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Six Reasons to Love the Outer Banks
You've seen the stickers. White ovals, with the trio of letters "OBX," an American riff on European nationality decals, they're a sign of allegiance to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I always found them annoying: How could some mid-Atlantic beach really be that wonderful? And why would you want to brag about your vacation on the back of your car?
Turning onto the beach road in Kill Devil Hills, with the dunes to my left, houses on stilts looking out over the water and kids slowly pedaling cruiser bikes, the reason became apparent. The Outer Banks are so wonderful, you can't help but evangelize on their behalf. Here are six reasons why.
Traveling the American Road - Exploring the Birthplace of Aviation
The history: This is where aviation got its start, when Orville and Wilbur Wright finally got their Flyer into the air for a series of short trips on December 17, 1903. The site, commonly called Kitty Hawk but now in the incorporated city of Kill Devil Hills, is a protected national memorial, administered by the National Park Service. For just $4 a person, you can run along the actual path of the first powered flights in human history. Wilbur's longest ride lasted 59 seconds; it took me 48 seconds to run the 852 feet.
The beach: It's not the widest beach I've ever seen, but the Outer Banks offers miles of uninterrupted strands along the Atlantic. Because the barrier islands here are so narrow, you're never more than a few minutes from the water. Don't leave your rental house or hotel without a swimsuit.
The lighthouses: For a place known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic for all its shipwrecks, there are plenty of lighthouses to see. The most famous is on Cape Hatteras, a black-and-white tower that tops 200 feet. It's open for climbs in season, as are others like the Currituck Beach and Ocracoke lighthouses.
The activities: One reason the Wright Brothers chose the Outer Banks for their experiments in flight is the area's consistent ocean breezes. Those same winds make for excellent kite surfing, parasailing and even hang gliding. Kitty Hawk Kites is the leader in teaching visitors to hang glide in a single day at Jockey's Ridge State Park, where sand dunes provide soft landings for students.
The people: I was fortunate enough to stay with the parents of a friend of a friend, a family that's lived in Kill Devil Hills for 31 years. In a house built on stilts, and listing slightly from hurricane damage, my hosts shared stories of the place and its cast of characters-over beers pulled from an ice-filled cooler on their screened-in porch. For dinner, soft-shell crabs were fried in a pot of hot oil and served along side the best fried green tomatoes I've ever tasted. When I said I couldn't thank them enough for the hospitality, they asked why I couldn't just stay another night.
The ring toss: My hosts introduced me to ring toss. It's not the carnival game but a test of dexterity that involves swinging a small metal loop tied to a string across the lawn to a hook mounted on a tree. It's by turns infuriating and magical and maddeningly addictive. I'd seen it once before, in Maine, but not with the ubiquity it has in the Outer Banks. A trip here without it wouldn't be complete.
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
john Jul 13th 2011 12:27AM
we have been going to emerald isle since 1963, we love it, very relaxing, nice people, good fresh ocean food, if you want to really enjoy your vacation, go there,
we went to the sea fest in oct 2009, wonderful !!!!!!!!! looking forward to going
again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jim Jul 12th 2011 7:27PM
My first visit to the Outer Banks was in 1969. It was Ocracoke. All ten of us (5 boys and five girls) stayed in ten person tent. It was just for a few days but I never forgot it.
My next visit was during 1972 and I stayed a week in a hotel in Nags Head.
Next time was in 1974 and once again stayed for a week in the same hotel. Then the idea was when I went back again I would stay for two weeks and instead of renting a hotel, I would rent a house.
Back again in 1976, only this time I started to get the idea I would like to live there. Been back about once every three years, when I had the opportunity in 1988 to move there, and I did. I'm from NJ.
I stayed 4 years. I've been to everyone of the places mentioned, but my perfect place was Hatteras National Beach.
I've since moved from there to Charlottesville, VA, but I still missed it. I've been back only once, in 2004. So you see, it has been 7 years since I've been back.
I'm now 63 years old. I was 21 when I went there for the first time. I'm sure things have changed, like I experienced during the 30 some odd years I have been there.
Jim
Debbie Jul 12th 2011 7:29PM
My husband and I have been going to OBX for the last thirty years. First with our son and now with our grandchildren. It is the only place that puts everything back in order. And the topper is that my husband was going there for nine years before we started going together. No place better on earth.
JR Jul 12th 2011 10:20PM
OBX can't compare to Boca Grande, Fl
Patrick Jul 12th 2011 7:38PM
My wife an I have gone to the OBX for 12 years straight and dont plan on missing a year anytime soon. Its quiet, not to many people, and if you rent a beachfront house in the fall you have the whole beach to yourself usually.
We love it.
John Jul 13th 2011 5:35AM
Started going to Nags Head in late 60's, it was wonderful. But when they build the bypass I knew thing were going to change. Started going down to Hatteras in the 70's, it was wonderful. Now you can't even walk on some of the beaches down there all over some damn bird. Damn shame!!! Save a bird....kill an island. Oh well, I still have my memories.
Greg Marchione Jul 12th 2011 7:50PM
OBX is completely OVER RATED! Rented a beach house with our family and it was the worst week I've ever spent at the ocean. The water was freezing in late July. The sand was O.K. I love seafood, and I couldn't find a decent place for seafood in the whole area. I've been to a million beaches I like more. Yes you can find seclusion down there but overall it's overblown. Not many exciting things to do either. Hang gliding seemed like it would be fun until you learn some guys with ropes hold onto you so your never more than a couple feet off the ground. I'm not sure what everybody else see's in this place but you can have it! N.C. has so many better beaches, and S.C. has even more. I'd say OBX is on the scale of South Beach as far as hearing such great things and then getting there and realizing it's average at best.
