We woke up early on our last day in the Outer Banks and booked tickets to climb the Bodie Island Lighthouse! I had seen the lighthouse growing up and even as an adult, but this was my first time climbing it.
I love visiting, climbing, and learning about lighthouses. I read The Light Between Oceans a few years ago and I still think about that book sometimes. I’ve also climbed the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, NC and the Tybee Island Lighthouse in Savannah, GA. I definitely want to keep adding more to my list! I have seen the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the back of a horse, but haven’t climbed that one yet. Maybe next time 😉
Okay, back to Bodie Island. We drove about 30 minutes from Kill Devil Hills to reach the lighthouse and then went on up, and up, and up 219 steps.
Jimmy, my mom, Sadie, and I all climbed together and Sadie did amazing. She wasn’t scared one bit!
Once we took in the breathtaking 360 views of the Oregon Inlet and Atlantic Ocean, we got to go inside and see the first order fresnel lense. I definitely nerded out for a few minutes. The light keepers used to clean it every day. I can’t even explain the size of the lens. It weights a few tons!
First order fresnel lens. This is the only part of the lighthouse not made in America. The first order fresnel lens was created in France!
After heading back down the lighthouse, we went into the light keepers quarters, which is now a gift shop. I thought it was pretty big for a house built in the 1800s! From there, we walked onto a dock behind the lighthouse and looked out over a marsh for quite a while. We saw tons of fish and blue crabs! The views of Bodie Island were gorgeous.
After heading back to Kill Devil Hills, we ordered lunch from Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar and then began packing up to head back to Pittsburgh. We planned to leave around 9:00 pm, so we got in a last little bit of beach time that evening before we hit the road!
My dad has a sand flea catcher (that he uses to catch sand fleas for fishing bait). It looks like a net, but it’s made of steel. We had so much fun with that. I think we caught about 10-15 sand fleas.
Sadie with her sand flea bounty 😂
I’ll be back with more normal life posts soon! Thanks for sticking with me through all the vacation posts. I love having these memories to look back on here.
Living My Full Life 
that was a nice time at the Lighthouse and great pics!
Thank you for sharing!
Love 💕You!
dad
🙂
This looks awesome. I love local attractions like this, and ANYTHING that gives me a good view point of my surroundings is a win.
I also love lighthouses! There is something very mysterious and important about them. I remember loving that book too – The Light Between Oceans.
This one is beautiful! What a fun adventure.
I can’t believe you have 3 lighthouses under your belt- you’re a BEAST! I’m really happy I also experienced climbing Bodie with you guys, but I have to admit I was super intimidated- once I was at the top. Sadie was SO brave, and I’m very proud she went full throttle and made it up and down an extremely tall lighthouse. She’s also a beast! Lol. The last night on the beach was so fun- but also sad- knowing you guys were leaving OBX 😭
love you!
madre