I gotta admit that I had never even heard of Outer Banks, North Carolina before until watching the popular Netflix show Outerbanks. So I pulled up Bing maps and did some drive time calculation and found it wasn't insanely far from Milwaukee and that we could definitely squeeze it into a North Carolina road trip. We stayed for about 3 days and here's all the things I would recommend doing while there:
Take a Ferry to Okracoke Island
There's just something so unique and special about taking a ferry ride. When we found out you could take one out to one of the islands called Ocracoke, we were all in. It was a short ride and Ocracoke Island was sooooo beautiful! I'm so glad we didn't miss getting to see it.
Ocracoke Island lighthouse
Check out the Beaches
We only had time for one beach but spent the whole day there enjoying the waves and sunshine. We chose Cape Hatteras National Seashore. There was abundant parking and pretty sand.
Beach bum
Chase Lighthouses
There are many lighthouses in OBX, but we only sought out three of them. The one on Ocracoke Island called Ocracoke Lighthouse, Bodie Island Lighthouse, and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. They were all so majestic.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Jockey's Ridge State Park
This was such a cool spot! Sand dunes, ocean, sunshine, and trees are all around you. You feel like you're in another country, certainly not in a seaside town. There were public bathrooms here and plenty of parking. You could easily spend half a day here.
Sand dunin'
I hope after reading this you are now inspired to visit this amazing area of the United States as it is truly a hidden gem.