10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Outer Banks

Partying pirates and progressive hiring procedures, oh my!

National Geographic

The Outer Banks is a much-loved destination. 200 miles of islands? Yes, please! There's a lot you might not know about the region, though. From free alcohol to feral ponies, OBX has some interesting history.

(fun facts courtesy of Voices from the Outer Banks)

1. Sir Walter Raleigh liked to play tricks on his servants.

Wikimedia

Sir Walter Raleigh is famous for a lot of things, including the charter that led to the mysterious Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, but did you know that he was also well-known for a parlor trick that got him into hot cold water? Raleigh was a big fan of tobacco and use to “drink” the smoke, pulling it into his mouth and letting it come out his nose and ears! One time, a servant came into the room while he was doing this and was so alarmed, thinking his master was on fire, that he threw a bucket of water on Raleigh. Unfortunately, it was difficult for Raleigh to continue drinking his smoke after he was beheaded in 1618.

2. Blackbeard put burning fuses in his beard and basically threw keggers.

Flickr

Blackbeard “retired” to Bath, NC, for a few months. Unfortunately, the Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood suspected Blackbeard’s retirement to be more Jay-Z than Captain Beefheart. Spotswood would eventually mount a totally illegal raid that ended with Blackbeard’s death, but before doing so, Blackbeard threw one hell of a barbecue on Ocracoke Island. For a few days in September 1718, he and fellow pirate Captain Charles Vane co-hosted the biggest (and probably most rum-soaked) pirate party on the North American mainland.

3. There are non-traditional V.I.P.s…

OBX Common Good

Every October, the Outer Banks plays host to the V.I.P. Fishing Tournament, but these very important people are actually Visually Impaired Persons.

4. …and free beer, delivered by hurricane.

Carsten Gurk

Everyone knows the Outer Banks is one of the most hurricane-vulnerable areas in the world, but sometimes what washes up can be…unexpected. Think messages in bottles only happen in terrible movies? In 1842, a bottle landed in Bermuda after a ship was caught in a hurricane off Hatteras. After the hurricane of 1933, Gordon Willis found hundreds of decoys washed up from the ritzy hunt clubs nearby. Sixty years later, John Alwine survived Hurricane Emily and met Dan Rather. More exciting than that, though, were the 175 cans of beer he found all over his yard.

5. Let’s talk about the feral pony-sized horses.

Trip Advisor

#majestic

Three OBX locations are well known for their wild ponies (which, if you want to get technical, are actually feral pony-sized horses): Shackleford, Corolla, and Ocracoke. Some of what goes on in the lives of these herds is less majestic than you might expect. To control the population and prevent disease, the "ponies" on Shackleford are administered birth control by dart. As if that's not weird enough, the Ocracoke horses seem to have developed an affinity for North Carolina's own Pepsi-Cola.

6. Children were used as human shields (!).

Ancient Faces

Colonel Augustus R. Wright used a drummer boy as a shield during the Chicamacomico Races…which is...strange, since he had seventeen of them himself. You'd think he'd be more of a family man. Also concerning? He served in the Confederate Congress.

7. You can’t indulge in happy hour before touring some of the most famous spots on the islands.

Giphy

People in any state of intoxication are not allowed in or around lighthouses. That margarita will just have to wait until after Hatteras!

8. The crew at the life-saving station on Pea Island was pretty special.

USCG

This crew was the first all-black crew, and their commanding officer was a former slave. The lifesaving stations that dotted the entirety of OBX were collapsed into the United States Coast Guard, but you can still visit and tour the Chicamacomico station.

9. Fireworks don't quite fit the bill at hunt clubs

deviantart

Joseph Knapp, who owned the famous Mackay Island hunt club, once celebrated Christmas with a huge fireworks display that scared away the ducks for more than four years. Considering that the whole reason people came to the hunt clubs was to rub elbows and shoot ducks, it was a decidedly bad decision.

10. Andy Griffith was like the Carmindy of the regional NC theatre scene

pinimg

Carl Kasell (How do you know that name? Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…) acted alongside Andy Griffith in a production of The Lost Colony. Carl, who was playing the role of Chief Wanchese, received a little "less is more" advice from Andy after he applied way too much face paint.