Tour Protection: $40 per person

This 4-day festival was recently reviewed in Coastal Living Magazine as one of the Top 10 Seafood and Wine festivals. “This festival has more than 40 events showcasing local seafood and libations from around the world. Festivities involve seafood and wine-paring demonstrations and dinners, cooking classes and a chowder cook-off. Two crowd favorites are the tapas crawl tour of area restaurants and the Champagne lounge, which treats guests to bubbly, oysters, caviar and massage treatments.” Allen B. Bunting, Coastal Living Magazine, June 2008.

Thursday, March 17
Enjoy your peaceful and picturesque drive into Northeastern North Carolina on your way to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Check into your oceanfront hotel then take a walk on the beach to find your own sea treasure. Tonight there will be a Group Cooking Class & Dinner at the COA Culinary Center in Manteo, “Cookin’ Outer Banks Style”, featuring lots of fresh oysters and other local seafood. This is a demonstration style cooking lesson where everyone eats what is prepared. D

Friday, March 18
Today you’ll travel to Cape Hatteras National Seashore for your Hatteras Seafood Tour! Stop and visit the most picturesque lighthouse of the Outer Banks: Bodie Island Lighthouse. This 156-foot beacon began operation in 1872 and has the tell-tale black and white horizontal bands. Come and learn why it was named Bodie Island. You’ll be surprised! Our tour continues to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, located on the northernmost section of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This 6,000-acre refuge is one of the prime birding areas on the East Coast. A haven for more than 265 species of birds such as Canadian geese, snow geese and 25 species of duck during the winter can be seen. Bird walks and other programs may be arranged in advance. Our next stop takes us to the Chicamacomico Life Saving Station where you’ll view historic buildings and the boathouse that housed the predecessor to the United States Coast Guard. It is home to one of the greatest rescues in early Coast Guard history, the 1918 rescue of forty-two crew members of the British tanker, Mirlo. Hear other stories of daring ocean rescues by these brave life-savors who dedicated their lives to the sea. We continue our travels and will meet Michael Halminski and have an oyster discussion and photo tour. Explore seafood through the eyes of an accomplished photographer who researches oysters in his own backyard. As we pass through Avon, we’ll stop by Avon Seafood to check in with the Commercial fisherman to see what they are catching. When we arrive in Cape Hatteras, we’ll see the tallest brick beacon (208 feet high) on the American coast, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and learn its’ marvelous history which includes the half-mile move in 2000 away from the ocean. Then we’ll dine at one of the locally owned seafood restaurants on Hatteras Island. Next we visit the Harbor House Seafood in Hatteras Village. Then we’re off for a guided tour by Lynne Foster of the Albatross Fleet docks at Hatteras Village. She is a popular local author and seafood industry expert. Watch the boats come in with their catches, learn about local fish, watch them being cleaned and learn about what happens after the fish are caught! We’ll return back to the Northern Beaches in time for the Manteo Tapas Crawl! Participating restaurants will offer tapas style food to patrons as you stroll through the downtown Manteo waterfront. B,D

Saturday, March 19
Today’s adventure takes you up to the Northern Beaches of the Outer Banks. Visit the only lighthouse in North Carolina that is still housed in its original structure, Currituck Beach Lighthouse at Currituck Heritage Park. Built in 1874 this lighthouse stands 158 feet tall. Also on the grounds is the original Lightkeepers’ Residence, a beautiful Victorian dwelling restored recently by the Outer Banks Conservation Group is on the National Register of Historic Places. Next, we will walk over to see one of the area’s most magnificent attractions, the Whalehead Club at Currituck Heritage Park, which affords a romantic trip back in time to an era of lavish accommodations and elaborate ornamentation. Now it’s time for lunch and shopping on your own in the heart of Duck, characterized by locally owned quaint boutiques and unique restaurants. Come and find out why this sportsman’s paradise has become a family vacation hot spot. This afternoon we will participate in the most popular event of the Taste of the Beach weekend, the Outer Banks Annual Chowder Cook-Off. Taste samples of hot seafood or non-seafood chowders from locally owned restaurants. Be a judge! Chowders are judged on creativity, taste and people’s choice. If time permits, we’ll venture over to Jockey’s Ridge State Park and witness flight as it is still practiced today on the Outer Banks. See the largest living sand dune on the East Coast and enjoy a hang gliding demonstration from the largest hang gliding school in America, Kitty Hawk Kites. Tonight we’ll eat a traditional Northeastern North Carolina Dinner at Kelly’s Outer Banks Restaurant and Tavern. B,D

Sunday, March 20
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and the views of the ocean before heading out. Become your own pilot at the Wright Brothers National Memorial located in the heart of Kill Devil Hills. See where on a cold day, December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright changed the world forever as their powered airplane, the “Wright Flyer”, skimmed over the sands of the Outer Banks for 12 seconds before returning to the ground. See the new flight museum which still has exhibits from the First Flight Centennial Celebration. B

We hope you have learned a lot about the Outer Banks way of cooking, life and fun in general.

Depart for home!