JENNETTE'S PIER: NAGS HEAD ICON & MODERN MARVEL

I kept imagining Buzz Lightyear shouting “to infinity and beyond” as the endless Carolina-blue sky and the world’s second largest ocean conspired to create what looked like a long, leisurely walk off a not-so-short pier.   

Would have loved the chance to walk this pier at night.

The last moments of three beautiful days in North Carolina’s Outer Banks beckoned.  Besides, who was I to question the chance to walk on water?  It was heavenly.     

Ironically, this is the same stretch of ocean that goes by the moniker, the Graveyard of the Atlantic.  Hundreds, maybe thousands have gone to the great beyond courtesy of (no, not Buzz) some of the same forces that have helped shape the shifting sands of North Carolina’s barrier islands. 

Two of those forces, the great currents of the western Atlantic – the warm, cobalt-blue waters of the Gulf Stream flowing north, and the cold, murky green Labrador Current traveling south – have been meeting and mingling for thousands of years in a maelstrom that extends a full eight miles off the tip of Cape Hatteras.   

Years ago, much of the lumber that washed ashore from the shipwrecks in those turbulent waters was used to build homes for the “Bankers”, those independent souls who called these fragile chain of remote islands home.   

Those same currents are undoubtedly responsible for some of the best fishing and surfing on the east coast; and some of the most dangerous rip tides. 

A thousand feet out over the Atlantic Ocean, the fish certainly looked to be biting the day we walked North Carolina’s oldest pier.  

The catch & release program saved this striped burr fish.

Nothing more exciting than that tug on the line.

The fish were so plentiful, we could see them from twenty-five feet above the water.

Could this be a sting ray?

Schools obviously in session; see that dark spot on the water?

We learned during our walk that Jennette’s Pier is actually quite new; the history of destruction and reconstruction behind this 75-year icon is what has  been preserved,

I've suffered a few devastating storms in my iconic lifetime, too, although I'm nowhere near 75.

thanks to the North Carolina Aquarium Society.  They purchased the pier in 2002, their intention to provide an educational outpost for preserving the past and promoting a sustainable, energy-efficient future in the Outer Banks.   As a retired teacher, I’m all for education!  Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime. 

As many as 35 piers dotted NC's coastline in 1984. Today less than 20 remain.

When Hurricane Isabel all but demolished Jennette’s Pier in 2003, the North Carolina Aquarium Society determined their investment needed something more concrete (literally and figuratively) to tackle Mother Nature’s propensity to seek and destroy. A massive reconstruction project and fundraising effort got underway in 2009; the new $25 million Jennette’s Pier (the first Pier, constructed in 1939 for a mere $6,000, represented the vision of Warren Jennette Sr. and the efforts of his sons, William and Warren), built using concrete pilings, opened in May of 2011.  This is not their father’s pier!

Jennette's Pier still sits just east of NC Highway 12 (the beach highway) close to mile marker 17.

Three elegant Bergey Excel-S wind turbines spin gracefully above the 1,000-foot long wooden Pier, 

Another perspective on the infinity and beyond concept.

providing as much as 80% of the electricity for the classrooms, gift house, snack bar, tackle shop and restaurant that are part of this landmark.  

Water temperature, wind velocity, & tide information are all readily available in the Research Center.

Plenty of gifts, both educational and recreational are also available in the gift shop.

The pier house is equipped with a closed-loop, geothermal, HVAC system; eighty wells, set 200 feet deep, circulate fluid that returns to the building at a consistent temperature to aid heating in winter and cooling in summer.  Rainwater cisterns provide irrigation, deck wash-down and vehicle cleaning.  An onsite wastewater treatment facility returns reclaimed water to the Pier and bathhouse toilets.   

Just another day in paradise.

I gotta admit, this fourth facility in the North Carolina Aquarium’s division of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources was impressive.  There’s even a private reception and meeting area on the second floor, which I’m told is a favorite venue for wedding receptions.   

Holy mackerel; now we’re talking “catch of the day”.    

Here's my awesome "catch of the day."

This reel deal was scored by Russell J. Landford in 1983.  He holds the North Carolina State Saltwater Record for his 768 pound Mako shark.  

This is one reason NC holds 92 world records for fish caught in the Outer Banks.

No wonder there were so few people actually in the water!   

The view looking south towards Cape Hatteras.

The view looking north towards Kitty Hawk.

People seemed more willing to part with their money ($200 for their very Own a Plank) than part with an arm or a leg.  Can’t say I blame them.  

Planks instead of bricks helped make the new Jennette's Pier a dream come true.

Jimmy and I got off easy, walking the planks for $2 apiece.  Twelve dollars will buy an all-day fishing pass, which includes the mandatory NC fishing license.  Polls and bait are extra; fishing lessons, too.   You need it, they got it at Jennette’s Pier. 

My favorite plank was John E. Bryant’s “Gone Fishin’ Forever”.  

John, here's to infinity and beyond.

Jimmy and I didn’t even have a few hours, much less forever. No fishin' for us.  We were due at Norfolk’s International Airport, an hour’s drive north, later that afternoon for our flight home. 

Jimmy has a tough time smiling when he's concentrating so hard on taking a selfie.

I took a moment, suspended between sea and sky courtesy of man’s imagination and determination, closed my eyes, and tried to commit it all to memory; the sounds, the smells, the gentle warmth and easy breezes courtesy of all the glorious sea and sand and sky and sun.  

Of course, just to be on the safe side, I opened my eyes and snapped one last picture. 

I'm still waiting for that room with a view! Not a pier, mind you, although in a pinch it will do.