Oak Island Lighthouse — 131 Steps and a Great Story
We had already fallen for Oak Island.
The beach. The bikes. The quiet.
And then we discovered there was a lighthouse, in Caswell Beach, right next to the town of Oak Island. Of course we had to go!
Ben and Carma at the Oak Island Lighthouse, NC
A Different Kind of Lighthouse
Oak Island Lighthouse rising above the coastal scrub.
The Oak Island Lighthouse is unlike any lighthouse we’d seen. No spiral stripes. No classic brick red. This one is all poured concrete — gray on the bottom, white in the middle, black at the top. Simple. Yet striking.
Oak Island Lighthouse from the boardwalk approach.
And instead of elegant spiral staircases, this lighthouse uses ship ladders.
Straight up. One section at a time.
Looking up through the ship ladders inside Oak Island Lighthouse.
131 steps. A very different climb than a spiral staircase — but every bit as worth it.
The View from the Top
The views from the top were wonderful. The waterway, the marsh, boats docked below — and the lighthouse’s own shadow stretching out across the neighborhood.
Looking straight down from the top — and there's the lighthouse shadow!
Views of the waterway and marsh from the top of Oak Island Lighthouse.
The Guide Who Stopped Us in Our Tracks
One of the guides at the lighthouse told us his story. And it was a good one.
He was a bicyclist. Ten years ago he bicycled from Astoria, Oregon all the way to his home — three houses from the lighthouse in Caswell Beach, NC. Zig-zagged across the country. Two and a half months. Mostly solo, with riders joining him off and on along the way.
We asked about the best part.
Oregon, he said. The most beautiful stretch of the whole ride.
We’re heading to Oregon eventually. Hearing that — from someone who had crossed the entire country on a bike — felt like we were going home.
A Moment in the Guest Book
Before we left, we signed the guest book.
And for the address? We wrote Ashland, OR.
We don’t have an address there yet. We’re still on our way. But it felt right to write it down — to put it out there. To claim it, just a little.
It was a great feeling.
More stops on our US adventure to come!