HAUNTED HAPPENINGS IN NORTH CAROLINA’S HISTORIC CRYSTAL COAST

Oct. 8, 2007 -- The Crystal Coast -- North Carolina’s southern Outer Banks -- provides visitors the perfect escape for the spooky month of October as the third-oldest town in the state, Beaufort, and its surrounding areas provide the backdrop for haunted happenings in the historic destination. From visiting one of the oldest cemeteries in the state, the Old Burying Grounds, and venturing to Fort Macon State Park, the site of many wartime tragedies, to exploring the haunts of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, and wandering the historically haunted town in the Beaufort Ghost Walk, visitors stay spooked in the Crystal Coast.

The Old Burying Grounds in Beaufort has graves dating back to the late 1600s and includes a young girl buried in a keg of rum and a soldier buried standing up in his full uniform saluting England. Oracles-in-training call on ghosts of war at Fort Macon, a five-sided fort that has served many conflicts, including the Civil War and World War II, while also the home of Blackbeard’s crew in the 1700s after they sunk and abandoned the legendary Queen Anne’s Revenge. Mystery-seekers take part in the Beaufort Ghost walk, an after dark stroll through a historic town full of haunted tales, including chilling stories of murderous pirates, unexplained happenings, ghost ships and haunted houses. Later, they pass by the Hammock House in Beaufort, a brothel frequented by Blackbeard where those who experienced his wrath are believed to wander.

Mysterious historians seeking accommodations are welcomed on the Crystal Coast with a variety of lodging options to suit every lifestyle and budget from seaside cottages and massive beach mansions to oceanfront hotel accommodations and coastal bed and breakfast inns.

Dangling like a delicate strand of pearls off the coast of North Carolina, the favored Atlantic beach destination of generations represents one of the only remaining natural barrier island systems in the world. The Islands are strung together with 85 miles of silken coastline along the southern Outer Banks, 56 miles of which are in the protected Cape Lookout National Seashore. Miles of shimmering water reflects countless tiny suns during the day and shatters the moon into a thousand pieces at night.

Lush maritime forests edge the silken coast like emerald jewels studding a royal crown. The barrier islands take a curious southward curve, blessing the Crystal Coast with beaches that course east and west, making it possible to admire the dazzlingly bright sun rise to greet the day and then slip into the shimmering translucent blue waters in the evening during a spectacular North Carolina sunset.

To experience a vacation full of HAUNTED HAPPENINGS on NORTH CAROLINA’S CRYSTAL COAST, call (800) 786-6962 or visit www.crystalcoastnc.org