I (Shae) grew up only 2 hours from the Outer Banks and we went there a fair bit when we lived in Portsmouth, VA from 2010-2017, so we didn’t feel like it was a priority on the road trip since we only had 3 weeks to explore the whole state.
However, after going to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC I wanted to go to the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk over our holiday break in Hampton Roads. My mom and I therefore took a day trip to the Outer Banks in December 2022.
Getting material for my classes was the priority, so we started our day at the Wright Brothers Memorial and Visitors Center. While this site doesn’t have the original glider (that’s in DC), it is the original site where the Wright Brothers took their first iconic flight.
The museum is very well done and has a lot of great interactive questions to connect with the Wright Brothers’ history and your own family. You learn very similar information to that at the Washington DC site, but it’s presented in a more interactive way at this location, in my opinion.
Here’s a remaining piece from the original shed and shelter that the Wright Brothers used while in Kitty Hawk. The Wright Brothers worked on their ideas in Ohio and would then come down to test them in Kitty Hawk, NC. They went there for 3 reasons:
- It was sandy, so there was a soft landing site
- It was remote, so they had privacy away from the press and others trying to crack the secret of flight
- It was windy, which provided the necessary lift to get their flyer off the ground.
Here’s the photo that was captured of that first flight as the flyer left the dolly and took off. There’s a sculpture to memorialize this iconic moment outside and you can see images of it below.
This is a replica of the original Wright Flyer.
Once you’ve finished the museum you head out to the grounds. It’s a great open space and you’ll probably see a lot of families with children flying kites (which is how the Wright Brothers started out in their ideas for their gliders and flyer.) They have replicas of the living quarters and workshop the brothers used while in Kitty Hawk.
This iconic rock is where the first flight was loaded and ready to go! There’s a replica of the rail they used since the flyer didn’t have wheels. It was placed on the dolly and then just landed on the sand, no landing gear!
You can walk the distance of the 1st – 4th flights. Wilber and Orville flipped a coin to see who would fly first. Wilber won the toss but his attempt stalled out. On December 17, 1903, it was Orville’s turn and he was successful.
There’s a large monument up on a hill on the grounds to the Wright Brothers. Not only is a great place to go to see the surrounding area, it’s a testament to their ingenuity, tenacity and creative spirit.
Down the backside of the hill is the sculpture of the photo of the first flight. The Wright Brothers weren’t alone, but they kept the invites of witnesses small. They were locals to North Carolina and three served at the local lifesaving station.
Once we finished at the Wright Brothers Memorial we drove down to Corolla, a favorite local spot where you can see the lighthouse, cute shops, some history and a beautiful beach. You can take your vehicle on the beach at that end too.
On the way back home we popped into a distillery we saw on the way down. Buffalo City Distillery was a ton of fun. It was the end of December so it was busy with holiday makers and locals and had a fun, New Years vibe to the evening. Live music, a food truck and great drinks made it a great end to a great day!
[…] – We only went on the one hike and it was nice. But my mom and I went to the Wright Brothers Memorial in the Outer Banks. While it wasn’t a “hike” strictly speaking, it was a fair bit of walking to move […]