Fun At The Coast

Pirates Take On Stranger Tides On The Crystal Coast

Adventure-seekers in search of an authentic pirate haven need not look further than the Crystal Coast - North Carolina’s Southern Outer Banks, which includes Emerald Isle, Atlantic Beach, Morehead City, Beaufort and Cape Lookout. 

In the thrilling 2011 movie "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" Captain Jack Sparrow is forced aboard Captain Blackbeard’s Ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The Crystal Coast played host to Blackbeard and his swashbuckling crew in the 1700s and remains the final resting place for the Queen Anne’s Revenge. From exploring Blackbeard’s ship and visiting Blackbeard’s Hammock House, to paddling kayaks in pirate-drenched waters and searching for hidden treasure at the haunted Fort Macon, bustling buccaneers embark on a journey that retraces Blackbeard’s nefarious ways.

With an eccentric history steeped in swashbuckling pirate tales, romantic mysteries, deep-rooted maritime heritage and wartime triumphs and tragedies, adventurous families uncover memories of past pirate plunders on the Crystal Coast with activities including:

North Carolina Maritime Museum
Treasure-seekers discover bountiful booty with a firsthand look at exhumed relics from Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, from 24-pound colossal cannon balls and a small-shot brass blunderbuss barrel to a heavily encrusted bronze bell and an extensive array of vessel anchors.

Hammock House – circa 1709
Scavengers discover a carouser’s life at Blackbeard’s home in Beaufort boasting ghostly pirate legends leading back to the 1700s where visitors uncover the screams of an unruly, English woman Blackbeard hung on an oak tree outside the home.

Beaufort Historic Site
Treasure abounds in North Carolina’s third-oldest town and past stomping grounds of Blackbeard, with double-decker bus tours of the old jail, courthouse, apothecary, art gallery and Old Burying Ground.

Shackleford Banks
For more than 300 years, wild Spanish Mustangs have roamed the unscathed shoreline after swimming ashore when a Spanish pirate ship exploring the new world met a tragic fate off of North Carolina’s shores. The amazing wild horses have taken care of their young, frolicked on pristine deserted beaches and forages for food with not a saddle or a fence in sight.

Old Burying Ground
As one of the oldest cemeteries in North Carolina, the historic site offers ghostly pirate excursions where discoverers stumble upon grave sites from a little girl buried in a rum keg to the cannon covered tomb of a privateer.

Fort Macon 
Built in the early 1800s, Fort Macon stands as a well-built monument with centuries of history. A region highly vulnerable for attack needed a way to keep the enemies out, Fort Macon was the answer, guarding the Beaufort Inlet and Beaufort Harbor. Ghosts of war veterans are said to haunt the fort to protect from attack.

For more information on The Crystal Coast, visit www.crystalcoastnc.org.

added: April 26, 2011

updated: July 26, 2012