Outer Banks Articles & Shorts

If you’re like a lot of people – like hundreds of thousands of people – you love the Outer Banks of North Carolina. You might consider us presumptuous drawing this conclusion so quickly, and we would agree with you . . . except for the fact that we’re right. You love the Outer Banks beaches, the Outer Banks water sports, the Outer Banks towns, Outer Banks shops, the Outer Banks events and Outer Banks activities . . . everything about this place (you wouldn’t be on this site if you didn’t). We do too. And, lucky for you, we also love writing about the Outer Banks. Locals and visitors alike value our Outer Banks information.

Our local writers tell you how to negotiate dining out if you have a big crowd. We show you, step by step, how to pick a crab. We’ve written articles highlighting Corolla and the Currituck Outer Banks or about charming Manteo on Roanoke Island or telling you the mysteries of Ocracoke Island. We cover the events happening on the Outer Banks – and, boy, are there a lot of them to cover! Outer Banks activities, everything from water sports to walking tours to lighthouse tours to birdwatching trips, are focal points. Businesses, rituals and legends local to the Outer Banks are detailed in our articles. You’ll find out how that restaurant got its name or the modest beginning of that now-booming business. We give you insider Outer Banks information about staying safe in the ocean, how to navigate those pesky turn lanes, which restaurants to check out for the best Southern cuisine in the area and resorts’ present and future aspirations. Our Outer Banks articles are good reading. You’ll feel like a local with all the knowledge you’re sure to collect! And we’re adding to them all the time. Click on in to learn about the Outer Banks from the locals' side!

 

Dolphin Dreams Come True on Outer Banks Cruises

By Hannah Lee Leidy
Climb aboard the 55-foot Captain Johnny for the longest-running dolphin watch experience on the Outer Banks. As they enter their 25th season, Captain Johnny’s Dolphin Tours has the business of spotting bottlenose dolphins down to a science. Their 99% success rate for sightings has earned them a reputation for... Read More

All in the Name of Style

By Molly Harrison
In 1986 Billie and Jim Steese took a bet on Duck’s fledgling retail scene and opened a women’s fashion boutique on the northern Outer Banks. It was Billie’s mother who suggested the name Lady Victorian because it fits so well with her daughter’s design aesthetic, rich as it is with antiques and vintage goodness. “I... Read More

Classic Vibes and a Modern Menu

By Molly Harrison
Everyone longs, in varying degrees, for the way the Outer Banks used to be. Little pockets of that satisfying nostalgia still can be found in places like Old Nags Head Cafe. Situated in a 1930s building, this gem of a restaurant feels like visiting in a friend’s Nags Head beach cottage in the 1960s, with the welcome... Read More

45 Years of Teaching the World to Fly: Kitty Hawk Kites

By Molly Harrison
Before the age of 24, Kitty Hawk Kites co-founder John Harris never intended to pursue a career in recreational aviation, but he remembers the pivotal moment that sent him in that direction. Living in Winston-Salem, N.C., after college in 1973, John saw a photograph in the Winston-Salem Journal of a man flying an... Read More

Meet the Locals: The Outer Banks Dolphins

By Hannah Lee Leidy
Who else shamelessly interrupts your friends and demands that they look at the ocean the minute you think you see a dorsal fin in the ocean or sound? Like so many people, I grew up loving dolphins. I had no exposure to the actual creatures, which made them all the more intriguing to me. I learned the Flipper theme... Read More