[gentle orchestral fanfare]

♪

[resonant strings lead
building orchestration]

♪

(male narrator)
Welcome to "Our State,"

a production of UNC-TV

in association
with "Our State" magazine--

for over 75 years

bringing the wonders
of North Carolina

to readers across the state.

On this edition, an icon

and landmark for generations

becomes our newest state park,

one family's

unique contribution

to the preservation

and breeding of waterfowl,

and North Carolina's

showboat battleship

houses some surprises

below decks.

♪

[gentle piano melody]

(male announcer)
Since 1872,

BB&T has been supporting
the people and communities

of North Carolina.

From our small-town roots

to the banking network
you see today,

we've always been here
for all our clients,

stretching from Manteo
to Murphy.

We're proud
of our heritage

as the oldest bank
in North Carolina,

and we're very proud
to provide funding

for "Our State."

♪

Quality public television
is made possible

through the financial
contributions

of viewers like you,

who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.

♪

[mellow mandolin
and bass arrangement]

♪

♪

(male narrator)
It all began

with a 25¢ ride
up the mountain...

by donkey, mule,
or horseback...

depending on which story
you believe.

(woman)
Well, Dr. Lucius Morse
was from St. Louis,

and he came to this area,

actually,
because he had tuberculosis

and he was looking
for a better climate.

And so he used to ride
down on horseback,

down into Hickory Nut Gorge,

and he saw the monolith
known as Chimney Rock

and thought, "Wow!

This is an incredible place
for a tourist attraction."

And so that really was
the beginning of his dream.

(narrator)
All that happened
back around 1902.

But there's a whole lot
of Dr. Morse's dream

that happened
between 1902 and today,

including participation
by two older brothers

in his dream--

twin brothers who quickly
became as smitten as Dr. Morse

by Chimney Rock
and its possibilities.

(Jaeger-Gale)
Dr. Lucius--he was the one
that had the vision--

Hiram and Asahel
were the ones

that helped to bankroll
the operation.

(narrator)
When the Morse brothers bought

the original 64 acres
of Chimney Rock Mountain

from Jerome Freeman,
their first challenge

was how to get visitors
safely up the mountain,

beginning
with an access road.

(man)
You can just imagine
what it's like

to build a road
on the side of a mountain.

They got about two miles
up the road

and the engineers were telling
them to stop at that point

because they encountered
so much rock

that it made it very difficult
to get past.

They ended up buying some
property on top of the mountain

to get some water
to power their steam drills

and blasted on
through the rock

and got
the last mile completed.

[arrangement slows]

(narrator)
Building the road also meant

bridging the Rocky Broad River,

which they accomplished
by June of 1916.

A few weeks later,
on the 4th of July,

Mother Nature whipped up
a pretty good storm

and an ambitious flood
that undid all their good work

by washing
the new bridge away.

[somber string arrangement]

(Jaeger-Gale)
That probably would have put
lots of people--

like, "that's enough for me,"

but it didn't daunt
their spirits.

They went right back at it
and built the road.

That was really the beginning
of the real access.

(narrator)
And people came
from all around

in their horse-drawn
carriages,

then their Model Ts,

and parked
at the chimney's base,

where you could
relax at the inn

that backed up against
the cliffside at that time.

But getting to the base
of the chimney

was just the first part
of your journey.

Heh--you still had
some climbing to do.

The 470 steps
they built to the top

was quite an improvement

over what earlier visitors
had to negotiate.

(Jaeger-Gale)
They had some pretty
rudimentary stairs and things,

and we hear that people
shimmied up locust posts

to get up on top
of the chimney.

I think, when there's
a will, there's a way,

and that's pretty much
the access that they had.

(narrator)
Another part
of the doctor's ambitious dream

was to change the view
from his mountain,

which he actually
made happen in the 1920s

by creating Lake Lure.

[airy flute leads
plucked mandolin]

♪

But the long-term goal

of a first-class resort
to encompass Chimney Rock Park

was derailed
by Depression-era economics.

And about the same time,
ambitious plans were hatched

to improve access
to the mountain even more

in a novel
and dramatic fashion.

(Jaeger-Gale)
This was a dream
of Hiram Morse.

He wanted everyone
to have access to the mountain,

and so they looked
at all kinds of ways.

They looked at funiculars,

but the elevator seemed
to make the most sense.

