If a roaring, 7-foot-tall, chest-beating gorilla named Flex stands before you, you are either in very grave danger or you’re at the entrance of Outer Banks Sports Club in Nags Head.

For those who have yet to see it for themselves, the imposing gorilla comes to life by way of a power cord. Its presence at Outer Banks Sports Club (OBSC) came about in 2022 when the gym’s owner, Manny Golasa, was changing the gym’s logo from a hammerhead shark to a hulking gorilla. Golasa stumbled across an animatronic ape at a trade show, and when he expressed interest to the seller, they offered to build a custom version that more closely resembled the OBSC...read more

A coastal-area vineyard and winery might be a surprising concept, but once you have visited Sanctuary Vineyards and tasted their award-winning European-style wines, you will discover what a great thing it is.

For the last 22 years the Wright family of Jarvisburg has found Currituck County’s rich soil and sunny, warm and windy climate to be ideal for growing vinifera grapes like Albarino, Syrah, Tempranillo, Viognier, Tannat, Petit Verdot, Petit Manseng and more – all just 3 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

The resulting wines debunk the deeply ingrained myth that all North Carolina wine is sweet. Sanctuary’s wines are sophisticated, dry and complex, and they continually win awards, including the recent N.C. Governor’s Cup Award for The Plank...read more

If you want a true taste of the Outer Banks, eat a locally harvested oyster. Nothing tastes more like the coastal environment than our native eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). They taste like the waters where they grow – salty with the perfect hints of minerality and fishiness. If you love oysters, you love them, and if you don’t, well, that just leaves more for the rest of us. Oysters are one of the most-loved seafood options, and lucky for us, they are harvested right here along the Outer Banks...read more

In a state with more than 300 breweries, 84 distilleries and nearly 200 wineries, it’s no surprise that the Outer Banks is making its own mark on North Carolina’s beverage-crafting scene. The Outer Banks is certainly no Asheville or Durham, two well-known N.C. brewing and distilling meccas, but it does have two distilleries, seven breweries and even a coastal winery where you can meet the makers, taste the products and appreciate the fine art of making something delicious to drink.

Before this modern era of legally brewing beer, distilling spirits, making wine and serving up these tasty beverages everywhere from restaurants and bars to tiki huts and tasting rooms, Dare County was known for making...read more

While the Outer Banks has numerous breweries, only one stands out as a definitive gastro-brewpub. Outer Banks Brewing Station offers not only a diverse variety of small-batch beers, but also a complex, chef-driven menu that complements them. The passionate symbiosis between their brews and fare extends to the Outer Banks community and environment with both brewery-to-farm and farm-to-table philosophies.

With an old-school outlook behind its brewing process, Outer Banks Brewing Station crafts about a dozen continually rotating brews under the creative hand of Head Brewer David Virgil. The bar taps are directly fed from the fermenters and holding tanks of a Deutsche Beverage 10-barrel system...read more

Manteo residents and guests know that the holiday season officially starts on the first weekend of December, and they await the fun like a kid anticipating Santa. We gather at the waterfront on Friday evening for the festivities preceding the lighting of the giant waterfront Christmas tree, then on Saturday morning we watch the Manteo Christmas Parade with its decorated floats, marching bands, strutting dancers, horseback riders and, of course, Santa bringing the procession to a close.

After a break that includes lunch and shopping, the Manteo Preservation Trust’s Holiday Tour of Homes, the highlight of the weekend, welcomes tour goers to amble around town as they visit beautifully decorated homes...read more

A bright, pretty building alongside N.C. Highway 12 in Avon promises to turn you into an artist once you step inside. This is Studio 12, established by longtime owner Carolyn Schena. The creative atmosphere inside coupled with its delightful adjoining coffee shop made the studio a must-stop for both vacationers and locals for nearly 20 years. But when Carolyn passed away in 2019, Studio 12’s future became uncertain.

Miles away in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Dawn Eskins was busy and thriving as the owner of the wildly popular Carolina Cupcakery, but she was ready for a slower pace, more family time and a return to art. When her husband’s job brought them...read more

Gina Elko’s journey with CBD, a healing compound in marijuana that does not cause a psychoactive effect, began in 2016 after undergoing a bilateral knee surgery that forced her to retire from her 22-year career as a firefighter.

This entry into the world of CBD would not only become an integral part of her healing process, but also lead her to a newfound sense of vitality and keep illnesses noticeably at bay. As the years since her surgery unfolded, Gina found herself thriving, and the essential element seemed to be CBD’s impact on her immune...read more