Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina

Did you know that the tallest standing lighthouse is in North Carolina? Well, yes it is! It is a famous symbol of North Carolina and located on Hatteras Island. So, if you've ever thought about vacationing in North Carolina or live there already, then this is one site you are going to want to visit.

The famous lighthouse has a visitor center that fortunately is open to the general public most of the calendar year, so you'll be able to visit from early April until Mid-October. There is also a picnic area and a nature trial not too far from the visitor center where you can stop for some lunch and/or take a hike through some of North Carolina's wooded dunes and fresh water marshes.

An amazing fact about this lighthouse is that the beacon from it's light can be seen 20 miles or more out to sea! This works out great if you're a sailor. This light has warned sailors now for more than 100 years. Warn them from what you ask? Well, about 14 miles out into the ocean off of Cape Hatteras there are something called, "Diamond Shoals." They are shallow sandbars that can be very dangerous if ships were to sail into them.

As you will see from the picture the design of this lighthouse is similar to a barber's pole, only black and white. For this reason, it has been given the nickname, "The Big Barber Pole." There's actually a pretty interesting story behind the whole thing. You see, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was originally supposed to have diamond-shaped figures painting onto it to warn sailors away, however, the designer got the plans mixed up and instead put the diamond shapes onto another lighthouse at Cape Lookout and Cape Lookout's design went to Cape Hatteras. Pretty crazy, huh? Just what I thought when I first heard about it.

Wondering just how many steps you're going to have to walk in order to get to the top of this monstrosity of a lighthouse? Well, to be exact there are a whopping 248! So, you may want to prepare yourself for the climb by getting a good night's rest, a healthy breakfast and drink plenty of water on your way up!

To get more info about North Carolina's Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, I recommend a great website for you to visit:http://www.hatteras-nc.com/light/

If you decide to visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, please let me know how it was!