Banx Bound is a blog series about my favorite vacation spot, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, affectionately known as OBX. It’s really more like my home away from home and inspiration to many of my stories. Bodie Island Lighthouse is destination to this edition of Banx Bound.

Bodie Island Lighthouse is located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina off of Route 12, south, near Oregon Inlet. You may have visited the lighthouse and grounds during your previous trips, but this spring you will be able to climb 156 feet to the top of the black and white horizontal striped tower.

For history buffs, this is the third lighthouse named Bodie. Two previous lighthouses were built south of Oregon Inlet. The first tower built in the mid 1800’s fell to poor design and the second was destroyed during the Civil War. The current tower was completed in 1872 and automated in 1954. Bodie’s light can be seen for almost twenty miles.

In my lifetime of visiting the Outer Banks, Bodie Island Lighthouse was never open to climb. However in spring of 2013 after several years of interrupted restoration because of funding, it was finally open tours. You can now see an amazing view of Oregon Inlet and south Nags Head. http://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/lighthouseclimbs.htm

Banx Bound is a series I write about places and events happening on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, affectionately known at OBX by the six million annual visitors.

For those who may not know, the Outer Banks played an intricate part in U.S. history when the English established a temporary settlement…

Banx Bound

The First Settlement

Roanoke Colony was the first English settlement on North America located on what is now known as Roanoke Island in Dare County, North Carolina.

Virginia Dare was the first born English colonist and for which Dare County is named. The colony was left to fend for itself after war broke out between England and Spain. When Governor, John White was allowed return with supplies, three years later, the settlers including his grandchild, Virginia Dare, had vanished.

Courtesy of Wiki Commons

The word Croatoan had been carved in one the fort posts and the buildings had been dismantled. It is speculated that the colonists moved to what is now Hatteras Island and integrated with friendly Native Americans. The The Lost Colony is reenacted as an outdoor drama at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Park in Manteo during May through August and will start its 77^th season this year.