National Park Archives - Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates

Explore Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Manteo

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is a unique wetland habitat where you can see and experience all types of wildlife located here on the Outer Banks. Located on Roanoke Island is where you’ll find this great refuge that is a little over 152,000 acres of reserved & protected wetlands. Established on March 14^th, 1984 this is one of the largest wildlife refuges located on the coast of North Carolina and is home to waterfowl & migratory birds, numerous endangered species, black bears, and other diverse wildlife. We at Joe Lamb Jr. & Associate wanted to share with you a few things to know before heading over to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge to explore it.

Why a Wildlife Refuge?

Explore Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Manteo

Many people have questioned why there was a need for a wildlife refuge on the Outer Banks, and the answer is simple, to protect not only the wetlands but the wildlife too. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was set up to preserve the many endangered species known to the area, such as the American alligator, red wolf, and red-cockaded woodpeckers. While the red wolves have recently been re-established in the area, they are still endangered. Some of the documented efforts made during this re-establishment is increasing the total count of red wolves in 2011 from 89 to roughly a new population total of 130, current day numbers. To keep accurate data on the re-establishment project there are 10 known red wolves that are on active radio collars to keep up with any pack changes. How cool is that?! The mountains aren’t the only place where you’ll see a black bear, as it’s common to see them on the coast of North Carolina. Protecting all the wildlife, whether they are native to the area or they’ve migrated to the OBX, this National Wildlife Refuge is the perfect place for them.

Visiting the National Wildlife Refuge

On regular occasions, the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge’s Visitor Center would be open. Still, due to the safety measures that have been put into place, it is closed at the moment. However, the visitor center is typically open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday – Saturday and 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sundays. It is free to explore the visitor center, and it has many different exhibits that you may not get to see elsewhere. However, the land is open for all to explore as there are many various activities you can do there.

Activities You Can Do

If you’re looking for some fun things to do while you’re at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, there are plenty of available items. Wildlife Drive is where you will find the black bear, waterfowl and you may get to see the red wolves. Two trails are open for you to explore and hike for all the outdoor junkies in your group. If you’re looking for more adventure, then maybe Habitat Geocaching is what you and the kids can do. Be sure to bring your camera as you can capture the beauty of the wildlife at the refuge.

After exploring the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, head back to your Outer Banks vacation rental as you relax. We look forward to seeing you and your family on your next visit to stay with us and explore the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge!

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades.

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.

Visit the Hatteras Island Visitor Center & Museum of the Sea

The Outer Banks is filled with many historic National Parks and other fun educational side trips that you and your family can enjoy while on vacation. Visiting these places can not only help you relax a bit, but maybe get in a few extra homeschooling lessons along the way. Staying in one of our beautiful Outer Banks vacation rentals will allow you and your family to be able to explore these two unique places. Let’s take a longer look at both the Hatteras Island Visitor Center and Museum of the Sea before your next visit.

Hatteras Island Visitor Center

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is roughly a 1-hour drive from South Nags Head making it the perfect destination to inspire a scenic drive. Here you and your family will be able to explore the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and see how majestic it is. The breathtaking views you will see from atop of the lighthouse will allow you to see how beautiful the entire area is as the light washes over the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is 210ft high making it the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States.

There is a park store where you and your family will be able to purchase souvenirs & books to take back home and remember this day by. The visitor center is open daily except for Christmas from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. However, before you make plans to visit, be sure to make sure they are open. Stop by the information desk and ask for a park brochure, map, and a list of the daily events happening while you’re on site.

There is plenty of parking and restrooms available here to accommodate everyone. Throughout the spring, summer and autumn months, join a park ranger on a ranger-led program to learn about lighthouses, barrier island geology, sea turtles, surf fishing and more!

Museum of the Sea

The Museum of the Sea is located within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and sits alongside the Hatteras Island Visitor Center. This museum is not like any other museum that you may have ever seen. It includes the Double Lighthouse Keepers’ Quarters built for the two lighthouse assistants who lived on site with their families. While the Lighthouse Keeper did not live in this large home, he had his living quarters just off the Double Keepers’ Quarters’ right. Both homes are still standing and are beautiful inside and out. Inside the museum, you will learn more about the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse through some fantastic exhibits focused on maritime history of the Outer Banks. There are so many interesting artifacts, exhibits, and photographs located within the Museum of the Sea that everyone in your group will walk away with learning something new.

