Jason Frye - Moon North Carolina Coast: With the Outer Banks

Wander the : Get away from it all by wandering a stretch of this 56 miles of coastline.

This strip of narrow islands is a haven for anglers, sun-seekers, and history-lovers; they come for the ecological wonder of the maritime forest, the dune habitats and the shallow sounds that separate the Outer Banks from mainland North Carolina. Surfers, kiteboarders, and hang gliders ride the waves and wind around Nags Head and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. On Roanoke Island, one of the first English settlements appeared then disappeared under baffling circumstancesa mystery that pervades today. Pirates and privateers plied these waters, and Blackbeard lost his head near Ocracoke. The vast Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds are home to colonial towns and fishing villages centuries old. Inland, the Great Dismal Swamp, an eerie, unforgettable place, and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge are home to twisting marsh creeks and arrow-straight, hand-dug canals perfect for kayaking and spotting the rare red wolf. Generations of families have called the rivers and sounds of the Inner Banks home, farming the land and fishing the waters decade after decade. Along the Roanoke River are mill towns, fishing villages, and the colonial crossroads river town of Halifax, birthplace of the documents that inspired the Declaration of Independence.