They had plans for that
and talked about that

early on in the century,
but it wasn't until 1948

that they actually
accomplished that goal.

[banjo chord]

(narrator)
An elevator?

Up the side
of a mountain?!

No...
inside the mountain.

[twanging banjo introduces
mellow mandolin arrangement]

(Morse)
They did some
engineering studies,

and unfortunately
those studies happened

around the time
that Dr. Morse passed away,

so I think he
was probably involved

with the idea
of the elevator

but didn't get to see it
to its completion.

And they began construction,
I guess, back in 1947,

and it took about, uh,

18 months
and 8 tons of dynamite.

Blasting into the rock
and then straight up

was a pretty incredible thing,

given the fact
that the hoistway

is a 258-foot shaft, uh,
straight up into the mountain.

♪

It was the tallest elevator
in the state of North Carolina

when it was constructed

and then opened to the public
in 1949, and um,

some people ask me,
Why don't you have another one?

heh, heh, heh

[gentle melody]

(narrator)
Today's visitors are reminded

what a feat
of engineering this was

by displays posted along
the 198-foot tunnel walkway.

♪

So glad y'all
come to see us,
and y'all enjoy!

Thank
you.

Thanks.

(narrator)
The trip to the top takes...

about 30 seconds.

And then
once you arrive,

you can enjoy
the 75-mile view,

visit the Opera Box,

long a favorite spot,

or climb
the remaining 44 stairs

to look out from the chimney
top's 1,965-foot elevation.

[airy flute leads
plucked mandolin]

Other scenic attractions--

the Devil's Head outcropping,

or you can try

squeezing your way
through narrow Needle's Eye...

[banjo twangs]

(man)
There they are, right?

♪

(man #2)
One at a time.

(man #3)
Pants off and go
one leg at time.

(narrator)
...or perhaps even hike
to Hickory Nut Falls.

At 404 feet, it's one
of our state's highest

and was part
of a well-known scene

from the feature film
"The Last of the Mohicans."

[mandolin leads
resonant strings]

♪

Of course, the main attraction
remains the magnificent view

of Hickory Nut Gorge
and Lake Lure from the chimney.

[airy flute leads
plucked mandolin]

♪

Resisting the pressure
of commercial development

and after much thought
and soul searching,

the Morse family
decided in 2007

to sell
the 996-acre park

to the state
of North Carolina.

The result is
a much larger park,

more like Lucius Morse
envisioned all those years ago.

[tempo slows]

(woman)
For a long time,
there were ideas and plans,

as part of the New Parks
for a New Century initiative,

to develop the
Hickory Nut Gorge State Park.

And lands had
already been acquired,

and the General Assembly
had already authorized

the development of the
Hickory Nut Gorge State Park.

The lands were adjacent,
and it made sense

to make a contiguous park

and include
the Chimney Rock Park.

♪

And so this is very new,

and we're all learning
as we go, every day.

♪

I'm tickled to death
to be here.

♪

(Jaeger-Gale)
The thing that probably was

most concerning to folks
in the community

was that it continued
to be a park,

that it would continue to, um,
bring guests to our area

because our entire area is
totally dependent on tourism.

And of course our associates
that we work with--

me included--
were very concerned

about what happens to us
if it becomes a state park.

And I think the Morse family's
concern, too,

is not just
about their property

and making sure that it
was preserved and shared,

but also that the community
and the associates

and their family
found the best solution.

(Morse)
We were so delighted that
the state of North Carolina--

the state parks--
recognized that,

and it certainly was a win
for our employees

and, I believe,
the community

because the people
that have been working here

over all these years
were able to continue

to do what they do best
and what they love to do.

And I hope the people of North
Carolina will be satisfied

because the people
that love Chimney Rock

will be able
to experience it

in much the same way
as they have in years past

for many generations to come,

I think,
as a result of this agreement.

[trilling flute
leads plucking mandolin]

♪

[electronic strings
and woodwinds resonate]

♪

[squealing birds]

(female narrator)
Welcome to waterfowl heaven.

If there's any place
in the world

that might qualify
to be called that,

it's probably this place,
right here in North Carolina.

At this extraordinary spot
in Scotland Neck,

Mike and Ali Lubbock,
their son Brent,

and their staff
have created,

if not
a waterfowl heaven...

then something
that comes mighty close.

(man)
This facility is set up

for the public
to be able to learn more

about the waterfowl
found throughout the world

and other birds too.