Phil Jul 12th 2011 7:52PM
To the seniors that visit NAGS HEAD. The police force in the area thinks it is amusing to stop seniors at 11:30 at night (if you are a Insomniac as I am) just for the fun of it. December last year right before Christmas a friend and myself were stopped and pestered for 30 minutes by NAGS HEAD policemen. No laws were broken, I have no record, we were driving around looking at Christmas lights. We were forced to stand out in 24 degree weather, questioned as if we were spys, and a police dog was put through our vehicle. Nothing found, no tickets issued. Even a letter of complaint to the City Manager went unanswered and city officials could care less. Both my friend and I are over 50 and are taking every opportunity to warn of this possible nuisance. So BEWARE.
Ted Jul 12th 2011 8:07PM
My wife's family settled on Hatteras Island over 300 years ago. Her mother is 99 years old and still recalls stories of what it was like before civilization and tourism arrived to change the idyllic existence of the Islanders. Evolution to a modern society has changed many things forever as more and more people discovered it is absolutely the best fishing spot in the world and the ideal family destination. I fell in love with the fact that Hatteras Island was separated from the rest of the hustle of the mainland and every time I drive over the Oregon Inlet bridge it feels like going to Brigadoon. My wife and I own a restaurant in Avon, and all of the restaurants on the Island try their best to serve local seafood specialties. Come see why the beaches are considered some of the very best in the world. See you soon. Ted
C. Green Jul 12th 2011 8:04PM
My family has vacationed in Hatteras for 4 summers. We love being in the ocean. Hatteras is quiet without the chain restaurants, theatres, arcades, etc. We enjoy the slow pace and beautiful surroundings.
cat5400 Jul 12th 2011 8:03PM
Spent a week on the Outerbanks with my sister. She loved it, I was glad to go home.
Richard Jul 12th 2011 8:18PM
If you wanna see some crazy real art... copy and paste the link below,
Got fired from a job, started doing what I love, art! Feeding my family and loving every minute of FINALLY spending time watching them grow! Here we are, come on over!
Http://www.youtube.com/user/granitelion
Rachel Jul 12th 2011 8:41PM
I am a local here, born and raised on the Outer Banks. This used to be a much better place when I was younger. Not too many houses, not a lot of commercial properties, and probably 80% less tourist traffic. Summers here are horrible. Tourists come down here and wait HOURS upon hours sitting in traffic just to get to their vacation home. As a local, I don't even leave my house on the weekends. Too many idiots leave their brains on the other side of the bridge before crossing it. It's just not worth it. I wish it would have always stayed a little secret that the world never found out about. Now it is only a matter of time before the real locals will migrate somewhere else to get away from the northerners who have taken over our beach and have begun to make it look like the north with chain stores and restaurants. The whole point of being on vaction is to be somewhere different. Why change something so special and make it just like everywhere else? My little piece of heaven is ruined and the Outer Banks will never be like it used to be. So bring your big gas guzzling SUV's and your entire family so you can ruin it a little bit more with your littering and rudeness.
MARCITECTURE Jul 13th 2011 2:59PM
Sorry to say you are 100% spot on. Not a local but my family has been going to the outer banks since before I was born. My grandfather has painted dozens of old beach structures since the early 60's. the Old life saving stations in Kitty hawk (Black Pelican and the other is now a home) before they were both moved.
It's not what it was, but it's still a very special place. spring and fall are the best times to be there in my opinion.
Tortugas has some of the best seafood I've had any where in the world and at half the price of many high end spots. We've been going there since it was Gandalfs in the 70's. The NH fishing pier has great seafood and breakfast has been a family tradition for decades.
Wings, K Mart all the other tourist shops and the loss of Newmans shell shop, the Casino the Seafare restaurant with it's rum buns, were all tragedies.
My life goal is to have a small home between the highways to spend winter and fall, and to see my children and their children experience it's charm.
patti Jul 13th 2011 9:52AM
I can't stand Myrtle Beach because it has grown so much, the traffic is awful, the noise level is horrible, and I guess I've just flat out-grown it. Of course, when I was a kid, it was the best place in the world. But I just don't see it the same now. I have been to Ocean Isle, we stayed almost a week, we must have gone at a bad time because the beach was nasty with jellyfish. Daytime, night time, it made no difference. It was just nasty, but those folks got in the water and dodged the jellyfish on the beach. As a matter of fact, a couple of nights when we were at OBX, we would go walking on the beach at night, and ran into quite a few of them. But we were under a hurricane watch one night, so I've wondered did the tide push them up that night. Lots of rain, wind, but nothing that made us have to leave. What is Carolina Beach in NC like? We have thought about going there one year. And do you know the one and only reason we went to OBX the first time? Nicholas Sparks. I wanted to see the part of NC I had never seen that he writes about. Can't help it . I'm a romantic at heart. It did not disappoint us, that's why we keep going back!!!!
Patti Jul 13th 2011 10:32AM
One comment I would like to add, is there some kind of program that is allowing Russian women to come to Outerbanks to work. Most all the restaraunts we went to and some of the gift shops, all they had was Russians working there. What's this all about?
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Patric Rice Jul 16th 2011 8:00PM
went once - ice cold water in July - not a lifeguard anywhere - 'people' surf casting where people in water = never again -only saving grace was Harris Teeter's A REAL DUMP!!