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A North Carolina Coastal Checklist
North Carolina beaches are one of the most popular American vacation destinations, attracting visitors from all over the country as well as from abroad. While it's relaxing to just loll on the soft sand and take in the sun, eventually, every visitor
wants to get up and do something. But what?
That's where Glenn Morris comes in. Morris wrote the book on the North Carolina coast - literally. His North Carolina Beaches, which he recently completely revised and updated, is an insider's tour of national seashores, state parks, public beac
hes, wildlife refuges, historic sites, boat ramps and docks, fishing piers, lighthouses, ferries, museums, and many more sites.
A travel writer who has written for Southern Living, Mid-Atlantic Country, Coastal Living, and many newspapers, Morris offers here a checklist of fun and offbeat beach activities.
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You're at the North Carolina Beach--Now What?
by Glenn Morris
The more you know about the North Carolina coast, the easier it is to pin down a soft, sandy spot that fits your psyche. It's a case of familiarity breeding contentment.
Personally, I don't believe that any one location can be singled out as the "best North Carolina beach" or "best place to take the kids." My travels along the state's seaside have steered me away from comparisons and towards plain appreciation
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That said, I offer a North Carolina Coastal Checklist for your glove compartment. These are stand-alone gems of coastal enrichment and they are fun. Taken together, they yield more than a spoonful of flavor about the North Carolina coast. Tick them off
as you go, north to south.
Climb the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla. Getting to the catwalk is breathtaking and the view provides an overview of the narrow islands from the ocean to the sound. From the top it is easy to imagine how wild and isolated the Outer Ba
nks have been and still are.
Take your own first-flight experience with a hang-gliding lesson from atop
Jockey's Ridge State Park in
Nags Head and earn an Order-of-the-Wright-Stuff merit badge. The promise of steady
breezes (and a soft landing) lured Wilbur and Orville Wright to neighboring Kill Devil Hill.
Be gull-able; take a glide, clyde.
Attend a performance of The Lost Colony, in Manteo. The superb drama depicts the historical attempt to settle America less than a stone's throw from where it happened! The amphitheater has new seats, but the play and the setting remain
timeless.
Walk (or take a four-wheel drive) to Cape Point, in Buxton. This is where fish may be but fishermen always are. The treacherous shoaling water offshore is the Graveyard of the Atlantic and
the reason for the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
Hitch a ride in Ocracoke (private ferry available) to visit nearby Portsmouth Village on North Core Banks, part of undeveloped Cape Lookout National Seashore. It's the most haunting place on the Outer Banks, a community frozen in clapboard
and memories, a 250-acre historic district on a very wild, untouched island.
Ride the Ocracoke-Cedar Island Ferry. Only the steady ply of the ferry makes the watery isolation of Ocracoke and Portsmouth meaningful. The road to Beaufort passes through the marvelous marsh of Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Step inside the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. There is a year's worth of learning about the state's maritime history inside.
Daytrip to Hammock's Beach State Park near Swansboro. Considered the most natural island on the coast, it is the jewel of the North Carolina Park System. An island for a day--first-come, first served.
Tour the North Carolina State Aquarium at Fort Fisher Recreation Area (there are also aquaria at Manteo and Pine Knoll Shores), which features an exhibit on sea turtles. See what else swims with you. . . .
Spend a few nights on Bald Head Island, the semi-tropical, top-notch island resort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. There's golf, much beach, much wild, and not so many people. Help track sea turtles and lose track of time.
Eat a week's worth of "old, original" seafood one night in Calabash, nearly on the border with South Carolina. This is the proverbial home of lightly-breaded, quickly fried, absolutely delicious seafood. You have about 25 restaurants to
choose from.
Don't forget the T-shirts!
North Carolina Beaches is available at bookstores or from the University of North Carolina Press.
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