But I really need to keep my attention on the road. We’ve reached the other side of the island, and according to the directions the GPS just bleated out, our turn to the lane leading to the lighthouse is coming up.
Pointing ahead to a narrow sandy driveway, Willa says, “That must be it.”
Sure enough, three seconds later, the GPS chimes in with “Fifty yards ahead, turn left.”
Willa and I glance at each other and laugh. “Yep, you were right,” I say.
I make the turn, and we start down the narrow trail. The heavy foliage on both sides makes it feel like we’re traveling through a tunnel of lush greenery.
But after a few hundred yards, the lane opens up to a big, sandy lot.
“There’s the lighthouse,” Willa says excitedly. “Wow, it’s bigger than I expected it to be.”
I pull right up to it and park.
“It is,” I agree as my eyes go up, up, up the bright white tower to the light and the metal dome on the top. “I’d put it at three stories.”
“Maybe four,” she throws out.
“Possibly,” I agree. “Let’s go find out.”
Willa and I hop out of the Jeep and look around. Surrounding the sandy lot at the base of the lighthouse are massive black rocks with lots of big waves crashing onto and over them.
“It sure looks different over here,” Willa remarks. “Our side is all flat, and the ocean is fairly calm.”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s amazing. As much as I love our part of the island, it’s pretty cool over here too.”
“Oh yeah, for sure.” She smiles at me and adds, “Let’s get in there and check out this place. I bet the views from the top are fantastic.”
Before we trekked out here, we did a little research. We wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be trespassing or violating any rules.
What we learned is that the lighthouse is operational, but it’s also open to the public from dawn till nightfall. Then it’s locked up. But what’s nice for the operating hours is that there’s an open-air viewing deck right below the housing for the giant light.
There’s access up to that point only. The only truly off-limits part of the structure is the actual light at the very top, which makes sense.
I start over to the metal door of the lighthouse, and Willa follows me. When we step inside, after our eyes adjust to the dimness, we see there’s a wrought iron staircase spiraling along the inside and leading up to the viewing deck.
“Oooh, it’s very cool in here,” Willa says. “And you were right. It looks like it is three stories. Very high stories, though.” Bouncing on her toes, she adds, “Shane, I can’t wait to go up to the top.”
“Me too,” I reply. And then I remember something. “Hey, did you bring your phone?”
“I did.” She slips her cell from a pocket in her shorts and holds it up.
“Great. I have mine too.” I pat my cargo shorts. “We’re going to get some great pics. Are you ready to head up?”
I gesture to the staircase, and Willa says, “Yes.”
As we make our way up the steps, we find out rather quickly that we have to be careful. Though there’s a handrail, some of the rungs have missing pieces of metal. Those particular steps are still usable, but there’s definitely a potential tripping hazard here.
Luckily, we both have on athletic shoes.
We stop at each of the landings where there’s a window on the side and take a couple of pictures of the view.
When we reach the top with the open-air viewing deck, which wraps all around the interior perimeter of the structure, Willa says, “Damn, that staircase was a little challenging. I’m glad I wore my sneakers today.”
“Right?” I agree as I fish out my phone from my shorts pocket. “You definitely have to pay attention going up or risk disaster.”
“For sure,” she says. “I bet heading down is going to be even worse.”
