“I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.” – Wilbur Wright.

As you know, Wilbur was wrong. On December 17, 1903, the brothers flew the first successful piloted flight in history. As interesting as their aviation history is, many people also know where their flight took place, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

I won't lie that when my mom first told me that we might be taking a trip to North Carolina this summer, I wasn't too enthused. I mean who wants to drive 14 hours to, quite frankly, a state with very little pizazz. Well, think again. For once I decided to follow my own advice and do some research, and what I found has inspired me to post this entry, and hopefully change your opinion of North Carolina in the process.

North Carolina officially became a  state in 1789 as the 12th state, and  since then has become both a  technological and agricultural leader.  Though manufacturing is the main  industry, the state boasts four world-  renound universities that have helped  propel the state to prominence.

North Carolina is also home to  adventure as the Rocky Mountains  and Appalachian Trai

l wind through  the state and today adventurers search for the legendary pirate Blackbeard and his sunken ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, off of the coast.

Perhaps the best part of North Carolina, however, is the striking coastline. Running for 301 miles, North Carolina has the second longest coastline of any Atlantic State, behind only Florida. The Outer Banks, the group of barrier islands extending over 200 miles south from the Virginia/North Carolina border, boast everything from water sports to history tours and massive lighthouses to movie sets (the movie Nights in Rodanthe was filmed here).

My personal favorite part though is Nags Head's Jockey's Ridge State Park where sand dunes reach heights of 80-90 feet tall! Interesting enough, the amount of sand making up the 420 acres of Jockey's Ridge is equal to about 6,000,000 dump truck loads!

Anyway, North Carolina is a definite must see for anyone craving a mix of adventure and leisure, I mean it is just 14 hours away.

Bon Voyage,

Ryan