2012 Vacation, Day 19

This morning, we continued North to visit Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, which preserves the first English Colony established in North America in 1587:

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The kids received their Junior Ranger badges:

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Continuing North, we visited the Wright Brothers National Monument:

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Looking out from where the Wright brothers launched their airplanes:

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Working on the Junior Ranger workbooks:

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An Osprey flew by and landed in an adjacent field:

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Walking the flight line:

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Looking back at the launch site:

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We continued North to reach Assateague Island, which we’ve visited several times before, well after dark.

2012 Vacation, Day 18

Today we visited the Okefenokee Swamp.  We paid for a boat ride through the swamp:

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The kids got to drive for a bit:

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Our river guide said that Anhingas are called “water turkeys” but seemed to be offended when I asked if they were a food bird.

Back on shore, we toured a restored homestead in the swamp:

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Driving North, we visited Fort Pulaski National Monument.  We arrived less than an hour before closing, so we only had time to quickly walk through.  In the distance, we could see a tanker lumbering by:

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Union rifled guns were able to pierce the masonry walls, which led to a Confederate surrender within an hour of the first shot fired:

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We drove a bit farther North before overnighting at a Walmart.