This is not your typical Outer Banks web site. It's not focused on any one
aspect of the Outer Banks, like tourism, history, geography, geology, weather,
wildlife, legends or any other particular theme. It does, however, touch on
all of those topics in some way or other. It was initially created from my
collection of personal photos taken in 1972 and 1973. They were stored away
and mostly forgotten for a quarter century. Then in late 1999 the television
coverage of the Hatteras Lighthouse relocation and the discovery of what is
believed to be Blackbeard's flagship made me think of my trips to those marvelous
Outer Banks. While some of these sights haven't changed in a quarter century,
others surely have.
Even
though that first visit was over 30 years ago, I still marvel at
those narrow strips of sand that stand defiantly against the waves
of the Atlantic.
I remember standing on the sand along the edge of Highway 12, somewhere
between Hatteras and Nags Head. There were no cars, no beachgoers,
no boats, only sand, sea oats, and the constant breeze. Looking eastward
there was nothing but wild ocean waves and sky. I turned and looked
westward
beyond the marsh grasses. There the choppy water of Pamlico Sound
stretched to meet an empty horizon. To the north and south the thin
strip of land
under my feet seemed to disappear as sky and water converged, with
no distant treetops or buildings to give any hint there might be
land beyond
the visible horizon. The sense of wilderness and isolation was as
real as being shipwrecked on a tiny deserted island.
