Raleigh, North Carolina

 We visited the Natural Sciences museum and the state capitol. We have been to Raleigh several others times, but to specific museums or concerts.  The State Capital was closed for tours, but at least we got to see the outside.  The Museum is oldest established museum in North Carolina and the largest museum of its kind in the Southeastern United States

Bobby Watson's Carteret County Speedway, North Carolina

The Carteret Speedway track was opened in 2015 after 10 years of work by former racer Bobby Watson. The speedway is sanctioned by NASCAR and features eight degrees (8°) of banking in the turns and four degrees (4°) of banking on the straightaways. Part of the seating is at one of the corners at track level which is a thrill having the cars coming straight toward where we were sitting. We went to the track right after our boat ride to Cape Lookout so we got to go onto the track to see the cars and the drivers. This track has more amenities than the Coastal Plains track, but it was pretty much the same crew of cars. There are eight different divisions that have a different number of laps each. This track had a Ferrari as the pace car instead of the Subaru at Coastal Plains. The kids liked getting the funnel cake. Overall the kids don't seem too interested, but I enjoyed seeing not just the cars but the people racing them. The ear protection is a must for sure. 

 

Cape Lookout Lighthouse, North Carolina

The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is the southernmost lighthouse that guards the Outer Banks.  The other cape for North Carolina is Oracoke Island. The lighthouse is barely visible from the Harkers Island, but we took a ferry from the NPS visitor center to get out to the island and see the lighthouse up close.  This is the same region as Shackelford Banks, but the shells over there are way better than at Cape Lookout.  The kids got two new books at the visitor center and had fun reading them on the beach.  The current lighthouse was built in the 1850s with a Fresnel lens that could be visible 15 nautical miles out into the ocean.