Last year I spent two weeks in Coastal North Carolina working on the new version of Lonely Planet’s guide to Georgia & the Carolinas. Upon my return from Alaska, I was happy to see that this beauty is now an actual book.
Best part about this book (IMHO)? My essay on the Golden Age of Pirates! That’s too good to give away, but here is the introduction to my chapter on Coastal North Carolina.
A chain of beguiling barrier islands
Rugged, windswept and starkly beautiful, the coast of North Carolina is a scenic blend of Colonial towns, surf-pounded beaches and wildlife-rich marshland.
The North Carolina coast is synonymous with the Outer Banks – affectionately dubbed OBX – the chain of barrier islands that stretches out for more than 200 miles from Currituck Banks to Cape Loookout. Summer vacationers flock to these sandy shores, which remain largely underdeveloped despite their growing popularity. Two National Historic Seashores, Hatteras and Cape Lookout, protect landmark lighthouses, herds of wild horses and hundreds of miles of windswept beaches. The opportunities for aquatic adventure are nearly limitless, from fishing the piers to surfing the waves to diving the hundreds of shipwrecks on the ocean floor.
That said, folks who spend their entire vacation at the ocean are missing out. There’s a back side to these islands, a patchwork of marshlands and maritime forests, inhabited by birds and bears and all manner of creatures. There are unique and unexpected episodes from history: the continent’s first English settlement, which mysteriously disappeared in less than three years; a nefarious pirate who found refuge among North Carolina’s hidden inlets and islets; the first successful airplane flight by the innovative but untrained Wright Brothers. And then there’s the grooviest little city that you never heard of, Wilmington, an eclectic blend of historic charm and contemporary cool. So yes, for sure, come to the North Carolina coast for the beach. And stay for everything else. Buy the book at Lonely Planet…
