The Outer Banks of North Carolina

Join me as I take a stroll down memory lane on a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in early June 2019. North Carolina’s Outer Banks is a string of barrier islands that begin at the border of Virginia and stretch for 120 miles south to Ocracoke Island. 

I had visited the islands as a child with my family, and remember staying at a beachfront cottage that my parents had rented for a couple of weeks. Over the years the landmarks have changed and everything looks very different than it did 50 years ago. But one thing is certain, Nags Head and the Outer Banks are just as beautiful as I remember.

To get to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, we had to drive over a very long bridge and pass through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. We looked for alligators, but sadly none were seen as we continued on. However, the beautiful scenery along the way made up for the lack of alligator sightings.

We then drove through the town of Nags Head and went straight to Cape Hatteras National Seashore where we would camp. We didn’t have reservations, which is the way we prefer to travel in our Leisure Travel Van. No reservations mean we aren’t locked into a time schedule. The cost of our campsite was $35 per night, which included electric and water hookups. There were no trees in sight at this campsite, but just over the sand dune behind us was the Atlantic Ocean.

The first thing we did after settling in at our campsite was take a hike to the ocean. Our pups had never seen the ocean before, so wanted to watch their reactions. After the ocean, we decided to visit three of the lighthouses located here on the Outer Banks. The area looked a little more crowded than I remembered as a child but nonetheless, it was still a beautiful area and we were excited about the adventures that lay ahead of us.

On our second day, we began our exploration of the local lighthouses. Our first stop was the Bodie Island Light Station.

The next lighthouse on the list was the Cape Hatteras Light Station. It is 210 feet tall and is the tallest brick structure in the United States and also the second tallest in the world. 

To see the third lighthouse, we had to board a ferry on Ocracoke Island. We had never put our LTV on a ferry before which made us a little nervous, but it was very easy to do.

On our third day, we visited Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island. Before making our last stop at the Wright Brothers Memorial. We carry a national parks passport around with us and get it stamped at every national park and monument we visit on the road. Needless to say, we have an endless task ahead of us to get a stamp from every national park and monument, but we are doing our best to get the job done.

Nags Head, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina are all beautiful and definitely worth a visit. Just make sure to allow enough time to see it all.