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August 2002
North Carolina - Outer Banks
David Aaronson2005-09-26 15:41:54
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The Outer Banks is a commonly used term to describe a series of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina (and technically Virginia as well). The exact borders of the Outer Banks seems to depend on who you might be talking to. The center of the area is Roanoke Island, site of the first English colony in North America. The Roanoke colony later disappeared without a trace, although you can watch a dramatized version of it all on Roanoke Island today. Roanoke Island connects the oceanfront town of Nags Head to the mainland of North Carolina. Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills run together into a sort of mini-urban sprawl along the coast. In this area you'll find this location, at Jockey Ridge State Park (1).
Jockey Ridge features some of the largest dunes on the east coast of the United States. As a result it also features one of the largest hang-gliding schools on the east coast of the United States. More impressive than the height of the dunes (around 80ft/25m) is the expansive of sand with no vegetation. This park is on the sound side of the island (aka not the ocean side). Trout, who was privileged enough to join us on this trip is a sand connisseur and tells us this is some of the finest sand on the Atlantic coast.
Kitty Hawk is best known as the birthplace of aviation. Ignoring for the moment the Montgolfier Brothers and earlier attempts, it is the site of the first successful flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright. This is the hill (2) they used as a take-off location (presumably before someone stuck a granite monument on it). Some nearby markers designate the spot where each of their first three flights landed.
In 1903, the Wright Brothers brought their craft here from Dayton, Ohio. The wings were wrapped in muslin bought from a company that made women's undergarments. It's unclear if they added "airplanes" to their resume after the flight. A coin toss victory for Wilbur
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See photographs from:
United States Gallery