[long, descending call]

We have
about a thousand birds,

170 species, uh,
mainly waterfowl,

which is ducks,
geese, and swans.

[squawking]

We are the largest
collection of waterfowl

for view to the public.

There might be other
collections around the world,

but there's nothing
this size or magnitude

that the public can view.

(narrator)
It's a dream come true

for the husband
and wife team,

who came here from England
some 20 years ago

and declared
this area perfect.

(Mike Lubbock)
The temperature was right.

The winters were not harsh,
and everything about it--

it's a farming community,

and, basically, I was farming
waterfowl at the time.

We worked with the United States
when we were based in England--

a lot with, particularly,
Sea World

and a lot of the other zoos--
Bronx Zoo and such.

And they really introduced me
to the North Carolina Zoo.

And then Zoo Society
of North Carolina--

the zoo partnershiped
with us--

and if it hadn't
been for them,

we couldn't put
this together.

They obviously wanted my birds
because I was bringing birds

in from Europe which
they didn't have over here.

(Ali Lubbock)
It's been really wonderful

to have
a reverse situation here.

We're helping supply them
with most of the waterfowl

in all of the zoos
in the United States.

It's a '07 bird,

and it was reared
at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl.

♪

(narrator)
Mike and his wife Ali
both arrived here

with considerable
aviculture experience,

most notably,
deep expertise

in the breeding
of endangered waterfowl.

(Mike Lubbock)
Our breeding center
is very different

from what the public
see over here.

We actually
don't take the public.

We take members,
and we have to escort them.

It's designed
for breeding birds

and not for walking around.

The other
name for them
is zebra duck

because of the--
the stripes on them.

(narrator)
Here's one fascinating
example of their work--

a baby Eurasian eagle owl
which has fallen from its nest.

This little fellow
isn't as tiny as he looks.

And it isn't quite as simple
as you might think

restoring him to his mama!

[strings lead
suspenseful arrangement]

♪

(Mike Lubbock)
Everybody stay still, please.

[cage doors clattering]

(narrator)
All's well that ends well.

Breeding birds is all
about new beginnings...

[soft, chiming
celesta melody]

...which starts,
of course, with an egg.

And what's fascinating
is that the first step

in the incubation
of a rare waterfowl egg

is to stick it under a local,
garden-variety chicken

for a while.

(man)
We actually find
that birds are better

at starting the eggs off
or sitting on the eggs

than using incubators
from day one.

[clucking]

They come out
for 25 minutes.

They feed, go to the toilet,

have something to drink,

and, um, we check
the duck eggs.

What I do is,
I shine a light through.

What I'm looking for
is fertility.

Any bad eggs
have to come out.

Otherwise it'll make
all the other eggs go bad.

This one actually
started but it went off.

It didn't get any further,

so I'll have to take
that one out.

So, now that they've
had their break,

it's time for them
to go back to work.

So the eggs'll
stay under here

for about 18 days before
they move into incubator room.

♪

(Mike Lubbock)
In the very early days, when
I first got into waterfowl,

birds were caught
out of the wild

and brought back
into captivity.

Well, those birds had
that migratory instinct,

so that when
the breeding season came,

they wanted to go
back up north.

They were never
very settled.

[clarinet leads]

Well, I pioneered
collecting waterfowl eggs.

You go out to the wild

and you collect two eggs
from a clutch,

so you're not actually
hurting the birds

because a clutch
is ten eggs.

You bring the eggs back
into a captive situation...

Uh, oh.

...and you rear them,

and then they don't know
any different, really.

And this helped us
tremendously

for breeding these birds
in the future.

Because we keep quite
a few birds together,

not all of them are allowed
to rear their own young,

but some of the swans
and some and geese are allowed

to rear their youngsters 'cause
they're very good parents.

[tender celesta arrangement]

(narrator)
This is what
a black swan looks like

when it gets
a little older.

She and the intern
are in training.

Mostly take her
swimming--

I spend at least four hours
a day with her.

That way she'll get used
to people, not only me.

[squealing]

You're getting too big,
aren't you?

(narrator) Without the help of
this intern and young
volunteers,

Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park
and Eco-Center

wouldn't be nearly
as successful.

[trilling]

(Ali Lubbock)
Just volunteers
from other countries

that just want to come
and learn about the waterfowl--

we're unbelievably
dependent on them.

♪

(narrator)
But it's also about the future,

especially endangered species
and vanishing habitat.

