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North Carolina

Other sights in North Carolina

  1. Historic Site

    The historic site is located among the same windswept Kitty Hawk dunes where self-taught engineers Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the world's first successful airplane flight on December 17, 1903 (it lasted 12 seconds). A boulder now marks the take-off spot. Climb a nearby hill where the brothers conducted earlier glider experiments for fantastic views of sea and sound.

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  2. Mingus Mill

    The 1886 Mingus Mill, 2 miles west of Cherokee, a turbine-powered mill that still grinds wheat and corn much as it always has. The on-site Mountain Farm Museum is a restored 19th-century farmstead, complete with barn, blacksmith shop and smokehouse (with real pig heads!), assembled from original buildings from different parts of the park.

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  3. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Visitor Center

    The visitor center has exhibits, artifacts, maps and a free film to fuel the imagination. Look for the prints based on 1585 illustrations by colony leader John White, now some of the best-known depictions of pre-European North America.

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  4. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

    At 208ft, this striking black-and-white-striped edifice is the tallest brick lighthouse in the US and is one of North Carolina's most iconic images. Climb the 248 steps and check out the visitor center (open year-round).

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  5. Whalehead Club

    The sunflower-yellow, art nouveau-style Whalehead Club, built in the 1920s as a hunting 'cottage' for a Philadelphia industrialist, is the centerpiece of this manicured park in the village of Corolla.

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  6. Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

    At the northern end of Hatteras Island, this 5834-acre preserve is a birdwatcher's heaven, with nature trails and 13 miles of unspoiled beach.

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  7. Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station

    Built in 1874, this was the first lifesaving station in the state, now a museum filled with pre–Coast Guard artifacts.

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  8. Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum

    This museum is all about preserving the Outer Banks' maritime history, with exhibits about shipwrecks, piracy and salvaged cargo.

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  9. Elizabethan Gardens

    The 16th-century-style Elizabethan Gardens include a Shakespearian herb garden and rows of beautifully manicured flower beds.

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  11. North Carolina Aquarium

    Pine Knoll Shores is home to the North Carolina Aquarium, with an ultracool exhibit re-creating local shipwrecks.

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  12. Oconaluftee Indian Village

    Cherokees demonstrate traditional crafts in the 18th-century replica Oconaluftee Indian Village.

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  13. North Carolina Maritime Museum

    See artifacts from the ship and meet modern shipbuilders at the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

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  14. Fort Macon State Park

    In Atlantic Beach, Fort Macon State Park draws crowds to its reconstructed Civil War fort.

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  15. Hot Springs

    Hot Springs is the natural waterslide at Sliding Rock.

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