Flight From Then to Now
Outer Banks Tours with an early-flight focus
Get ready for liftoff.
Human fascination with flight began in this very place. With inventive minds and a powerful headwind, everything was in position. This full-day itinerary leads from the sights at Jockey’s Ridge State Park to Wright Brothers National Memorial.
8:00am Breakfast at your hotel, or stop by a local family restaurant for a good ole southern breakfast.
9:30am Spend (1 hour) at Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Experience flight as it continues on the Outer Banks today. Visitors can see the largest living sand dune on the East Coast and watch a hang gliding demonstration from the largest hang gliding school in America, Kitty Hawk Kites.
11:00am Visit Wright Brothers National Memorial for (1 hour, 15 minutes). This is the place where, on a cold day in December, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright changed history when their powered airplane, the Wright Flyer, moved across the sands of the Outer Banks for 12 seconds before touching down again.
12:30pm For lunch, stop at Black Pelican Restaurant, formerly Lifesaving Station #6, where the Wright Brothers sent the first telegraph announcing their first flight in 1903.
2:00pm After lunch, make your way to Moore Shore Road in Kitty Hawk to see the marker identifying the spot where the Wright Brothers first flew their glider, near where the Tate property stood in the 1900s. When traveling south, the marker is visible on the right-hand side.
2:45pm Drive (30 minute drive) to The Manteo airport for an aerial look at the natural sweep of the OBX. Several air tour options are available by plane or helicopter. For a more back-to-basics view of what inspired human flight, watch the migratory route of 100s of different types of birds instead.
4:00pm Return to your hotel for a rest before dinner.
5:45pm For dinner, pick one of the locally owned restaurants that feature North Carolina Seafood.