At the top of the loftiest lighthouse, on sugar-sand beaches, beneath ancient live oaks twisting their knobby arms toward the sun, and from coastal cottages perched in the dunes, the North Carolina coast offers endless beauty on the edge of the earth.
From serene sea-kayaking to local shopping and dining, plan a diverse route through the state’s southern Outer Banks.
Take a trip down the North Carolina coast to see our seven towering landmarks: Once guiding lights for sailing ships, they now serve as beacons of coastal beauty and history.
By 1965, the diamond-patterned lighthouse has helped keep seafarers safe for more than a century. Now, a new kind of coastal protection takes shape for the pristine stretch of the Outer Banks.
There are no bridges to Cape Lookout, no roads along the 56 miles of islands. In the seven years that Ron and Joan Preloger have come here to watch over its iconic lighthouse, they’ve survived raging storms and swarms of stinkbugs. They wouldn’t have it any other way.
Wild horses have roamed this small barrier island for centuries. When they were in danger of being wiped out, a woman who knew nearly nothing about horses rounded up experts, facts, and moxie to save them.
With a name like Nick, this Down East businessman may have been destined to invent a new kind of Christmas tree.
Often threatened by shifting sands and developers, Cape Lookout Lighthouse faced a different kind of destruction during the Civil War, and the debate over that piece of history rages on.
Beautiful and powerful, these monsters of the maritime stand as iconic symbols of the South.