While there are many other fun parks located on the Outer Banks, we wanted to share these with you. If you haven’t booked your next visit to stay in one of our Outer Banks vacation rentals, give us a call today. We look forward to hearing about your trip to the Hatteras Island Visitor Center and Museum of the Sea soon!

Here is more specific info about Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on their website on this page.

Experience Fort Raleigh on your Next Vacation to the Outer Banks

One of the best things about vacationing to the Outer Banks is all of the fantastic parks in the area. We wanted to share with you one of the National Parks located in Manteo, Fort Raleigh, which happened to be England’s first home in the new world. Staying in one of our OBX vacation rentals will allow you and your family to be close to this fantastic National Park. Let’s read more below on what you and your family can experience when visiting Fort Raleigh.

A Little History on Fort Raleigh

You and your family can head on over to Fort Raleigh, located on Roanoke Island in Manteo. This National Park was England’s first colony in the New World and is on a beautiful land stretch. While the settlement doesn’t have any structural remains on the land, you will find that there are mounds of earthwork that help preserve the fort. Families moved to the new settlement back in 1587, but many settlers disappeared from the colony by either leaving to find a new settlement or heading back to England. But there are still plenty of things left by the first settlers at the fort for you to check out. In 1896, the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association erected a stone tablet of granite from North Carolina, and the base is made up of granite from Virginia. This tablet is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has information inscribed on it about Virginia Dare’s birth, christening, and the christening of Manteo, NC.

Visiting the Fort

Fort Raleigh is known for having “The Lost Colony,” which is Fort Raleigh’s outdoor drama that many love to see. While it was closed for the season in 2020, it will return for the 2021 season beginning on May 28, 2021. How exciting is that? Your family will also visit the Visitor Center, which is open daily from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm. Some trails are available for your family to explore and a beach as well to enjoy. Admission to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is free, and the park is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, seven days a week but be sure to check their schedule before you head on over for the day. They are closed on several Holidays or may have limited hours posted.

We here at Joe Lamb, Jr & Associates are proud long time sponsors of “The Lost Colony”. There are many other cool things about Fort Raleigh, but we wanted to save those when you visit the park. If you haven’t booked your next vacation to OBX, now is the time. We look forward to seeing you and your family and hearing about your visit to the Fort Raleigh Historic Site.

Explore the Wright Brothers National Memorial on your Next Vacation

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina a small fishing village on an isolated strip of beach on the mid Atlantic coast provided the perfect opportunity for two brothers from Ohio to make their dreams come true. The Outer Banks is such a special and magical place and the Wright Brothers knew it only too well.

“We could hardly wait to get up in the morning.”
-Orville Wright

When you are staying in one of our OBX vacation rentals, The Wrights Brothers National Memorial should be included in your trip plans. The Wright Brothers National Memorial is located in Kill Devil Hills and is open every day, except for Christmas Day.

Did you know?

The visitor center was considered an ultra-modern design in 1930 when the design was first chosen and was dedicated in 1932.
The memorial was the Original Selfie Spot! In the 40s and 50s, the most popular thing to do was to get dressed up in your Sunday’s best and take photos in front of the commemorative boulders.
Thanks to a coin toss, Orville was the first brother to become airborne!

Walk Where History Was Made

Wright Brothers National Memorial is the place where the Orville Brothers spent years working on the mysteries of flight, and there is so much to take in and learn. Make sure you bring your walking shoes, as there is so much ground and history to be discovered. Aviation and History lovers will find plenty of reasons to love the 428 acre park which features relics from the past and exhibits showing the 1900s Outer Banks environment the Wrights Brothers experienced and more. The memorial is a way-finding marker for the Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk areas of the Outer Banks. With its flat topography, the monument is viewable for miles.

Get Into the Memorial

The memorial is located at Mile Marker 7.5 in Kill Devil Hills. The National Memorial, visitors’ center and Centennial Pavilion are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 7 days a week, year-round, and every day except for Christmas.

Admission to the Wright Brothers National Memorial is required as for those 16, and older are $10 each, but children 15 and under are free of charge. You are welcome to bring your furry friends with you as long as they are on a leash at all times. Joe Lamb has plenty of pet friendly rentals available, so you can plan ahead and bring your puppers with you!

