An Outer Banks Fall Vacation Fit for a Movie

Have you ever been so swept away by a big-screen love story that you wished you could simply live in the characters' romantic world? Well, you can - at least for a little while - when you visit North Carolina's Outer Banks, where "Nights in Rodanthe," the new major motion picture starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, was filmed.

Based on the best-selling novel by author Nicholas Sparks, "Nights in Rodanthe" was shot  on location in the Hatteras Island village of Rodanthe. You can now immerse yourself in the movie and visit the actual places that you will see in the film, including the real oceanfront cottage that is portrayed as the fictional Inn at Rodanthe.

As the wild and wonderful beaches of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beckon, you can discover what Hollywood found on Hatteras Island, and step into the big screen Outer Banks for real.

"With the release of 'Nights in Rodanthe' the world will get to see the beauty of the Outer Banks of North Carolina on an epic scale," says Carolyn McCormick, managing director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. "On our Web site outerbanks.org, we have a mini-site dedicated to learning about all of Hatteras Island's 7 villages, and a downloadable self-guided tour on where to go to see the real places featured in the film. Plus, all the great places to stay and eat, full of real characters and local charm."

Hollywood Discovers Hatteras Island
Hatteras Island and its 7 villages are a destination unto themselves within the Outer Banks. This dynamic barrier island, exposed to the elements and whimsy of nature, is like no other place in America. More than 50 miles long and less than a mile wide for most of its length, Hatteras Island is one of the most accessible yet remote landscapes you can reach within a day from anywhere on the East Coast. Hatteras lends its name to the cape, an inlet, the island and its southernmost village.

America's Beach
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore is America's first National Seashore established in 1953, and one of the most wild and beautiful recreational areas in the country.  Considered the kiteboarding capital of the world, the shallow and vast Pamlico Sound is the perfect place to learn or perfect your skills. Huge tracts of remote beaches left to nature make sunbathing, shell collecting or strolling alone on the shore fun and adventurous. Pea Island Wildlife Refuge has attracted nearly 400 species of birds, and enthusiasts flock here from all over the world.

Get in the Spotlight
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world at 208 feet tall. Seasonally open for climbing, this spiral striped sentinel watches over the treacherous Diamond Shoals in the Graveyard of the Atlantic, so named because of the more than 2,000 known shipwrecks dating back to the colonization of the New World. Visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum and see what the sea has given back. Ride the free ferry to Ocracoke Island seen in "Nights in Rodanthe" for a neat day trip to the charming village with shopping and the Ocracoke Lighthouse.