree and there were so many beautiful trees, including this one. But finally I asked directions and was led to...

This is the Emancipation Oak in the background. You can see the walkway and the plaque describing it in front of what Mary says are crepe myrtles.

Crepe myrtles up close.

Here's the plaque for the tree, and that's the first teacher who later died of TB. What is interesting, in addition to this tree still being alive, is that National Geographic declared this tree one of the top 10 trees in America so I want to see what the other nine trees are. That would be an interesting pass time -- to visit all 10 trees.

There are so many low branches that you can't really see the trunk, but the Emancipation Oak is the tallest tree here. I can't believe it's survived this long.

This is the first sign I saw for the Outer Banks.

Next stop was the Wright Brothers monument in Kitty Hawk (actually Kill Devil Hill) and here you can walk the distance that the first airplane flew.

And, no,  I didn't make it to the top of the hill. Didn't even try.

Replica of Wright Flyer

Another long bridge

Driving for miles with dunes and the ocean on the driver's side and dunes and water on the other.