Wilmington, NC and Wrightsville Beach, NC;
Cape Fear (also Kure Beach and Carolina Beach)

- N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher (Amazing sea life right before your eyes!  Watch the sea horses and pet the starfish and other North Carolina sea creatures.  Interact with scuba divers who answer questions from the audience while swimming around with sharks, fish, skates, and other sea life!  Lots of fun for the whole family.)  Located on US 421 @ 15 miles south of Wilmington, just beyond Kure Beach.  From Southport take the Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry.  900 Loggerhead Road, Kure Beach, NC  28449.  (866) 301-3476. Read our BLOG about the North Carolina Aquariums

- Play on the beautiful expansive white sand beach at Wrightsville Beach.

- Carolina Beach State Park (Look for the Venus Flytraps!)

- Fort Fisher State Recreation Area

- Downtown Wilmington Historic Riverfront District (shops and restaurants in a beautiful historic riverfront setting; horse drawn carriage tours)

- Bike Riding

- Riverfront Farmers Market (Saturdays and Wednesdays, April - Sept.)

- Airlie Gardens (Airlie hosts First Friday Concerts in the Park from May - Sept.)

- Shopping in downtown Wilmington at the historic Cotton Exchange

- Bellamy Mansion Museum of History & Design Arts (spectacular restored 22-room antebellum house c. 1861and formal gardens.  (910) 251-3700.

 - Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson - Visit the excavated ruins of a colonial port town that was founded in 1726 and burned by the British in 1776; during the Civil War Fort Anderson was the site of a battle in 1865.  (Located off of NC 133 near Orton Plantation).  (910) 371-6613.

- Cape Fear Museum of History and Science (featuring Wilmington's Giant Ground sloth from the prehistoric era.)  (910) 341-4350.

- Hugh MacRae Park (giant public playground; lots of fun for children) - New Hanover County Parks.  Located  on Oleander Drive, one block East of S. College Road.

Bald Head Island, NC

Beaufort by the Sea, NC
Wild ponies at Shackleford Banks, Blackbeard the Pirate, and the Crystal Coast!
Atlantic Beach, Morehead City and much more

The Crystal Coast is at the southern end of the great barrier island chain called the Outer Banks.  It is a three-hour drive from Raleigh (a straight shot on U.S. Highway 70), and only a few  hours from Greenville.

Outer Banks, NC
Carova Beach, Corolla, Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head
Roanoke Island, Hatteras Island, Ocracoke Island

- The N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island (Located at 374 Airport Road, off Highway 64 Business on the north end of Roanoke Island near Manteo.)  P.O. Box 967, 374 Airport Road, Manteo, NC  27954-0967.  (866)332-3475.

- Wright Brothers National Memorial - Visit the site of the Wright Brothers' First Flight

- Run up and down the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk.  Visit Jockey's Ridge State Park - 42-acre park has the largest natural living sand dune on the East Coast.  (Walk around the valleys and hills of the dunes and picture what a desert might be like - all white sand and blue skies.)  Hang gliding, kite flying, hiking, visitor's center, gift shop, museum, picnic facilities and restrooms available. Watching the sun set on Jockey's Ridge is a popular beach outing at the Outer Banks.
Open year-round; 
free admission.  (252) 441-7132

- Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge - Enjoy hiking, kayaking, canoeing (guided canoe tours available for a fee) and wildlife observation at the Refuge with more than 150,000 acres of wetland habitats hosting wildlife ranging from wood ducks and alligators to black bears and red wolves.  (252) 473-1131

- Roanoke Island Festival Park - Visit the Elizabeth II, a sixteenth-century representative sailing ship (said to be an exact replica of the kind of boat the members of the "Lost Colony" sailed upon from England to Manteo, Outer Banks), and the Roanoke Island Settlement Site featuring blacksmithing, woodworking and games, Art Gallery, Interactive, Hands-on Museum that is great for kids & all ages, Museum Store, Fossil Pit, Film Theatre, waterside boardwalk, maritime forest and marsh conservation area, and more.  Picnic tables available.  Admission fee.  (252) 475-1506; (252) 475-1500.

- Visit the Elizabethan Gardens, a living memorial to the lost colonists.  Open year-round. Admission fee.  (252) 473-3234.

- Visit the Cape Hatteras National Seashore - extending more than 70 miles from South Nags Head to Ocracoke Inlet, with more than 30,000 acres.  Lighthouses, picnic areas, camping grounds.  (252) 473-2111.

- Bodie Island Lighthouse - This 156-foot tall striped lighthouse is not open for climbing, but there are nature trails and a visitor's center in the old keeper's quarters features exhibits, a bookstore.  Located eight miles south of US-158 and US-64 intersection within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

- Go on a guided tour to see wild horses on the beach (Corolla, Ocracoke)! Pick up any of the Outer Banks coupon magazines when you get there and you'll find lots of options.

- Take the kids for lunch or dinner at Goombay's in Kill Devil Hills (Mile 7 Beach Road) and have a "Shirley Shark" (beach version of the classic Shirley Temple; arrives with a fun surprise and a toy rubber shark -- Okay, we'll ruin the surprise:  our waitress poured the red grenadine from the mouth of the plastic shark into the ginger ale in a clear glass, causing the red grenadine to disperse, similar to the look of blood in the water.  Our kids were thrilled and delighted.  The most memorable kids' drink ever!)  Other drinks on the kids menu (each featuring a funny toy surprise) include the Crocodile Punch, Alien Elixer, Freaky Frog, Smiley Mon and Creepy Cola.  Kids also will enjoy the decor, fish tank, and underwater ceiling scene. (Look up a the ceiling and you spot a dolphin swimming at the "surface"/ceiling above you.)  Good food and lots of fun for the whole family!  See the menu and photos at www.goombays.com.

There is so much more to do at the Outer Banks!  We have listed some of the highlights here; to find more visit www.outerbanks.org.