Plan Your Trip

Joe Lamb has a large assortment of vacation rentals available to meet your families needs.

New Island Forms off Cape Hatteras Point

Shelly Island, a new island that has formed off the Point at Cape Hatteras. Photo Virginian Pilot.

Barrier islands are pretty dynamic places and today’s evidence of that is Shelly Island, an islet that has formed just off the Cape Hatteras Point.

At this time the island is at most a mile long and varies in width, although all of that is constantly changing. Reports put the new land about 50 yards offshore with a very fast moving channel separating the Outer Banks from the island.

How Shelly Island Formed

What has happened is rare but not unheard of.

The amount of sand that moves past the Outer Banks may be the largest in the world. The shoreline retreats as it loses sand, but the sand generally comes to rest, usually farther south where a beach may widen or accrete.

The Point juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, breaking up the north to south movement of sand. Usually the sand falls to the ocean bottom forming shoals and sandbars, but if conditions are right, enough sand could gather in one place and form an island.

It’s anyone’s guess how long Shelly Island will be there. It may become a permanent or semi-permanent part of the map or a powerful nor’easter might come along and take it out in a day.

Getting to the island is not easy. There have been reports of 5’ sharks and large stingrays in the channel. National Park Service officials have issued warnings about trying to swim or walk across the channel.

According to visitors to the island, the effort is worth it. Seashell collectors report great shelling and fishermen have been heading out to the island hoping to get a bit farther into the waters of the Atlantic.

The story behind the name? According to the tales that have been told, a grandmother took her son to the island and he named it Shelly Island because of all the shells they found.

Picture Perfect Weather on the Outer Banks

Bodie Island Lighthouse from the trail on the western side of the site.

Usually when we write about the weather on the Outer Banks, it’s because there’s something nasty to report—hurricanes, n’or easters, that type of thing. Today, thankfully, we get a break from disaster reporting.

Not that we have to report on nasty weather too often, but it’s still nice to have something good to say.

The weather this weekend was spectacular. More like spring than mid February with temperatures almost reaching 70, deep blue skies and bright sunshine.

It was breezy, but the wind was from the west, keeping things warm and dry.

This was a day to be outside!

Bodie Island Trail

Looking for something different to do, Bodie Island Lighthouse seemed like the place to go. Rather than wander around the lighthouse, which is beautiful, the decision was made to take the path less traveled.

There’s a trail that goes out into the marshes as the Bodie Island Road loops back on itself. The trail begins as a dirt access road with a bar across the road keeping unauthorized vehicles out.

About a quarter mile down the road, there’s two bridges; one a modern looking construction that continues the road. To the left of it is a primitive looking bridge wide enough for foot traffic.

Take the bridge to the left.

There is a trail that wanders back into the marshes. At this time of the year, when staffing is low, it does not appear as though very much trail maintenance has been done, but the journey is worth the effort.

Trail entering a grove of trees on the Bodie Island Trail.

As the trail parallels the open marsh, specular views of Bodie Island Lighthouse appear. The marsh grass at this time of the year is a pale brown that waves in the wind. Small groves of trees are a spectacular green against that monochrome background.

There is a constant chorus of wind blowing through the grass and over the tops of trees. Mixed in with that is the chirp and songs of wrens and finches that spend their winters on the Outer Banks.

It truly is days like today that are reminders of how amazing the Outer Banks can be and the beauty that is so much a part of living here.

30+ Years for Wright Kite Festival

Chris Shultz of HQ Kites helping a young kite flyer.

All things considered it was a really nice day for the Wright Kite Festival at the Wright Brothers Monument. Kitty Hawk Kites has been sponsoring the event for a lot of years—30+ by our calculations—and it’s always a good time.

The event was mostly rained out on Saturday, but Sunday the sun was out with a few scattered cloud. The winds . . . well the winds were not perfect for kite flying but they weren’t all that bad either. A little bit light, but the real problem is they were variable; from the east for a little bit . . . then south . . . then southwest . . . then east again.

Nonetheless, there were a lot of kites in the sky. There was a great demonstration of kite ballet—quad line kites dancing to music, the music mostly jazz with a little bit of classical thrown in.

The folks at Kitty Hawk Kites always break out the kite making kits for kids, the sled kites they make really do fly and they’re so small that a child running full tilt is guaranteed to get the kite into the sky.