(Mike Lubbock)
This is
the white-winged wood duck.

It's probably one of
the rarest ducks in the world.

There are only about 200
left in the wild.

And they come
from Sumatra.

Vietnam,
they used to be in.

Habitat has been
their problem,

and, obviously, in Vietnam

with all the Agent Orange
during the Vietnam War.

But we've been breeding them
now for several years,

and then what I do with
these birds is loan them out

to zoos
and private collections

so that we can bring
those birds back here.

Give 'em the time;
when we find a place

we can put them back,
that's what we're going to do.

(narrator)
You might say that this
place is for the birds...

all shapes...

sizes...

colors...

[birds squealing]

...and degrees
of cuteness.

♪

From cartoon ducks...

to showoff peacocks...

flamingos straight
from a postcard...

and just about
everything in between.

And doesn't it seem that
that's the way it should be

for a place that could easily
be called waterfowl heaven?

♪

[bird calls]

[droning bass note]

♪

[suspenseful
piano chords join]

♪

(male narrator)
In the dark corners
of almost every basement,

there are secrets...

tucked away in faded cartons
on long-forgotten shelves,

far-removed
from the light of day,

visible only momentarily

in the sweeping arc
of an exploring lamp.

If only we had the time to
pick our way through it all,

what hidden treasures
we could find.

♪

[gentle piano melody]

Welcome to the Battleship
North Carolina, more properly,

the USS North Carolina
Battleship Memorial.

This magnificent vessel
was once

the world's greatest
seaborne weapon,

a gun platform of almost
unimaginable power,

at least in 1941.

It's hard to imagine
what wartime

on this vessel was like,

but on special occasions,

a dedicated volunteer
living-history crew

tries to help visitors
understand.

Range 1,800--

elevation 1,500.

Track on target!

[explosions]

[strings lead
grim composition]

(narrator)
North Carolina participated
in every major offensive battle

in the Pacific during that war.

(man)
All hands,
man your battle stations!

All hands,
man your battle stations!

[sonar beeping]

(man #1)
Range bearing 3--

(man #2)
Range 1, 5.

Three, two, five--
twenty miles and closing fast!

(man #3)
Commence firing!

[explosions]

[machine gun fire]

[explosions roaring]

♪

(narrator)
After the war,

the technologically advanced
ship was mothballed

and, by 1958,
was about to be scrapped

when a grassroots North
Carolina fund-raising effort

came to the rescue.

The battleship arrived
at her new berth

in Wilmington's
Cape Fear River

in October of 1961

and, on April 29th
of the next year,

was dedicated
to the memory

of more than 10,000
North Carolina servicemen

who died serving their country
in the Second World War.

[trumpet playing slowly]

And below decks,

the treasure hunt
was just getting underway.

[harp plucks chord
as low note drones]

(man)
You never know
what you're gonna find.

When the ship
was transferred here in 1961,

they came in, took off
what they wanted to take off,

closed the doors,
put the dehumidification on,

and walked away.

And that's what we're
dealing with here,

is not only the ship
and the installed equipment,

but all our parts storerooms
are filled.

For the technogeeks around,

we have the little
vacuum tubes in the boxes.

We've got storerooms
full of 'em.

(woman)
When I came to work here,
I was only the second curator.

And really, you know,
we are a ship.

We are a museum, but we're
like a historic house.

Think of it
as "This Old Ship."

And I came on,
and all of a sudden

it was so much fun
to go exploring!

What's behind this door,
and what's behind that door?!

(narrator)
You never really know.

(woman)
Ah!

(narrator)
It could be important
historical records,

an old navigation instrument,

a ship's gyro,
and who knows what else?

A ladder descends
further down--heh--

and doesn't look
all that inviting, unless,

perhaps, you're waiting
for your 30 days in the brig

to finish up,
and the walls are closing in.

Whether it's a glimpse

of a sailor's life
scribbled on a cell wall...

(woman)
Thirty days--ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo!

(narrator)
...or a few moments recreated
by the living-history crew,

it's important to remember

that life on board was,
in some ways,

like life in a small,
unusually compact town.

[indistinct talking]

[shouts name]

Yes!

[laughter]

[indistinct talking]

(narrator)
The ship's records
and equipment,

quite ordinary at the time,

today prove endlessly
fascinating.

