Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife
Grandfather says Cape Hatteras is a special place.
He and the family have been visiting there for nearly 60 years.
Grandfather says he remembers when Paul Mellon bought most of the undeveloped Hatteras Island shore and gave it to a national trust. It is now Hatteras Island National Seashore, administered by the National Park Service.
Grandfather says he remembers when Mellon’s gift was reported in the Washington Post. It got about three column inches somewhere in the back pages — typical of the Capital’s values, then and now.
Grandfather and the brood, Hatteras Island, NC. (circa 1965)
Mellon also gave us the National Gallery of Art, filled with his extensive collection of some of the world’s great art; now priceless. Most of it was created by now-dead white males, so it’s not very fashionable, either.
Surf at Cape Hatteras. Offshore are the Diamond Shoals, created by crossing currents. Many a ship foundered on them in centuries past.
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian from West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
Hey, Grandfather! Thanks for sharing today. I always enjoy your posts.
BTW, is that an infamous Corvair I see in your 1965 photo? Could you keep it on the road?
You’e welcome, GaGa.
That IS a Corvair, but not mine.
Mine is the SAAB with my son sitting backwards in it.
The Saab was “Safe at Any Speed” (IMO).
Ralph Nader burst upon the consumer advocacy scene with his book about the Corvair: “unsafe at Any Speed”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed
Grandfather witnessed the problem of rear swing axle tuck-under first hand. He was following a Corvair while it stopped at a stop sign and, in the process, gently rolled over onto its top!
i’m jealous. I wanted a SAAB when I was in high school, but settled for a VW. That wagon you had must have had the 3-cylinder two-stroke, lifetime guaranteed, with a “a four on the tree.”
One of my college buddies had a SAAB wagon, but by then it was shipping with a Taunus V-4. The only FWD cars on campus were his SAAB, my Peugeot 304, and a Honda 600.
Right on with your description of the Saabs! BTW, the last Saab I owned had that V4 in it and the valve stem liners were too soft – wore out – and the engine used so much oil it became serviceable.
Thanks for sharing this great post, Grandfather.
You’re welcome.
BTW, About the Saab, Grandfather will have more to say about his experiences with it (and other vehicles he’s owned, beginning seventy years ago), in a future “Grandfather Says” episode.
Did our honeymoon on the Outer Banks, including Hatteras 46+ years ago. Camped out in the National Park grounds, stayed in a few cheap motels. Great times, just no money then.
Well Andy, we camped out on our honeymoon, too – only on a lake in Michigan.
We did camp out at the Hatteras National Park campground later on, though.
10-4 on the great times, no money!
When our family fist went to Hatteras, there was no interstate highway near there. (BTW, the name of the interstates’ enabling legislation is the “National Interstate and Defense Highways Act” (Public Law 84-627). It happened because President Eisenhower recognized the value of Germany’s Autobahn, which he had observed while he was Supreme Allied Commander in the European Theater during WWII).
Ours was a long slog East on Rt. 17 from Warrenton, Va with several ferry crossings, eventually onto Hatteras Island.
As Hatteras became more crowded and the kids had grown up, Grandmother and I found more pristine recreation in Alaska (More on that in a later episode of “Grandfather Says”).
That, too, came to an end with my advancing age. But, I live with the knowledge that we did it while we could, along with alot of other things.
It’s a beautiful place to be sure. I’ve spent a lot of time there. I’m pretty sure the lighthouse on Cape Hatteras is the tallest one in the USA.
Hatteras is beautiful indeed, Stan.
The lighthouse was moved back from the ocean over half a mile, 19 years ago. It is the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. at 207 feet.
Beach erosion was about to undermine it