A Full Day in Nags Head, North Carolina (July 6, 2013)

Yesterday, late in the afternoon I stopped at the Whalebone Junction Information Center located near the entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park. The heat was stifling. I hydrated myself and ate a couple energy bars in the shade of the information center patio. The was a young mother with two kids enjoying lunch on the patio. The little girl, maybe 3 years old, had long sun-bleached blonde hair tied in a loose braid that tailed down her back.

"Are you riding that bike?" she pointed to the sign.

"Yes I am."

"That's neat."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Leila, would you like to watch me be an airplane?"

"My name is Pat, and I'd like to see you be and airplane."
"Nice to meet you," she said and put her arms out and danced around the patio swooping, tilting and spinning in her version of air flight.
"Wow, that was good, thank you."
Leila's mom beamed pride at her daughter's display as she tended to a now crying infant.

I walked into the information center and spoke to Reed who was behind the counter. I never thought I would have this problem... Every campground, state and private was booked full this weekend. Yep it was probably the busiest weekend of the season, the Fourth of July weekend. 

In 1986 I started my bicycle tour in September. Campgrounds were virtually empty. Still I never anticipated being told that there were not even tent sites available. Reed graciously helped me find one of the few rooms still available in Nags Head. Given the heat and wind that I'd been riding into, I quickly relaxed into the idea of a full day off at Nags Head.

This is the view from my 7th floor balcony at the Comfort Inn. Destiny, the young lady at the check-in desk had explained that there's a 2 night minimum stay because it is a holiday weekend, thus my full day off. She had booked me in the cheapest, "parking lot view"room available. After rolling my bicycle on the elevator and down the hallway to my room, I opened the door and saw an expanse of ocean out the window. I called Destiny at the front desk and explained the "mistake" to her. 
"That was my mistake, you can stay in that room."
"Wow, thanks."

Along the Nags Head Beach, looking north. In the distance is Jennette's Pier, a popular fishing spot.

This morning as I began a walk along the beach, I instinctively reached down and picked up a small shell. I was immediately reminded of Henry Amaya who I met in the information center of the First landing State Park, the morning I was drying my sodden gear and packing to leave. Henry, in his mid twenties, lives in the area and comes by the park to use the center's computer. He was on a site that had numerous photos and charts dealing with solar events and the correlations with our weather patterns. He began to share his knowledge base with me. I thought at first he was a science student, maybe physics or astronomy but instead he told me that he was an artist, musician and science fiction writer. For him the information about the sun and weather patterns was inspiration of his creative work. He was curious about my bike and came out to the wifi patio to look at it. 

A descendent of the Mayan Indians, Henry was born in New York, lived in Guatemala for a time and now calls Virginia beach home. His dark tanned skin, dark brown eyes and wavy brown-black hair made him fit the tropic like surrounding of the Virginia Beach summer.

"It's in my blood to be interested in this stuff," he said referring to his art and the solar patterns.

I told him about my interest in the Edgar Cayce Association for Research and Enlightenment and mentioned that Chuck, who Henry knew, had told me about "the healing vortex in the area."
"Pat, is that what Chuck said to you?" Henry began to laugh displaying brilliant white teeth that contrasted with his dark features.
"Yeah."
"That's pretty funny, because I'm the one who told Chuck that. It's true though, there is a healing energy and vortex here. Some people believe that a meteor landed forming Chesapeake Bay many millennia ago. There seems to be some effect because of the way the waters meet here. This is a speical place, people are drawn here."

We continued to visit as I packed up my now dry belongings.
"Pat, I've got something for you. Here take this, it is a sort of touch stone." Henry handed me a small triangular shaped flat stone.
"Thanks, man, hey it kinda looks like a guitar pick." I tucked the stone into my wallet and had almost forgotten about it until this morning when I picked up the shell.

Thanks Henry.