Outer Banks Adventure

I mentioned in earlier posts that we spent last week enjoying a much-needed vacation in the Outer Banks with some close family friends. All in all, it was a wonderful time and everybody had a lot of fun. The following story; however, though comical for most folks, represented a pivotal moment in my career as a father.

Thursday afternoon was a little overcast, but despite the weather I decided to take my soon-to-be four year old, Reagan, to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse as a "special afternoon adventure with daddy".

At this point, I have to point out a serious lapse in personal judgment. You see, I have an almost paralyzing fear of heights - somehow it didn't cross my mind that this might play into the enjoyment factor of our daddy-daughter date.

We got to the lighthouse and snapped a few photos of the outside. It really is a magnificent structure when you think about it. Built in 1875, it stands a towering 158-feet above the low-lying Outer Banks seaside. Its brick construction is over 5-feet thick at the base to support its massive weight, and its light can be seen 13-miles out at sea. The engineer in me, loved every bit of it... that is until we went inside.

We paid our $7 entry fee and the nice gentleman at the entrance told us to take our time and enjoy the 214-stair climb to the top. Again, at this point, it should've hit me that the whole "fear of heights thing" was going to be an issue, but nope... we pushed on. We did, after all, have "I climbed the lighthouse" stickers waiting for us when we were done!

It is at this point, we reached the bottom of the staircase.

Original. Iron. Spiral to the top, the kind that you can see through, with landings every so often. The rise between each stair - more than enough for Reagan to fit through. The vertical supports holding up the hand rail - also, in my mind, unable to contain a stumbling kid.

Basically, it was something straight out of my nightmares.

Suddenly, I remembered all of my issues with heights. My heart started pounding and I could feel myself start to sweat as we began up the first set of stairs.

At the first landing, now dripping with sweat, my heart beating out of my chest, I realized, I had bitten off more than I could chew. It was time to admit defeat. I knelt down next to my little girl.

"Sweetheart," I said, "Daddy is having a really hard time. You see, I'm really afraid of heights - and these stairs make me very nervous. I'm really sorry, but we're going to have to go back down."

Now for those of you that aren't fathers, you may not understand the magnitude of what happened next - but it is no exaggeration when I tell you that the next bit of dialog represents one of the biggest tests I've faced as a dad thus far.

With those sweet little eyes, she looked up at me from behind her blond curls and said in a sad little voice, "But Daddy, I really want to see the top, can you be brave... for me?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I realized that this was game time. Can you be brave for me? What is a daddy to his little girl if he can't be brave for her? Oh yes, this was the real deal. It was time for a knight in shining armor to show up on his noble stead and take his princess to the castle tower. Turning back was suddenly no longer an option.

The moments that follow are blurred from the adrenaline that was pumping through me. I do know, however, that I took her by the wrist (not by the hand, mind you, hands are slippery, wrists are not) and we marched up all of those 214 stairs. Her little hand was purple by the time we reached the top.

She was amazed by the view from the outside deck, pointing out all the things she could see. Her excitement was certainly worth it. 

The picture below represents the culmination of my photographic abilities when facing one of my worst fears - paying absolutely no attention to camera settings and holding my D3 one-handed shooting wildly to prove I had actually been to the top - I captured this photo.

We came back down after a few minutes up there, and surprisingly I did a little better, probably motivated by the fact that terra-firma awaited me. At the bottom of the stairs, I shot this picture looking up to immortalize what I had conquered. 

At this point, you'd think my story was complete, but the best part was yet to come.

We returned to the beach house, where Rose awaited her great explorers return from their adventure. Reagan rushed to her mother to recount what had happened. This, I thought, it going to be great.

"So what did you guys do?" Rose asked.

"We went to a lighthouse, Mommy, and you're not gonna believe it..." Reagan replied.

Wait for it, wait for it - I thought. Here comes the "Daddy is my hero" story that I've been waiting for. Thoughts raced through my mind about what a fantastic story she was getting ready to tell about her daddy...

"What happened, what happened?" Rose asked excitedly. Reagan smiled from ear to ear.

"Daddy bought me ice-cream." she replied.

Comments

[jason]

Nice job Rob. I'm proud of you. :)

[Chris]

AW - I love the story brother. Absolutely amazing, especially the ending. "Daddy bought me ice-cream." How precious. NEver mind the bravery, ice cream was the most important...haha. But, you know one day she will mention this story to her friends and family and all in all it meant so much to her, I'm sure.

Awesome story!!!

[Andy]

Excellent spiral shot.