It will be getting dark earlier and turning colder out so go ahead and just stay in your homes, turn on the tube and pull up a seat.

The CT crew, all two of us, is going to be sharing some of our best work ever. Hopefully you’ll enjoy all the funny moments and picturesque beauty of the Carolinas. What you won’t be seeing is that sometimes it takes a little extra effort to do the plush job of seeing and reporting on the Palmettto and Tar Heel states.

That’s where these little journals will come in. Sort of a “behind the scenes” look at how we put our show together. First up, Cape Lookout down on the Beaufort, NC coast.

If you’re new to the area, it’s pronounced Bo-fort. That’s important because if you’re down the coast in South Carolina and see Beaufort, it’s actually Byew-fert, SC. No charge for that little tidbit.

Well I just spent the last day and a half in my dark, dreary hole of an edit station putting this story together. When I edit a piece it really is like reliving the trip to the places we go. So at 5 a.m. on a Wednesday, I was magically lifted out of my dark hole and landed high atop the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

I know Mike gave you some history in his journal about the Lighthouse, but here’s a few fun things we encountered getting some beautiful pictures for you out there.

I’ve been to the top of four lighthouses now. It really is fun. The one problem we’ve encountered at each one though is that when these mammoth structures were literally being assembled brick by brick, someone forgot to put an elevator in the blue prints. The only way up is good old foot power.

Overall that’s not to bad, but add in a ninety-five degree day and add fifty pounds worth of camera gear on your shoulder and those 320 steps get a little bit steeper. But as always, Mike and I sacrificed for our wonderful viewers.

So, ten minutes and ten pounds of sweat later, team Traveler arrived at the top of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. I’m a skinny guy, so I don’t really have ten pounds to give. But, we arrived 150 feet up nonetheless. That alone should be grounds for celebration except now that we’re up there we actually have to go to work. Okay, a job with a pretty good view, I know.

First things first, we got to go in the glass room where the actual light was and watch the coast guard change the lightbulb. If you have ever been to visit a lighthouse, have you ever wondered how powerful the lightbulb must be to shine all those miles out to see? I figured it has to be one pretty massive bulb, one you can’t just pick up at the hardware store. Believe it or not, the bulb itself is only 1000 watts. Heck, we’ve got lights in the television studio that bright.

But this is where I realized someone much brighter that myself, pun intended, designed these things. It’s not the power of the bulb, but rather a combination of the wattage, mirrors and construction of the glass around the casing that makes these things able to send out a signal of safety to ships miles out at sea.

The other thing I realized, the light room isn’t air-conditioned. If it was 95 outside, it was literally about 150 in the room. I hope the video is in focus as I was pretty much blinded by the stinging sweat rolling into my eyes as we watched the changing of the bulb.

Check out the photo Mike took at the right. Here’s the view we had as we interviewed the park ranger. Yeah, pretty cool, I can’t really complain.

So, we finished up on top of the lighthouse and the walk down was a little easier. It wasn’t until we were on the ground that Mike and I learned the most valuable lesson of our trip.

Sometimes Mike holds an extra tape or battery for me. He did on this day too. So when we got to the bottom I double-checked the inventory. “Mike, you brought the tapes down right?” Silence. That means only one thing. One of us was headed back up 320 steps to retrieve it.

Now Mike and I have worked together every day for over five years now. We joke that we bicker like an old married couple. On this day, the bickering finally paid off. “I’ll go”. “No, you go.” “I’ll go, I said.” These insincere offers went back and forth a couple of minutes when finally a new voice piped in. “That’s okay, I’ll go fellas. I have to go up anyway.” Yes, the man being interviewed in the photo and our new best friend, Wowter the Park Ranger, stepped in to save the day and more likely to shut us up.

So be on lookout for Cape Lookout on our new shows in a few weeks. And while your enjoying the scenery, remember the sacrifices the CT crew makes for you. Or in this case how team Traveler was able to bicker there way out of an extra trip to the top of one of the most beautiful sites in the Carolinas. Thanks Wowter.

See you Saturdays at 7:30 pm.
Andy Benton
Carolina Traveler Sidekick