A quick visit to North Carolina’s famous seaside destination.
The Outer Banks are a two-hundred-mile-long string of islands (and former islands) off the coast of North Carolina. They are part of a series of barrier of islands that stretch from Maine to Florida. Barrier Islands are sand islands that tend to be flat or have sand dunes. These islands are very susceptible to changes due to sea level rise, storms, and even just high wind. New islands can form due to storm surges and barrier islands can join other islands, or even the mainland (as in the case of the Upper Outerbanks) when tidal inlets are silted up, creating a barrier peninsula.
NASA A 200-mile-long line of islands out in the ocean.
The Outer Banks were the site of the one of the earliest European settlements in the future United States. The Roanoke Colony vanished from Roanoke Island in 1587, supposedly going to the Croatoan Island, which is called Hatteras Island today. Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first airplane at Kill Devil Hills, 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, in 1903. Although, the landscape of Kill Devils Hills looked much different back then.
I spent a short two days in the Outer Banks. Even in that short time, I was able to explore much of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Hatteras Island, and a couple of stops in the Kitty Hawk area. Much has changed since the Wright Brothers were last there.
My first stop was Cape Hatteras National Seashore‘s Bodie Island Lighthouse. It’s no longer on an island, but on one of those super long barrier peninsulas. (See, there was a reason I was explaining the geography of the area.) Tidal inlets open and close over the years and Bodie Island’s (pronounced “Body”) is closed as of this moment. The current lighthouse, built in 1872, is the third iteration. The first was abandoned because it was poorly built. The second was destroyed by retreating Confederate troops, but the third is here to stay. We hope.
The Bodie Island Lighthouse and the Lighthouse Keepers’ Quarters.
The lighthouse from the other side. It’s open for climbing in the summer.
Bodie Island ends at Oregon Islet, which is also were the wonderful Pea Island begins. Pea Island is preserved by the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The ocean side of the refuge as my favorite beach, so far, of the Outer Banks. It’s small and narrow and no one is allowed to drive on it except for employees. Over-sand driving is popular on the Outerbanks from the Carolinas to Delaware. The Pamlico Sound side has marshes and protected water for birds and other aquatic life and trails.
Pea Island’s wonderful beach.
A Laughing Gull being a beach bum.
The North Pond, a favorite haunt of birds and birders alike.
A little turtle living its best life.
Heading south again across New Inlet, which didn’t exist from 1945 to 2011, when Hurricane Irene opened it back up. A new bridge had to be built to reconnect Hatteras Island to the rest of the Outer Banks.
Hatteras Island is famous for its seashore and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The area just offshore of the Outer Banks is known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” due to all the shipwrecks off the coast. This has led to the all the wonderful lighthouses along the Outer Banks. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States at 210 ft (64 m) and second tallest in the world. The first lighthouse was built here in 1802 at the request of Alexander Hamilton. Yes, that Alexander Hamilton. The second and current lighthouse was finished in 1870. However, the island of Hatteras is shrinking, not uncommon for barrier islands. The National Park Service had to move the lighthouse in 1999 away from the approaching sea by 2,900 ft (880 m), about 1,500 ft (460 m) from the current shoreline. On the day the lighthouse started its big move, the high tide line was only 15 ft (4.6 m) from the base of the lighthouse.
Cape Hatteras’ iconic lighthouse.
The Double Lightkeepers’ House. When they moved the lighthouse, they moved the other buildings as well.
The original site of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. So very close to the ocean.
Old breakwater to help protect the lighthouse and prevent erosion.
I liked this beach as well. No cars on this one.
A Willet hanging out in the surf.
The WWII British Sailors Cemetery. On April 9, 1942, an armed British tanker was sunk off the coast of Cape Hatteras. Two of the men that died in the tragedy washed ashore and the local people of the island buried them in this small plot.
One of the sailors wasidentified. However, the other was not.
Frisco Beach, the non-vehicle zone. Very nice.
Sanderlings are adorable. They run down towards the water when the waves recede to find food. When the waves come back, the little birdos run towards shore.
The US Weather Bureau Station is where employees from the US Weather Bureau collected observations on the weather from 1902 to 1946. They helped predict rough weather and storms approaching the mainland US. The supervisor also lived here with his family.
Boardwalk to the beach from the Frisco Campground.
My second day started on the north part of Hatteras Island, near the town of Avon. I even got to see some pelicans flying around.
Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station, built in 1904 and decommissioned in 1954. The National Park Service is waiting for funds in order to restore the inside of the station.
Off in the distance, you may see the remains of an early wooden bridge over New Inlet, built in the 1930s. New Inlet has opened and closed multiple times since Pea Island was found by the Europeans. Hurricane Irene, in 2011, opened the inlet most recently and a new bridge had to be built, since the inlet had been closed by sand by the 1950s.
Foggy morning on Pea Island, near New Inlet.
A distant look at another life-saving station, the Pea Island Life-Saving Station. There was construction going on for a new bridge nearby so I couldn’t park and walk to it. The parking lot I think was being entirely used by construction workers and equipment.
Jockey’s Ridge State Park. I made a quick stop here to hike a trail through the dunes. Gives you more of a taste of what the Outer Banks would have looked like a century ago.
The dunes are very pretty. It’s sad that they are mostly gone.
These are great dunes.
The dunes go all of the way up to the Pamlico Sound. Roanoke Island can be seen in the distance.
Now for Wright Brothers National Memorial. The hill used to be just sand, and the Wright Brothers used it to launch their gliders when they were working on the design of their flyer. Grass was planted in order to stabilize the hill for the memorial.
Four markers mark out the length of the first four flights.
Looks like an airplane wing and the design looks like a bird wing. Very interesting.
The memorial to a set of brothers that changed the world.
If you like beaches and sea breezes, the Outer Banks is where you want to be. Nags Head and Kitty Hawk is very developed but the further south you head, the less developed the islands become. I quite enjoyed Hatteras Island and would love to go back in non-Covid times. Past Hatteras Island is another island, Ocracoke Island. You have to take a free ferry from Hatteras or a pay ferry from the mainland to get there. There’s more seashore, a little town, and another lighthouse to visit. Someday.
Check out my next update, where I will be visiting Fort Monroe!
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Check out more national parks and other public lands!
Our family has been going to OBX yearly since 1970. We never tire of it…..every year here is a week heaven.
I’ve never been to the OBX b4 but r vacation is planned in August..excited….
those lighthouses are just perfect.