Northern Beaches

The small northern beach settlements of Corolla and Duck are largely seasonal, residential enclaves full of summer rental condominiums. Drive slowly in Corolla: here freely wandering wild horses always have the right of way. Upscale Duck has lots of restaurants and shops. Kitty Hawk, with a few thousand permanent residents, is among the quieter beach communities with fewer rental accommodations. Given these communities' contiguous nature and similar looks, the uninitiated may not realize when they've crossed from Kitty Hawk into Kill Devil Hills. The towns' respective roles in the drama of the first powered flight occasionally create some confusion as well. When arriving at the Outer Banks, the Wright brothers first stayed in the then-remote fishing village of Kitty Hawk, but their flight took place some 4 mi south on Kill Devil Hill, a gargantuan sand dune where today the Wright Brothers National Memorial stands.