Wright Brothers National Memorial and Visitor Center
From the beginning of time, man dreamed of flying, and Wilbur and Orville Wright accomplished that magnanimous feat on December 1903. The two brothers from Dayton, Ohio selected the North Carolina area with beautiful soft sand dunes and good wind patterns and launched the world into the aviation age.
Today, visitors can visit the park, tour the museum, view aeronautic displays and stand atop the spot where the first true airplane launched. There are a number of ranger programs available for more detailed and colorful information about the Wright brothers and flight in general. It’s impossible to visit this historic sight without catching flight fever even though taking to the air is taken for granted.
Bodie Island
The first island starting north and moving south is Bodie. Actually it’s not really an island anymore. As the landscape has changed, Bodie has shifted and connected to mainland NC at Nags Head, NC. The outer banks are everchanging, and Bodie is a good example of the way coastal areas grow, shrink, and take on new shapes.
Stop at the Vistitor’s Center at the Bodie (pronounced “body”) lighthouse. The Bodie Lighthouse has a visitors’ center and museum and lots of information to help kick off a trip to the area. This is the third lighthouse at Bodie and one of many scattered down the outer banks shoreline. The government wouldn’t put money into securing the first Bodie lighthouse, so it washed out during a storm. The second one was destroyed during the Civil War. The current lighthouse built in 1872 is slim with black and white stripes and is an appreciated part of the area and community.
Souvenir models of Bodie and other area light houses are very popular along the coast. All lighthouses are patterned differently and are easily identified by locals (and tourists taking the time to note the unique features). There are nine historic lighthouses located in North Carolina with five in the outer banks area. Small models, magnets, and other lighthouse decorated objects can be purchased all up and down the shore reasonably and are fun to collect. Also look for salt water taffy in a variety of flavors. It’s just not a trip to the Outer Banks without a box of the chewie treats that travel well to take back home for friends and family.
From the Bodie lighthouse area, you can take an easy trail—Bodie Island Dike Trail. This is a marshy area with lots of water birds. There is a fresh water pond created with a dam, which is the home to many ducks. The area is now designated as state park land, so it’s pristine without the typical tourist build up seen in many beach areas.
For outdoor adventures, loop back north to visit the most pristine portions of the Outer Banks. The roads up through Corolla and Duck were not even paved until the mid-1980s, so the region is quite off the beaten path (though growing quickly in popularity). Many of the rentals are private vacation homes. Shops are privately owned and feature unusual items carefully selected to appeal to those who like something different.