[PDF Printer Friendly Version]Outer Banks of North Carolina
3 Day / 2 Nights Itinerary
Including the “Nights In Rodanthe”– Movie Trail
The following itinerary is just a suggestion presented by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau for your convenience. It is designed to allow you to explore our barrier islands over the course of three days, with the goal of immersing you in the setting of Nights in Rodanthe, and allowing you the time to explore not only the real places seen in the movie, but the whole of the Outer Banks and its richness of history, culture, shopping, dining and outdoor activities. Whether you’re traveling alone, with a companion or taking a group tour, this day planner should help you see some of the best of the Outer Banks.
Lunch and shopping on the waterfront in Downtown Historic Manteo, full of independently owned shops, eateries and businesses that offer one of kind items such as hand made pottery to antiques to books to clothing, all within a 4-square-block area.
Your first stop will take you to Roanoke Island Festival Park, located Downtown Historic Manteo. Here you can embark on the Elizabeth II, a 69-foot sailing vessel that is a representative of those sailed to the New World in 1585. Also the park highlights the early European exploration and colonization, of which the English voyages to Roanoke Island were a part. The theme of Festival Park is the western explorations of America, marked by settlement attempts, colorful characters, get rich schemes, new knowledge, and often difficult relationships with the Native American people.
Next, stroll through the majestic Elizabethan Gardens, which were designed in 1960 as a living memorial to Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh and the members of the Lost Colony. A highlight of the gardens is an outstanding collection of antique statuary. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site- When you come to the site, you may expect to see a fort, but what is on site is a small earthen fortification where Sir Walter Raleigh’s explorers and colonists attempted to found settlements here on the north end of Roanoke Island in 1585. Also located here is the Roanoke Island Freedman’s Colony. The colony is recognized as an historic National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site.
Check into your oceanfront hotel
Group Dinner at one of our locally owned restaurants
Outer Banks Music Showcase, Kitty Hawk, NC (optional – depends on schedule)
A touch of Branson comes to the coast! Come see the Outer Banks premier live musical show featuring America’s favorite music! From popular country, to 50’s & 60’s pop, Show tunes to patriotic and gospel - the showcase has it all! Fabulous vocalists and awesome musicians combined with wholesome comedy will provide an exciting and fun filled evening for the entire group.
Enjoy a continental breakfast at the hotel
Today’s journey will be a long day as you travel through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and along the Nights In Rodanthe Movie Trail – visit the namesake village and where the majority of the movie was filmed on the Outer Banks.
Highlights will be the Bodie Island Lighthouse, the Nights In Rodanthe Movie Trail, Chicamacomico Life Saving Station, Pea Island Wildlife Refuge, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Ocracoke Lighthouse, Banker ponies, Teaches Hole and much more!
Stop and visit the most picturesque lighthouse of the Outer Banks: Bodie Island Lighthouse This 156-foot beacon began operation in 1872 and has the black and white horizontal bans, come and learn why Bodie Island is named. You’ll be surprised!
Our tour continues as we drive through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, located on the northernmost section of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This 6,000-acre refuge is a one of the prime birding areas on the East Coast. A haven for more than 265 species of birds such as Canadian geese, snow geese and 25 species of duck during the winter can be seen. Bird walks and other programs may be arranged in advance.
As we continue to head south on highway NC 12 just before you enter the village of Rodanthe, there is a set of twisty turns in the road. In the movie, at these turns on the ocean side of the road, a scene was filmed involving a herd of “wild” Outer Banks ponies. Today, you can park you car along the road and cross over the dunes to see this popular stretch of beach known for its natural beauty and dynamic shore.
Next stop takes you to the village of Rodanthe, film location and namesake for Nicholas Sparks’ novel “Nights In Rodanthe”.
Pick up your local guide at the Chicamacomico Life Saving Station. Overflow parking/storage for the operation across the street at the R/W/S Community Center. This was also the staging area for extra vehicles, heavy equipment, and horses. Although the site was not used in filming, some of its items were rented for use in various scenes.
Also on site you will tour historic buildings and boathouse that housed the service that was the predecessor to the United States Coast Guard. It is home to one of the greatest rescues in early Coast Guard history, the 1918 rescue of forty-two crew members of the British tanker, Mirlo. Hear other stories of daring ocean rescues by these brave life-savors who dedicated their lives to the sea.
