Nautical Table
- sarahwilk24
- Aug 14, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 19
Hunter didn't grow up going to the beach, but Sarah enjoys spending time by the ocean and has always been fascinated by its mysteries. She grew up visiting Florida most summers with her family. As adults, Sarah's family makes an almost-annual pilgrimage to the Outer Banks, which means that Hunter comes along for the ride. Most of the sets in this table display help tell the story of their most recent trip to the Outer Banks in the summer of 2024.
Mom's Diamond Jubilee
363 pieces | LEGO: 41378 (retired)
Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, February 2025
Interaction Rating: 4 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged, but use extra care)
August 15, 2024
During a late-summer trip to Avon in the Outer Banks, Hunter and Sarah joined her mom, Bonnie, sister, Emma, and a friend of Bonnie's to celebrate her sixtieth birthday. The couple spent much of the day, which was Hunter's first full day in the Outer Banks (Sarah had come down a few days earlier), under a sunshade at the beach. They celebrated Bonnie by going out to a seafood restaurant that also happened to have baked potatoes, ensuring there was something on the menu for Sarah. Bonnie's friend, Michael, regaled them with tales of deep-sea diving and his exploration of a shipwreck, where he'd seen the skeleton of someone who had crewed the ship and found treasures that he brought back from the wreckage. It made the couple think about what it would be like to adventure down into the ocean like that, and what might be out there to discover just off-shore from where they were, dubbed "The Graveyard of the Atlantic." They much prefer the safety and light of the shore. Emma had baked Mom a cake earlier in the day, and they cut it once back at the beach house. Hunter and Sarah took a moonlit walk along the beach.
Hurricane Ernesto
2,296 pieces | Moyu Block: MY97043
Assembled by Mike Alfare, February 2025
Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)
August 16, 2024
While they were at the Outer Banks, Hurricane Ernesto was swirling out in the Atlantic Ocean. It didn't cause storms at the beach, but it did create the most intense waves they'd ever seen. It was difficult even to put their feet in the water, and the part of the beach where they usually placed their chairs was entirely covered by the waves, which reached all the way to the dunes. Sarah tried to sit on the dune with her beach chair, but even as she sat, the tide kept creeping up. Hunter, bless his heart, tried to brave the waves on the upper part of the beach, but was knocked off his feet. He found a sign about not disturbing a turtle nest, which washed up with a wave. They could only hope the turtles would be okay through the inundation of water into their nest. During Ernesto's time traveling through the Outer Banks, a house in Rodanthe (featured in the Nicholas Sparks book and movie, Nights in Rodanthe) fell into the ocean, something that is happening more as sea level rises and the beaches of the Outer Banks erode.
Ocracoke Island
301 pieces | LEGO: 60119 (retired)
Assembled by Hunter Williams, February 2025
Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)
August 17, 2024
Ocracoke Island is an island off the main shore of the Outer Banks, accessible by ferry boat from Hatteras, which was about twenty minutes from the beach house. Hunter had never been, but Sarah had always enjoyed the day trip. The ferry ride was smooth, and the couple spent much of it exploring the boat and taking in the views. In town, they browsed the shops, including one of Sarah's favorite bookstores and a tea shop where Hunter got a hot brew to go. They even found some incredible kitchen knives, textured to resemble fish scales, in a shop, only to discover they were made in Indiana. Hunter resisted buying a $50 wooden spoon at a shop selling artisan goods made on the island. At the island pub, Hunter enjoyed a conch sandwich and Sarah ate plates of red fingerling potatoes with butter she'd stashed in her bag. On the way out of town, they stopped to see the "wild" horses, which aren't so wild, as they live within a fence boundary. The specter of eroding beaches amid sea level rise was present as they drove the thin part of the island back to the ferry, with the side of the road nearest the ocean fortified with rows and rows of sandbags. When they could get a glimpse of the ocean over the sandbags, it was shockingly close to the road. When Sarah and her family started coming to Ocracoke nearly a decade ago, the dunes were still there, and now they were almost totally gone. While waiting for the ferry, they fed spicy Cheez-Its to a hungry raccoon that was going up to each car in the row to see what they had to offer. Sarah got motion sick on the way back to the mainland, and they tried to stand somewhere on the ferry where she could see the horizon and feel the fresh air.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
341 pieces | The Mini Block: 429825
Assembled by Hunter Williams, September 2024
Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)
August 18, 2024
On the couple's last day in the Outer Banks, they went with Bonnie and Emma to see the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton. It's the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. at 210 feet. The first iteration of the lighthouse was built in 1802, following a near-wreck of Alexander Hamilton's ship nearby, as the shifting sandbars off the coast of the Outer Banks had caused numerous shipwrecks. When they visited, the lighthouse was under construction, with scaffolding running up the side from the ground to the very top. In 1999, due to the encroachment of the sea, the lighthouse had to be relocated further away from the shore, an endeavor that is a testament to the remarkable achievements of humanity. In the gift shop, Sarah and Hunter discovered some little brick sets from The Mini Block, and they bought one of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse as well as a cute pirate ship. They'd later discover that many National Park Service sites feature this brand of brick sets, and they'd end up collecting many more in the coming months.
