Legend says the painters that painted the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse were drunk at the time and painted the lighthouses incorrectly. The assumption was the diamond pattern should have been on the Cape Hatteras lighthouse as it guarded Diamond Shoals. I'm not sure if the painters were inebriated or not but the lighthouses were painted correctly. The black diamonds on the Cape Lookout lighthouse face north and south. The white diamonds face east and west. To the south of the lighthouse are the Cape Lookout shoals that extend into the ocean some 20 miles. To the north of lighthouse are the shallow sound waters. To the east of the lighthouse is Raleigh Bay and to the west is Onslow Bay. Both deep ocean bays. If you're navigating toward the black faces of the diamonds you are in danger. Navigate toward the white faces and you are clear to the shoals.