It was a great chance for adults to try their hand at some of the stunt kites, although even some kids got into the act. We noticed Chris Shultz of HQ Kites flying a power kite with some young enthusiasts.

They must have had a good time because the kids were laughing the whole time.

#joelambjr

Time to Climb-NPS Opens Outer Banks Lighthouses

Now that the weather is getting better, it’s time to think about the view from the top—in this case the top of Outer Banks lighthouses. The two lighthouses that are part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore are ready for climbing.

Bodie Island and Cape Hatteras Lighthouses are extraordinary structures; Cape Hatteras in Buxton, opened in 1870 is 193’ tall and is the tallest brick lighthouse on the East Coast. Forty-three miles north is its close cousin, Bodie Island Lighthouse. Dedicated in 1872 and 170’, it was patterned after the Hatteras Lighthouse using many leftover materials with the same contractor building it.

The view from both lighthouses is absolutely breathtaking. The world seems to fall away, running out to distant horizons. At the foot of Hatteras Lighthouse is Buxton Woods, running off to the south.

Bodie Island Lighthouse rises above the marsh and wetlands of South Nags Head. Looking south and east Oregon Inlet is clearly visible.

The climb to the top can be somewhat strenuous—narrow, twisting metal stairs and very little ventilation can get things pretty warm, especially in the summer. But whatever the effort—that view from the top makes the journey with while.

Lighthouses are available for climbing from 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. There is a fee, age, weight and height requirements so check with the National Park Service for more information.

Wright Memorial Setting for Citizenship Ceremony

Receiving the certificate of citizenship.

Thirty-nine new citizens were welcomed to the Outer Banks yesterday at a swearing in ceremony at the Wright Brothers Memorial.

It was an amazing event—emotional, awe-inspiring and perhaps a little bit intimidating with the realization of what these newest Americans coming from 23 countries have gone through to follow their dream.

There were remarks from Jay Wesselmann U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Dave Hallac, Superintendent of the National Park Outer Banks Group—and they were thoughtful and appropriate. The day, though, belonged to those 39 men and women who had traveled from China, the Philippines, Yemen, Viet Nam or Brazil to follow the dream of opportunity.

And what is compelling and does not seem to have changed since first immigrant set foot on these shore—parents were coming to give their children a better life . . . more opportunity, a better education and the chance to freely express themselves.

One of the most memorable images from the day was the joy on the faces of every new citizen as they came forward to receive a certificate of citizenship. Without speaking a word, their actions shouted out that the ideal that the United States embodies is still very much alive.

The Countries represented at the Swearing in Ceremony:

The Philippines, Taiwan, Columbia, Trinidad and Tobago, the People’s Republic of China., Mexico, Ecuador, India, Canada, Israel, Czech Republic, Honduras, Poland, Brazil, Romania, Yemen, Viet Nam, Iran, Morocco, S. Korea, El Salvador Burma and Paraguay.

Check Out The Wright Brothers Monument This Summer!

The view from the top of the Wright Brothers Monument. Photo, Kati Wilkins, North Beach Sun.

Mystery solved!

This summer for the first time in over 25 years the National Park Service is going to open the Wright Brothers Monument to visitors.

Towering over the Wright Brothers Memorial Park and everything else surrounding it the monument perches on top of a 90’ sand dune that has been stabilized. Including ht 60’ of the monument, at 150’ it’s the highest point on the Outer Banks until Bodie Island Lighthouse.

A little piece of history about the Monument—it was the original visitor’s center. From 1933 when it was dedicated until 1957 when the current Visitor’s Centers was completed, everyone trekked up Kill Devil Hill to get the inside scoop on gifts, books and information.

As long as the only connection to the outside world was a wooden bridge at Kitty Hawk and a couple of ferries coming from the west, that was fine.

But when real bridges connected the Outer Banks with the rest of the country, the small, cramped space inside was no longer adequate.

It is a beautiful piece of architecture and the interior is as starkly beautiful as the outside. There is a very narrow, twisting stairwell to what was once an observation deck at the top, but even a one time climb to the top is enough to convince anyone that the stairs are unsuitable and unsafe for use by the general public.

Kind of a shame, too, because the view from the top of the Monument almost feels like soaring above the earth.

Category: National Park