Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Wright Brothers National Memorial
PARK, MUSEUM
(
www.nps.gov/wrbr
; Mile 7.5, US 158 Bypass; adult/child $4/free; 9am-5pm, to 6pm summer)
Self-taught engineers Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the world's first successful air-
plane flight on December 17, 1903 (it lasted 12 seconds). A boulder now marks the take-
off spot. Climb a nearby hill, where the brothers conducted earlier glider experiments, for
fantastic views of sea and sound. The on-site
Wright Brothers Visitor Center
has a re-
production of the 1903 flyer and exhibits.
The 30-minute 'Flight Room Talk,' a lecture about the brother's dedication and in-
genuity, is excellent. For an up-close look at the plane's intricacies, check out the bronze-
and-steel replica behind the hill; it's okay to scramble aboard.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
HISTORIC BUILDINGS
In the late 1580s, three decades before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, a group of
116 British colonists disappeared without a trace from their Roanoke Island settlement.
Were they killed off by drought? Did they run away with a Native American tribe? Did
they try to sail home and capsize? The fate of the 'Lost Colony' remains one of Amer-
ica's greatest mysteries, and one of the site's star attractions is the beloved musical the
Lost Colony Outdoor Drama
(
www.thelostcolony.org
;
1409 National Park Dr; adult/child
$26.50/9.50; 8pm Mon-Sat Jun-late Aug)
.
The play, from Pulitzer Prize-winning North Carolina playwright Paul Green, dramat-
izes the fate of the colonists and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2012. It plays at the
Waterside Theater throughout summer.
Other attractions include exhibits, artifacts, maps and a free film to fuel the imagina-
grounds dawn-dusk, visitor center 9am-5pm)
. The 16th-century-style
Elizabethan
Gardens
(
www.elizabethangardens.org
;
1411 National Park Dr; adult/child $9/6; 9am-7pm Jun-
Aug, shorter hours Sep-May)
include a Shakespearian herb garden and rows of beautifully
manicured flower beds.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
ISLANDS
(
www.nps.gov/caha
)
Extending some 70 miles from south of Nags Head to the south end of
Ocracoke Island, this fragile necklace of islands remains blissfully free of overdevelop-
ment. Natural attractions include local and migratory water birds, marshes, woodlands,
dunes and miles of empty beaches.
Bodie Island Lighthouse
LIGHTHOUSE
