Full Moon Tour of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse June 23

BUXTON, N.C.--As a special experience for the visiting public and local communities, the National Park Service will be offering Full Moon Climbs of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse the evening of Sunday, June 23, 2013.Two tours will be given; one at 8:30 p.m. and a second at 9:30 p.m. and each tour is limited to 30 people. Tickets must be purchased in advance.The full moon climb ticket sales will start on Friday, June 21, 2013. The lighthouse ticket booth is open from 8:15 a.m. to 5:40 p.m. daily and tickets for this event are non-refundable. As there are no lights inside the lighthouse, climbers will navigate the 257 stair staircase using handheld flashlights.During the climb, park rangers will provide stories of the arduous duties of the lighthouse keepers.From the watch room, visitors will be able to view the light up close and in motion and hear of the operation of the beacon, past and present – a truly unique experience. Outside on the lighthouse balcony (weather permitting) climbers will get a glimpse of what the lighthouse keepers of old were able to experience – seeing that beam of light reaching out to sea and the reflection of the newly risen moon on the ocean.

Piping Plover Nest Hatches Closing Ramp 43

BUXTON, N.C.--Outer Banks Group Superintendent Barclay Trimble has announced the closure of Ramp 43 today due to the hatching of a nearby piping plover nest.The nest, located between Ramp 43 and Ramp 44 hatched in the early morning resulting in the temporary closure of the area.Effective Thursday, June 13, 2013, Ramp 43 and Ramp 44 are both closed to ORV access. Currently, there is pedestrian access north of Ramp 43 and south of Ramp 44 which is subject to change. National Park Service staff first observed three piping plover chicks on June 13, resulting in the closure in accordance with the Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan for the Seashore. For information on areas within the Seashore that remain open for recreational uses, see: http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/googleearthmap.htm or call 252-473-2111.

Wanna Run the Oregon Inlet Marina?

SOUTH NAGS HEAD, N.C.--The National Park Service (NPS) has announced the release of a prospectus soliciting proposals for a business opportunity to operate marina and retail facilities including headboat and charter boat fishing trips and related visitor services at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center within Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The current concession contract for these services, held by Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, Inc. since 1973, will expire on December 31, 2013. The new 10-year concession contract is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2014.The contract requires a year-round concession operation, which includes headboat and charter boat fishing trips, moorage, retail, grocery, water and land based fuel sales, and related fishing support services.

NC Ferry System Recording Tourists’ Names, License Numbers

(from The Raleigh Telegram)
HATTERAS, N.C.--Tourists on the North Carolina Ferry System may be surprised to learn this summer that they will have their personal information recorded by the government as they board ferries in the state. During a recent ferry ride on the coast, a ferry official in a yellow shirt was walking up and down the long line of cars asking for people’s names before they boarded the ferry.  He also recorded the license numbers of cars boarding the ferry. Access to the license plate numbers would reveal not only the address of the owner, but the driving and criminal history, full name, Social Security number for states that participate in the federal Real ID program, birth date, and other private information. It is not known if the personal nformation is stored in a federal government database like the one recently disclosed that the National Security Agency keeps on Americans by monitoring phone and Internet traffic or if the ferry rider information is just being recorded by state agencies. The collection of information on tourists and other passengers who are boarding the ferry is evidently a new requirement, as previous trips on ferries on the North Carolina coast did not elicit such an inquiry when boarding. >> Read More

Village Realty Announces Fifth Annual Outer Banks Photo Contest

NAGS HEAD, N.C.--Village Realty has announced its Fifth Annual Outer Banks Photo Contest. Two Grand Prizes will be awarded: one for Best Photo and one for Best Video. The prize is an off-season week in a Village Realty vacation home. The 2013 contest is hosted on Village Realty’s Facebook page with eleven photo/video categories to choose from. Multiple entries are welcome. Videos must be under three minutes in length and hosted on YouTube or Vimeo. All photos and videos must have been taken on the Outer Banks. To enter, please go to http://soci.ly/f or OuterBanksPhotoContest.com.

The Top 10 Outta Sight Scenes at the Outer Banks

(from The Daily Times)
NAGS HEAD, N.C.--It isn't all that hard to find an empty nest but there is something out of the ordinary when you find life in the nest. The Osprey nest and who I believe is Osprey Jr. sits to the left of the nest but I have no reference point as to the size of a baby osprey. I am only a beginner birder much like the little guy or gal in the corner. >> Read More

Humpback Whale Surfaces in Nags Head

NAGS HEAD, N.C.--A humpback whale was spotted off of Jeanette's Pier in Nags Head Saturday, June 1st. A YouTube video of a swimmer getting close to the whale is below.

Blind Hiker and Trusty Lab Cross Tar Heel State

(from The News & Observer)
FALLS LAKE, N.C.--In eight months’ time, Trevor Thomas’ eyesight declined from the point of maybe needing contact lenses to total blindness – a surprise delivered by a rare eye disease. Friends told him he’d never skydive again, never race Porsches, never feel the adrenaline surge he’d get from strapping on a pair of skis. They were right. Instead, Thomas hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, only three years after his vision turned to shades of gray. He broke several ribs and two bones in his feet along the way. He cracked his hip and his skull. He stopped counting his falls when he got to 3,000. But he finished. This spring, Thomas is tackling the Mountains-to-Sea Trail – 1,000 miles from Clingman’s Dome to Jockey’s Ridge, accompanied only his black Lab, Tennille. >> Read More

Off-Peak Tranquility in OBX

(from The Philadelphia Inquirer)
DUCK, N.C.--My family and I felt right at home from the minute we arrived at this seaside town near the northern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Two of the first people we met were a mother from Warminster and her grown daughter from Levittown, shopping in a Rite-Aid for items we each had neglected to pack. At a seafood restaurant, a young family at the next table turned out to be from Levittown - the father's Phillies cap was a conversation-starter. And when we tried to phone in an order for barbecue, I accidentally dialed the restaurant's sister eatery - in New Britain, Central Bucks County. "That's my brother's place," said Ken Forlano, wearing an Eagles T-shirt, as I picked up our platters of North Carolina-style 'cue at Duck Deli. Throughout a weeklong stay last spring, my unscientific survey found Pennsylvania license plates second in number only to those of a much closer commonwealth, Virginia. "We get a lot of people from Pennsylvania," a worker at a Nags Head Hammocks store confirmed as I bought an anchoring gizmo for our beach umbrella. Duck is an appealing mix of shore activity and beach tranquillity - bustling shops and restaurants along the main, two-lane road (Route 12), and quiet neighborhoods just off it. The seven-mile stretch of barrier island is bounded by fine-sand beaches and the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Currituck Sound a mere half-mile to the west. As the merchants' guidebook touted, Duck is "a place where doing nothing can keep you pretty busy." Which suited my wife, Valerie; college daughter, Rebecca; and me just fine. We all were in need of some serious R&R, with time on the beach and the links our main priorities. >> Read More