Outer Banks, North Carolina (May 2022)

The day to depart to Outbanks was Sunday. We worshipped online at One Church in Columbus, Ohio with Greg Ford as the lead pastor.

After we left Durham, we headed to Outer Banks, North Carolina. This place was the highlight of this road trip. Outer Banks or OBX are barrier islands off the coast of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It separates the Atlantic Ocean from the mainland and has open-sea beaches, state parks, lighthouses, and shipwreck diving sites, thus making the place a popular holiday destination.

OBX consists of several small towns, namely Corolla, Kitty Hawk, Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Avon, Buxton, Hatteras, Rodanthe, Ocracoke, etc.

At the entrance to the OBX was Manteo on the island of Roanoke where the first English settlers established a town. But, somehow, the settlement vanished without any apparent reason. The first settlement was sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh, hence the state capital name Raleigh.

Upon arrival, we decided to drive up to the north since we were planning to drive down to the south the next day.

As we drove up, we saw a series of towns on the way. The farthest north we went up to was Corolla. Corolla is known for its wide beaches and wild horses roaming around.

On the way down, the next town was Duck. It is known to be a pet-friendly beach for pet lovers.

The next town to the south is Kitty Hawk. Kitty Hawk is famous for the place where the Wright Brothers flying their first plane. The place they actually flew the first plane was then called Kitty Hawk. The place was called Kill Devil Hills and later became a new town called Kills Devil Hills. Thus, there could be a little confusion. We planned to visit the Wright Brothers Memorial Monument the following day.

Then, the next south town was Kill Devil Hills. What an interesting name you may say. It is indeed. There are two possible legends. One is that there was a rum called Kill Devil and people were drinking the rum at the hill. Hence the name. It is a theory. The other theory was that the residents placed lanterns on the donkeys and made them march on the hills so that people on the boats might think they are ships docked at the port, thus many ships wrecked at the beaches and people stole things from the wrecked ships. Oh well... Whatever the right theory may be, it is now called Kill Devil Hills and that is where we stayed for two nights.

This was the place where we stayed: John Yancey Hotel.

In the back of the hotel was the access to the beaches.

Since it was Sunday, almost all the restaurants were closed. Whatever was open had a long line of people. Otherwise, we had to settle for hamburgers. So we ended up eating inside the hotel room. Oh well...

The next day, we decided to visit Wright Brothers Memorial Monument first. It was the birthplace of the modern aviation industry. It is a historic place particularly for me who happens to use airplanes frequently for traveling around the world. 

This is the replica of the first plane the Wright Brothers flew.

There are landmarks for the distance that the first plane flew over four times.

In the background remotely was the Monument erected on the so-called Kill Devil Hill.

These statues depict the scene of the first flights.

After we spent a good amount of time at the Wright Brothers Memorial Monument, we drove south on the outer banks all the way to Hatteras. That was the end of the road without having to get on the ferry to go further south to Ocracoke on another island. There were only a limited number of ferries running to Ocracoke and we decided to skip it.

The Graveyard of the Atlantic is a museum, but it was closed.

At the Hatteras Cape, a lot of cars drove to the beaches.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped over at the Hatteras Lighthouse. We were expecting to climb up the stairs to the top, but it was closed due to renovation. A bummer. It is supposed to be the tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S.

There was another lighthouse on Bodie Island. Again, we could not climb up the stairs.

At this lighthouse, however, we were allowed to step inside the lighthouse to take a photo of the staircase.

After we returned to Nags Head, the busiest business town, we decided to visit Manteo, a town situated on Roanoke Island at the entrance to the Outer Banks. We walked around the town and on the boardwalk, but it was a small place to hang around. Apparently, there is Festival Park and Elizabeth Garden in this town.

For dinner, we decided to eat at Tortuga's Lie, a highly rated restaurant in Kill Devil Hills. It was not as impressive as we expected, however.

The following day, as we head out of the town, we stopped over at the Jennette's Pier in Nags Head. There was an entrance fee of $2.00, primarily for the fishermen. I went in to take some photos.

We could have spent more time at the OBX had we enjoyed beach activities or water activities, but we decided to say farewell to the gorgeous open-sea beaches of the Outer Banks for now. - Jeffrey