North Carolina is one of the states I traveled to most when I was growing up; I have family in the Wilmington area and used to go almost every summer. Despite dozens of trips to North Carolina I still haven't visited anything outside of the coastal areas such as the capital Raleigh, their largest city of Charlotte, or the great smoky mountains in the west. In 2008 I made a short trip to the outer banks to visit Kitty Hawk, Roanoke Island and of course, the beach, and again returned in 2011 to see family in the Wilmington area. I plan to take another trip sometime to see the Smokey mountains and the largest cities of North Carolina sometime soon.
N. Carolina Links
	The north eastern corner of North Carolina is known as the outer banks and is make up of a long barrier island that is a popular beach destination. It's only an hour from Virginia Beach but offers a quieter beach destination but still lots of nice restaurants and entertainment. For dozens of miles along the outer banks you will come across several beaches and small towns, almost all of them packed with colorful beach houses such as the ones above seen in Nags head.
	Outer banks is without any large cities and has only small towns and a few beach resorts. Still, the area was larger than I thought with all the typical stores and restaurants you would find in any suburban area. On the left is a plaza with several beach themed shops, on the right is a menu at a restaurant showing 'redneck specials'.
Surprisingly though, one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of mankind took place in the outer banks. In December 1903 the first airplane was successfully flown in Kitty Hawk, NC. In various other countries, experimental planes had glided or achieved short periods of lift, but never had a power drive plane capable of maintaining flight been created. Above is a photo of photo that shows the Wright brothers and their first aircraft. On the right is the first aircraft hangar ever made and still standing.
At Kitty Hawk North Carolina where the first flight was made, there is a small museum and a complete replica of the original aircraft. A ranger also gives a lecture about aviation and the Wright brothers. Above on the left is a marker for the exact spot where the flight was made, on the right is a memorial for the Wright brothers and their achievement.
England's first attempt to colonize the new world was here at Roanoke Island. The colonists arrived in 1585 and were to be visited each year, but after delays new ships arrived 3 years later to find the entire colony to be abandoned, a mystery which was never solved. Most believe that the colonists suffered without new supplies in a new land and therefore joined the local indian tribes. Others believe Spanish settlers or the Powhatan ederacy attacked the colonists and massacred them. One of America's most famous plays, the lost colony is performed on Roanoke island to this day that mixes fact and legend to tell the story of the colony. Above is a poster and photo of the theater itself. I went on a holiday weekend so I could not watch the play. On the right is a memorial to the England's first colonists.
After you're done visiting the historic areas of outer banks, the only thing left is to go to the beach and soak up some sun. The outer banks are never very crowded, and with 40 miles even if you find a place that has to many people you can simply drive down a short distance to a more remote area. Above are some photos of the small beaches.
One more interesting place to visit in the outer banks is Jockey's Ridge state park. The park boasts the highest sand dunes in the east coast, with some of them piling up to 90 feet in height. This makes an excellent place to try some sports such as handgliding or sandboarding. Many people also enjoy just hiking up the dunes or building sand castles. Above is one of the largest sand dunes seen on the left, on the right is some sort of large castle made out of wood that was abandoned and now buried under two feet of sand.
In another drive I did in North Carolina I headed also towards the beach areas, but this time the along the South Carolina border. Before I got there I came across many farms such as this cotton one above. I had never seen a cotton farm before, and always associated them with the deep south in places such as Georgia or Mississippi.
A 6 hour drive from Washington DC got me into Wilmington North Carolina, the state's largest port and one of its most historic cities. Above are pictures of the decommissioned World War II battleship the USS North Carolina on the left. The USS North Carolina served in the Pacifid region in the battles against the empire of Japan, and was the most decorated American ship in World War II. On the right is an active duty Coast Guard ship that is docked.
These two historic buildings are in different parts of Wilmington. On the left is a federal building and the city court house as seen from Battleship park. To be honest, I'm not sure what the building is on the right just yet, but as Wilmington boasts a historic building that is roughly 300 blocks, I can imagine this structure was once an important government building or residence over a 100 years ago. On the lower left are some modern residential buildings located along the waterfront, and the lower right is a photo of an intersection on Market Street.
The board walks in Wilmington were relatively short but still provided a nice stroll. Above are two shots of the boardwalk and the lower left is a picture I took of my girlfriend as she was trying on a hat and jewlery from one of the shops. The chocolate candy store on the lower right wasn't open yet so I only got the window photo and didn't stick around to try any of the sweets, regrets!
Wilmington is a 6 hour drive from Washington DC where I live, but the flora here is much different from back home. The subtropical coast of North Carolina has Spanish Moss and palm trees among other exotic plants I have never seen before. The flower above is the hibiscus and was a decoration along the board walk. I'm not sure of the tree species on the right but as you can tell it's completely covered by Spanish Moss which doesn't harm the trees. Spanish moss exists everywhere from Texas to Florida along the coast, but Wilmington is probably about as far North as you'll see it. The strange looking bugs below that were living on a rotten log along the river were new wildlife to me. The cypruss trees on the lower right are also another good example of fauna that doesn't live in Virginia. I visited here in early September, so I'm not sure why the tree had leaves that were changing colors at least 6 weeks early.
My main destination in North Carolina was Oriental which is where my mother lives. The small town is built along a bay and had just recently been hit by Hurricane Irene before I visited. Above are some nice waterfront houses that were farther north than Oriental. On the right is Oriental's harbor during sunset.
Hurricane Irene was Oriental's most damaging hurricane in memory for many residents here. The winds themselves weren't exceptionally strong by hurricane standards, but the 8 foot surge of water did extensive flood damage to many homes and businesses. On the left is dry wall and other parts of damaged buildings that had to be removed and replaced. On the right is a street still covered with water a full week after thestorm. The guy on the lower left is reattaching powerlines that were downed from the Hurricane, and the unrelated fire on the lower right was just something I happened to come across while driving. I asked a firefighter what the issue was and he said that one of the units caught fire and the fuel was actually corn that was burning.
	Because the outer banks are more remote, you can find lots of places to see wildlife. Scuba diving and dolphin tours are also available, but just by walking along the beach or swimming you're likely to see a lot. Above is a laughing gull on the left and a pelican in the middle of a dive as it tries to catch a fish in the ocean.
	I did a walk along the beach at night and saw dozens of huge crabs that were unseen in the day time. In the morning I did get a photo of the crab on the upper right, almost camouflaged with the sand. The nasty creature on the left is a sand flea. Sand fleas burrow in the sand and are usually only found if you dig for them.
	Farther inland you will also see wildlife such as other species of birds such as the tiny one on the left or the large rabbit on the right. Southern parts of North Carolina are even home to alligators!

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North Carolina Travel

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