I Got a New Car!

Part 1 of a Series

Not recently–nine years ago. But I was reviewing and renaming some old digital photos recently, and came across the ones DW and I took on that trip.

You see, we picked it up at the factory. Those of you who follow me on Twitter may know that I drive a BMW Z4 Roadster. The purchase experience was unlike any I’ve had before, and likely unlike most of yours, too. We bought it from a dealership in Oregon, negotiating over the phone (by voice mail in many instances) and signing documents by fax.

We specified factory delivery in our first conversation. BMW has a program where buyers who pick up their cars at the Spartanburg, SC factory and «BMW Zentrum» are entitled to attend a half-day driving class and practicum on the road course there. As it turned out, we never even met the person we bought the car from!

After mailing a check for the down payment, we booked our flight to Raleigh. Yes, there’s an international airport in Greenville, just down the road from Spartanburg, but we were planning to go around the 4th of July, and spend some time at a B&B in Manteo, NC, on Roanoke Island, not far from Kitty Hawk and the Outer Banks. We enjoy staying at a B&B, and DW is a pro at researching them online. Looking at a map now, I think perhaps the Newport News-Norfolk-Virginia Beach area is a bit closer, but the route from Raleigh is more direct and mainland-based.

We arrived late on the night of the 2nd, just as the proprietors of the B&B were finishing their day’s work. We got checked in, brushed our teeth, and fell asleep. The next morning after a breakfast that included a fruit compote with black currants (yum), we took a few photos before deciding what to do.

(As usual, click on the image to see it larger. Blogger will then let you scroll through all of them.)

The B&B we had chosen is the White Doe Inn. This day, we didn’t get a close shot of the sign, but in this first photo it, and a flag with their chosen arms, are visible.















For this one, DW went across the street, and got a bit more of the entire Inn (as well as my Aloha shirt).

We drove the rental car around Manteo a bit, finding nice, clean yards and homes. We decided to take a few photos of those. I’ll show you one here.

 

We got back on the main highway (US 64) eastbound, and headed out to the real Outer Banks, the long sandbar that Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills are on, among others. When US 64 ended, we looked both directions: to the left it looked more civilized, so we went right, south on SH 12. Near the south end of that sandbar is the Bodie Island Lighthouse. Not as famous as the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, perhaps, but closer to the highway, and more significantly, closer to where we started.


We crossed Oregon Inlet and drove all the way down Pea Island and Hatteras Islands–the next two sandbars–to the ferry landing that continues SH 12 across Hatteras Inlet. If I recollect correctly, the ferry was even there getting ready to load. But we knew it would take too much time to go, then come back, then get back to the Inn, so we headed back north.

It was only about noon when we got back to “Whalebone Junction”, as the intersection with US 64 is called, so we decided to continue north and maybe find some lunch. Of course it’s only 4 or 5 miles to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, so we had some lunch and then went there.

Naturally the first place to go at the site is the visitor’s center, which also serves as a museum. There are exhibits there by NASA as well as Wright Brothers historian groups. One of the things that caught my eye was this treadle-operated sewing machine like the one used to sew the wing fabric for the Wrights’ contraptions. It looked just like the one my grandmother had in her house!



As I said, there are Wright-related displays, too. They included reproductions of a glider they built as well as the powered flyer that gained them their fame.



After a few more less-interesting photos inside, we went outside to the field where the famous flight took place. A pillar has been erected there, and there is a nice little path that winds around and up to the top of the hill. We had not started hiking, yet, so we were not enthusiastic about that walk; we opted to stay near the building and take a long shot.

One of the other things put up at the site to memorialize the Wrights is this bas-relief:

What better way to celebrate (nearly) Independence Day than enjoying the tale of American Innovation that is the Wright Brothers’?

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, so I wonder what kinds of activities will be available for us? Be sure to watch for the next post!