the outer banks, nags head

Leaving Chimney Rock and the mountains we travel a wide asphalt swath cut through the hardwood and pine forests of the piedmont. Near the coast we drive through tobacco and peanut farms. Skirting the Dysmal Swamp we drive past turtles sunning themselves on logs and signs warning us to watch for bears and red wolves. We cross the Alligator River, the Alligator Wildlife Refuge, Roanoke Island and finally arrive at Nags Head on the Outer Banks. Crossing the Alligator River
Over the bridge to Roanoke island. This is where the first English settlement was founded. Also this is the birthplace of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the new world. The Roanoke settlers disappeared and there is very little evidence of their fate. Some say they were killed by the indians and some historians have found evidence that they escaped the island and mixed with friendlier indians in Georgia.