Turtle Beach
234 pieces | LEGO: 21254
Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, October 2024
Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)
August 18, 2024
Before snagging a little more beach time before it was time to go home, they stopped at a little recreational center that Sarah had discovered on a previous trip. Behind the basketball courts and covered shelter, there's a decent-sized square pond that is probably used for fishing. In previous years, the pond had been very clean and was teeming with turtles. She'd counted more than 50 turtles on an earlier visit, and those were just the ones she could see! She hoped they were still doing well in the pond so that Hunter could see them, too. The turtles were still in the pond, but it was much muckier than Sarah had seen it before. There were still turtles to be seen, but it seemed much harder for them to get around the pond now that there was so much debris. They saw about ten turtles as they stood over the railing, watching. Too soon, it was time to head home. They packed their things and their dog, Ryder, into the car for the trip home. This would prove to be Ryder's last time at the Outer Banks. The beach house they always stay in when they visit is up on stilts, as many homes in the area are. He had trouble navigating them due to his declining mobility. But he had a nice warm bath in the outdoor shower, always a luxury part of his beach time. They were grateful to make those memories with him.
Gladiator
834 pieces | LEGO: 10331
Assembled by Bonnie Draga, December 2024
Interaction Rating: 4 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged, but use extra care)
December 27, 2024
One evening, Sarah and Hunter put bricks together and watched the movie Gladiator with Sarah's mom, Bonnie. Neither Sarah nor Hunter had seen the film, which is one of Bonnie's all-time favorites. Since Hunter is so interested in Roman history, it was a bit of a travesty that he hadn't watched it. Bonnie was not very interested in putting brick sets together, partly because she had some bad luck with early sets she tried (the couple didn't encounter many "dud" sets through the process of building their museum, but of the ones they encountered, Bonnie ended up trying to put two of them together). She worked on the Kingfisher while they watched the movie. The couple has never actually seen a Kingfisher in the wild, but they have lots of herons that fish in the reservoir where they live, especially at sunset.
Maymont's Seahorses
145 pieces | LEGO: 31140
Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, April 2025
Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)
April 6, 2025
During a trip to Richmond from their home in Alexandria, the couple's nephew, Andrew, and sister, Rachel, discovered Maymont (a vast park with farm animals, a nature center, and gorgeous gardens) for the first time. While they were at the nature center, they were able to see turtles, seahorses, catfish, horseshoe crabs, and two adorable otters named Nola and Louis. The seahorses were particularly adorable, many of them hugging each other by entwining their curly tails together. The couple has never seen seahorses in the wild, but the seahorses at Maymont reminded them of an underwater horsey version of themselves: always hugging, wanting to be as close to each other as possible.
The Lighthouse Keeper
3,228 pieces | JMBricklayer: 41103
Assembled by Mike Alfare, June 2025
Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)
When Hunter dreams about retirement with Sarah, one of his frequent fantasies is to imagine them stealing away to a quiet seaside and restoring an old lighthouse. They would work as lighthouse keepers, operating the light at night and listening to the wind whip the sea by day. Sarah would read and write in the little office at the top of the lighthouse, and Hunter would tend the many island cats they would care for as their own.
Let's Sink a Ship!
626 pieces | LEGO: 31165
Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, April 2025
Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)
Throughout their relationship, the couple has stumbled upon frequent headlines about orcas teaming up to attack sailing yachts (often targeting the rudder) until they sink. While this would be terrifying to live through if they were on the ships, the couple also finds this behavior, which scientists can't convincingly explain, to be amusing. They can't help but wonder if humans have brought this upon themselves by disrupting the orcas' natural habitat with all the ships that create noise pollution that impedes their ability to hunt and communicate with one another.
Swimming with the Fishes
835 pieces | Funwhole: F7092
Assembled by Mike Alfare, July 2025
Interaction Rating: 4 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged, but use extra care)
The couple has accepted the reality that they will probably never snorkel in the world's most beautiful reefs, which are quickly disappearing due to human-caused ocean warming and acidification. That doesn't mean they aren't fascinated by sea life and the idea of swimming with and observing them so closely. The ocean waters they have access to on the East Coast hold many mysteries, including concealing the sea life that swims near the shores, which is often obscured by the sand and debris that clouds the water. Sarah has been warned by an OBX local to get out of the ocean waters before, as he could tell that sand sharks were feeding nearby—something she would never have been able to figure out herself. This set captures the mystery and wonder of what might be hidden just below the surface each time they visit the ocean.
Starfish
254 pieces | Unbranded
Assembled by Mike Alfare, March 2025
Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)
Mini Sea Creatures
629 pieces | HOGOKIDS: 12204
Assembled by Sarah Wilkinson, June 2025
Interaction Rating: 5 / 5 (interaction with the set is encouraged)
Photos from the Outer Banks.
Bonnie, Sarah's mom, and Hunter assembling LEGO sets while watching Bonnie's favorite movie, Gladiator. Bonnie was completing the Kingfisher Bird.
Hugging seahorses at Maymont.