Light houses

Ocracoke Lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse in NC.

Beautiful Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 208 ft, the tallest brick beacon in the U.S.
Due to the shifting beaches, this was moved 1/2 mile in 1999 so it is now the same distance from the ocean as it was in 1870.  Took 23 days to move. 

Atop Hatteras, behind us is Diamond Shoals, treacherous area for ships due to ocean currents meeting there and shifting sandbars extending 20 miles out in the ocean. 

Called Graveyard of the Atlantic, there are over 600 shipwrecks off the Outer Banks due to the shoals, storms and war.  German U boats sunk many merchant and war ships off this coast in WWII.