[slow clarinet
and piano arrangement]

(woman)
Well, we try to collect
and interpret

items relating to daily life,

but we also try to figure out
ways to connect,

to make it relevant to someone
in the 21st century.

Some of my favorite
recent discoveries

have been papers relating
to the supply department,

from gunnery down to foods.

Christmas menu from 1944--
printed menu--

Fourth of July dinner
in 1942.

[strings enter]

Uh, this is a range indicator

in fair condition.

The schedule of events
for the battle of Iwo Jima--

very detailed plots
of different ships.

We do have diaries
from the sailors.

Gerry Kass, April of 1945--

the day that the ship was hit

and a number of men
were killed,

and one of them
was his friend.

We spend a lot of time
trying to show the daily life,

and really what a nice place

the battleship was to be
during World War II!

But it was a war,
and so you find this material

and it just really
touches your heart.

(narrator)
Visitors to the 21st-century
USS North Carolina

will be astonished
at the condition

of the ship
and its contents--

a floating city
that once housed

2,339 people.

But what of the future?

Yes, believe it or not,

the Navy could call
the North Carolina

back into service,
which isn't likely.

Meanwhile, another vessel
named USS North Carolina

has taken to the waves--

a fast-attack
nuclear submarine,

the latest of a handful
of American vessels

to carry the name
of our state.

(man over P.A.)
The flag of the secretary
of the Navy

is flying
over USS North Carolina.

(Scheu)
To put it in perspective,
the last time a ship

named "North Carolina"
was commissioned

was April 9th of 1941,

and it was commissioned
in New York City and not here.

And in your life--
the rest of our lifetimes,

you will probably
never see another ship

named USS North Carolina

commissioned
or even named.

(narrator) Yet, the USS North
Carolina Battleship Memorial

no doubt will endure,

as long as visitors
can walk her teak decks,

gaze at the bristling guns,

and, maybe, even pretend,
if but for a moment,

that they're fighting
an enemy aircraft

diving on the ship
from out of the sun

and, as long as dedicated
curators like Kim

still get excited about their
below-decks detective work...

Isn't this cool?!
Never been in here!

(narrator)
...heh--finding and exhibiting

the artifacts
from the war years

that are yet to discovered
in the ship's great basement.

[horns and strings hold chord]

♪

[silence]

[birds singing]

[camera shutter clicking]

[lens mechanism clacking]

(Fennema)
I don't sell photographs, um--

framed things like that.

I do bookmarks, note cards,

magnets, um, posters,

whatever is, uh--
I feel like doin' at the time,

and I'm constantly comin' up
with new things, um.

I like to put somethin'
that'll give people a smile.

When they go to a place
on vacation,

I try to think of them
as a tourist like I am,

and what would I want
if I went to a place?

I like history
and, um, nature,

since I'm a biologist
by schooling, um,

animals, um, just anything
that's interesting,

and most everything
is interesting,

so it's fair game
for the camera.

Um, but I've focused
my photography on the coast.

That's where I live, and it's
the most accessible to me,

especially these days, uh.

And, uh, it's where
my customers are,

and I'll go to photograph
whenever I go to my customers.

I'll deliver,
and we'll have lunch

and sit down
and just talk

about what they need
and any ideas,

and then I'll
go shoot something

if they have
something in mind.

And then I'll usually
take a vacation

once a year
in the wintertime in February

and I'll go
to the Outer Banks

when all the migratory
birds are there

and there's no people--heh!

Taking pictures is a very small
part of what I do anymore.

I'm at the computer
a lot of the time,

printing, assembling,
and that's what I like to do,

is give people
something to read.

Maybe they'll learn something
on the back of it

but smile when
they see the picture.

[birds singing]

[distant bird chirping]

[mellow mandolin
and bass arrangement]

♪

♪

♪

Caption Editors
Will Halman & Lauren Gardner

Caption Perfect, Inc.
www.CaptionPerfect.com

♪

(male announcer)
To subscribe
to "Our State" magazine,

visit the Web site
www.ourstate.com or call...

[gentle piano melody]

(announcer)
From the time BB&T
opened its doors in 1872

in the town of Wilson,

we've supported the people and
communities of North Carolina

from the Outer Banks
to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We've been in business
for 136 years,

making us
the oldest bank

in North Carolina.

We're proud
of this distinction,

and we're also very proud

to provide funding
for "Our State."

♪

Quality public television
is made possible

through the financial
contributions

of viewers like you,

who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.