Next on the movie trail your local guide who also had a small role in the film will take you to see the following location shots:
Serendipity: Called “The Inn at Rodanthe” in the movie. Diane Lane’s character (Adrienne) comes to the Inn to manage it while the owner goes out of town for several days. This house was used in filming all exterior “Inn” scenes. Extensive work was done to change the look of the house before filming began. New windows, blue decorative shingles, a weathervane, a new sign, extra porches and railings, extra decking, and shrubbery were added. Richard Gere and Diane Lane spent many days here filming scenes. Several shots with the use of a helicopter were also filmed here.
JoBob’s General Store: In the movie, this is where village residents and inhabitants go to purchase their storm supplies before the storm hits the island. The exterior of the building was filmed only. Diane Lane was filmed here.
Hatteras Island Fishing Pier: The small store at the Pier was used to film interior shots of “before the storm” activity. Also, a large “we survived the hurricane” party scene, involving 400 extras and most of the principal characters was filmed here at night. The wind speed was 25-30 mph that evening and filming lasted until 4 a.m! Both Richard Gere and Diane Lane were filmed at this location.
Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo Community Center: This location was the Base of Operations (and the first stop each day) for the cast and crew during entire filming on the Outer Banks (2 ½ weeks). Costume shop, makeup trailer, catering trucks, machine shop, cast and crew trailers, business offices, and various other vehicles were located here. Every day of filming began and ended here.
Capt. Levene Midgett’s cottage: across the street from Chicamacomico. Home originally owned by the last officer-in-charge at Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station/Coast Guard Station. Home is still owned by descendants. Interior scenes were filmed here with Richard Gere.
Our next stop takes us to the tallest brick beacon on the American coast, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, with its black and white stripes; it stands at 208 feet high. Learn the marvelous history, which includes its half-mile move in 2000 away from the ocean. Climb to the top to catch a bird’s eye view of the barrier islands.
If time permits, stop by the Old Gray House in Buxton (Light Plant Road); owned by locals and has local artists and crafters who display their arts and crafts. The house has been there since the turn of the century. Lots of neat stories! Free gifts for group tour patrons!
Arrive at the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry Terminal (another film location). Aerial and ground shots showing Richard Gere arriving on Hatteras Island via ferry.
Before getting in line, visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. Located at the ferry docks, this museum is still a work in progress; take a behind the scenes tour to see artifacts from historical shipwrecks, unique beach finds and locally carved ships’ models.
Catch the ferry to Ocracoke Island, voted in 2007 as America’s number 1 beach!. Enjoy a 45-minute free ferry ride to historic Ocracoke Island. This is where the famous pirate Blackbeard plundered many a ship and was eventually beheaded by a British naval captain in 1718, in a slough off of the island.
Arrive at the Ocracoke Island Visitor Center talk with a National Park Service interpreter who will give the Ocracoke history and mystery of this quaint fishing village.
Stop at the Ocracoke Lighthouse, nestled in this quaint fishing village along Silver Lake, this whitewashed tower is the oldest and shortest. Built in 1823 it is the oldest operating lighthouse on the North Carolina Coast and the second oldest in the nation. It was the beneficiary of the first Fresnel lenses.
Other points of interest not to miss on Ocracoke Island:
Teach’s Hole – Blackbeard Exhibit and Pirate Specialty Shop, British Cemetery – located on Howard Street,
Banker Ponies – pens are located on NC 12 on the way to village, the Ocracoke Preservation Museum.
Catch the free Ocracoke/Hatteras Ferry back to Hatteras Village. Enjoy a group dinner at The Captain’s Table or Diamond Shoals restaurants, located in the heart of Buxton Village. As a surprise to your guest have Blackbeard the Pirate surprise your group at dinner with his gripping tales of the high seas on his ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge and what life was like on the Outer Banks and on “Diamond Shoals” in the 1700’s.
Check out of the Hotel/Continental Breakfast
Before departing the Outer Banks of North Carolina one of the most pioneering feats happened here on December 17, 1903. Visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial located in the heart of Kill Devil Hills. See where on a cold day, December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright changed the world forever as their powered airplane, the “Wright Flyer”, skimmed over the sands of the Outer Banks for 12 seconds before returning to the ground. You will find the following things to see and do: A replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer with an interpretive flight talk from a Park Ranger, markers of each flight that were attempted and completed on December 17, 1903, a replica camp building and hangar used to house the brothers and their plane, a new flight museum which still has exhibits from the 2003 First Flight Centennial Celebration and the Wright Brothers Memorial atop Big Kill Devil hill, great views of the island.