There were three things that captured my imagination while growing up in rural Eastern North Carolina in the sixties... Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur and Ivanhoe... Secondly, were World War I bi-planes, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Baron Von Richtofen, and the Blue Max... and finally, the Civil War, the Monitor & the Merrimac, General Robert E. Lee and Fort Macon. Of all these things, Fort Macon was the only one that was easily accessible. My mother and I would visit the fort several times a year.

Entering the Fort meant an uphill climb from the parking area at the base of the dunes. I guess this was the first cobble stone path that I walked upon (Colonial Williamsburg being the second). The path was cut through the scrub brush and Water Oaks that are common to North Carolina beaches.
Along the path was a "powder magazine" (actually a cistern). I guess it still invites the curious to climb up on it to peer down into the hole at the top.

Without the Bridge
it would have been almost
impossible to storm the fort
without being wounded or killed.

Looking past the bridge from this picture
you can see down into the moat.
This is one of those "dark" areas
of the fort that kids loved to visit.

More Than One Entrance
leads into the fort
from its outer perimeter.
From just inside the door
you could turn in either direction
and walk from room to room.

Both Fun & Dangerous
were the paths from room to room.
No smooth Twentieth Century
sidewalks here.
Some bricks were missing...
others were broken off...
and you were never sure of what
you might find through the next door
or especially when you entered
a room that was pitch black.

You Could Be TRAPPED
with no way out.
Left possibly to starve to death...
to fall victim to the heat of the summer,
or shiver to death in a dank,
dark dungeon in winter.

Only Able to See
what your captors would allow
you to see from their prison.
Looking through the bars of a door or
window at the fort's armaments.

But Wait...
you wear "gray." You're in the
Confederate Army, and this is
still a Rebel fort.
"Ah, freedom!!!"

You Rush into the Courtyard
and spy one of the stairways to the
top of the fort. Let's climb up and
see what's there.

Intricate Grill Work
adorns the posts at the
top of the stairs.
There we see:

A 32 Pound Cannon
pointed toward the inlet and
standing guard to protect us
from ships entering the port.

Atop the Fort
you can look back down
upon the courtyard
and the
armament within.