For someone who says she’s not a “beach person,” Peggy Birkemeier, a N.C. Coastal Federation board member from the Outer Banks, has caught on nicely.
Our Coast
The Starriest Sky on the East Coast
Cape Hatteras National Seashore could become the first “dark sky park” in the world that’s on a coastline. Its brilliant nightscape of stars is an environmental, economic and scientific resource.
Pelican Award: Troy Outland
There’s a working waterfront for fishermen in Manns Harbor, thanks in part to this guy’s leadership. Find out why the N.C. Coastal Federation presented Troy Outland with a Pelican Award.
Our Coast’s Food: Muscadines
Clerks at snooty wine shops may turn up their noses at the notion, but our food writer celebrates North Carolina’s native grape.
The Tale of a Fish House Liar
Rodney Kemp is somewhat of a celebrity in Morehead City for telling entertaining stories about local history. And sometimes they’re actually true. He’s keeping alive the old coastal tradition of the fish house liar.
A Sign of Fall: Mullet Fishing on Bogue Banks
Autumn officially started last night, and soon the fishermen of Salter Path will latch their dories to the old tractors and head out to the beach in search of jumping mullet.
Storms, Whales and Refugees
A great hurricane drove the Ca’e Bankers from Shackleford Banks to Harkers Island, Salter Path and a place they called the Promise Land, but not before they took the most famous whale in N.C. history.
Ca’e Bankers
Old photos and artifacts, like an old whale gun, tell the story of the hardy fishing families who once lived in Diamond City and the other settlements near the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
A Celebration of Watermen
The annual Day at the Docks festival in Hatteras is a confirmation of the strength of community, heritage and the living traditions of the island’s watermen.
Coastal Sketch: David Paynter
Meet David Paynter, treasurer for the N.C. Coastal Federation’s board of directors. When he’s not bird watching or kayaking on Hewlett’s Creek, he’s trying to protect it.
Alligator River Refuge
The watery wilderness that is the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is 30 years old this year. The red wolves, the red cockaded woodpeckers, the black bears and, yes, the alligators should be rejoicing.
Our Coast’s Food: Dining Over the Century
Dining culture at Wrightsville Beach wasn’t always flip flops and ice-cold white wine. Our food columnist tells how it’s changed over the last 100 years.
A New Clue Into the New World
A historic document could unlock leads about the mysteries of English colonization on Roanoke Island, perhaps even the fate of the so-called “Lost Colony.”
Pelican Award: Sue Weddle
Find out why this Sunset Beach resident won an award for being a dedicated, persistent and effective advocate for our coast.
Sea Pansies and Blue Buttons
Our naturalist Sam Bland spotted these two unusual finds that washed up from the deep ocean on a beach walk in Emerald Isle.
Miss Blanche of Ocracoke
Blanche Howard Jolliff is 94 and an island treasure. She remembers, for instance, the shipwreck that led to the first road on Ocracoke and the first road collision.
