As of April 15, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Steps: 2,384,638
Miles: 1000.06
When I was a young boy, my parents took my brothers and I to the Outer Banks, a chain of islands on the North Carolina coast. We stayed in a camper or the John Yancy Motor Inn, swam in the ocean and in the sound (the bay), climbed the lighthouse stairs, went deep sea, surf and pier fishing and caught whopper-sized fish, ate at a Chinese restaurant on Thanksgiving Day since it was the only place open for miles, and beat off the blood thirsty black flies.
With me being an "astronaut in training", the trip to Kill Devil Hills, and the museum there was a huge thrill. The story of the Wright Brothers is well-known and I certainly can't contribute anything to it. It is a story of perseverance, tenacity, American inventiveness, and is complete with pathos, crushed dreams, and plain and simple curious human behavior.
The Wright Brother's Monument and camp as viewed from where the first flights would have passed overhead.
Wilbur Wright the older brother.
Orville Wright the younger brother. After the death of Wilbur from typhoid fever in 1912, Orville lost interest in aviation and sold the Wright Company in 1915. Orville died of a heart attack at age 77.
Who can forget this picture?
On December 17, 1903, the local commercial telegraph operator apparently could not get through to the mainland "on account of the wire being heavy" so he asked A. W. Drinkwater, a repairman for the U.S. Weather Bureau, to send a message for the Wright Brothers.
Drinkwater agreed, noting the message was to Miss Katherine Wright, Dayton Ohio, and read as follows: 'FLIGHT SUCCESSFUL. DON'T TELL ANYBODY ANYTHING. HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. SIGNED ORVILLE.'
The Wright Brother's Camp, Kill Devil Hills, NC
The flight was kept secret in order to protect the Wright Brother's patents and hoped-for fortune. The secrecy, however, later led many to question whether or not they had actually flown in 1903.
Postscript: My Grandmother, who was born in 1900, lived from the age of the Wright Brothers first tentative flights, the first flight over the English Channel, the first flight over the Atlantic Ocean, and even the first flights of the supersonic Concorde as well as the flight to the Moon. She saw it all. I know she bravely flew across the United States with my Mom in a propeller driven Douglas Commercial aircraft. She also saw the first of the automobiles, telephones, radios, televisions, and refrigerators and she saw the last of the home ice delivery men and steam trains. Things changed more in those 108 years, than they had in almost all of man's history leading up to the time she was born.
5 comments:
You must have been very close to your Grandmother. That is very special. I hope my grandchildren will be able to pull fond memories of me out of their memory banks long after I am gone. I'm not much of a history buff (although you have been changing that for me) and had forgotten about the Wright Brothers secrecy of their flight. Enjoyed the post. (Now back to my taxes...)
Nice post, Iggy. I loved the pic of the monument.
My maternal grandmother was born in 1903, and she lived a good long life, passing away in 1994 at the age of 91. I was "her kid". She took care of me during my first three months because my mom had a hard time taking care of two kids after I was born. We lived across the driveway from my grandparents and would always stay there when my parents went on trips for the mill or on vacations where we weren't allowed to go. Memories are good things. I hope you can always keep them close. *hugs*
My paternal great grandma was born in the 1880s or 1890s.. I cant remember which to be honest. She was daddy's daddy's momma. A very stern looking woman ...I'll have to post some family pix at sometime or another and do a memory type entry to go with it. Someone please remind me later, otherwise Im liable to forget.
"and pier fishing and caught whopper-sized fish" hmmm the first thing that came to mind when I read that was this commercial, then again...I was thinking of the wrong damn whopper too....
Sounds like you have some wonderful memories to hold onto. My paternal grandmother was born in 1898, so she was just slightly older than yours. They both saw a lot of technology as it was invented, and experience some of the greatest, and worst, times in this country's history.
You made me think, ChicagoLady, (it's okay, really) about what you said, "They both saw a lot of technology as it was invented, and experience some of the greatest, and worst, times in this country's history."
Immediately it came to mind the great depression, a couple global wars, a major flu epidemic, and the atomic bomb and the age it started to go with the talking and later color movies, color photography, fast food like McDonalds, phonographs, being able to buy clothes and household items such as soap instead of making them, and on and on. I enjoyed a nice chat with someone at lunch time today, discussing this very topic. :) Thanks again.
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