Top Reasons to Go

Top Reasons to Go

Water, water everywhere: Surfers delight in Cape Hatteras's mighty waves. Kayakers and boaters prefer the Crystal Coast's sleepy estuaries and rippling inlets. Beach strollers love Ocracoke's remote, unspoiled shore. The landscape variety lets you choose your own adventure, whether it's boating, trekking, sunning, or simply observing.

Pirate lore and hidden booty: The Graveyard of the Atlantic is littered with shipwrecks, many of them popular dive sights. See artifacts from what researchers believe was Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge. The booty—cannon balls, gold nuggets, and nautical instruments—is displayed at Beaufort's North Carolina Maritime Museum.

Lighting the darkness: North Carolina's seven lighthouses have individual personalities, from the masculine elegance of Currituck's brick facade to the iconic spiral of Hatteras. You'll want to take time to see them all.

The Lost Colony: In a mystery for the ages, 90 settlers, including the first European baby born in the New World, disappeared without a trace. Their story is presented both in historical context and dramatic entertainment in Manteo.

Don't skimp on the shrimp: You can get fresh seafood of every variety fixed in practically every method—fried, grilled, stuffed, blackened, sautéed, pasta-ed, kebabed, or even raw. And since you're on vacation, the calories don't count, right?