Highlights

Options & Add-ons:

• Scholarships for Free Travel
• Online Payment Portal
• Luggage Handling
• Full Time Tour Director, or
• Tour Director at Destination Only
• Hotel Security
• Group Travel Video APP
  • With Student GEO Tracking

 Whatever you want, America4Kids by US Tours will be happy to customize this program for you.

Itinerary

Day 1 – Outer Banks of North Carolina

Arrive today in the Outer Banks of North Carolina where you will enjoy a four-night stay at an oceanfront hotel.  Dinner is included this evening at a local restaurant. (D)

Day 2 – Jennette’s Pier w/Program & Lunch – Bodie Island Lighthouse – Dolphin Cruise – OBX Bowling Center

This morning, head to Jennette’s Pier, a state-of-the-art, LEED certified, 1,000-foot concrete pier featuring green technologies like wind turbines. The one-of-a-kind educational ocean pier features educational programs such as alternative energy demonstrations, plankton investigations, creatures of the night, fishing instructions, and how ROVs are used in underwater exploration.  From exploring beach environments to wind energy experiments, several varied programs are available for student groups with topics ranging from the Wonders of Wind, Solar Science, Plankton Investigations or Fishing 101.  A boxed lunch will be included today with your visit to the pier.

The afternoon starts with a visit to the Bodi Island Lighthouse.  Completed in 1872, this Lighthouse sits on the north side of Oregon Inlet near the northern border of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The familiar black and white horizontal striped structure was partly built of materials leftover from the construction of the newest Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Standing 156 feet tall and equipped with a first-order Fresnel lens, it flashes its 160,000-candlepower beacon 19 miles over the ocean.

Then enjoy a Dolphin Cruise and see the most respected aquatic mammal in its natural habitat. This tour is more than just a boat ride — it’s a one-of-a-kind experience led by passionate dolphin researchers who know the OBX dolphin population better than anyone else.  Search for playful Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, taking in stunning views of the sound, or learning fascinating facts about our local marine life, this is the tour that delivers unforgettable moments.

End the day with dinner and bowling at OBX Bowling Center. (B,L,D)

Day 3 – Island Farm w/program – Wright Brothers National Memorial – Jockey’s Ridge State Park or Beach Time

After breakfast this morning, visit the Island Farm, a living history site that tells the story of the everyday Outer Bankers that lived on Roanoke Island in the 1850s. Here, an island family experienced the impacts of the Civil War, performed harrowing rescues as members of the US Life-Saving Service, and assisted the Wright Brothers in their dream of achieving powered flight, all while feeding chickens, fishing the sounds, and growing corn for grinding at the windmill. An educational program will be included today with your visit.

Lunch will be included today at a local restaurant.

This afternoon, visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Wind, sand, and a dream of flight brought Wilbur and Orville Wright to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina where, after four years of scientific experimentation, they achieved the first successful airplane flights on December 17, 1903.

Then enjoy visit Jockey’s Ridge State Park featuring the tallest living sand dunes on the East Coast.  Learn how the shifting sands move with the wind at the visitor’s center.  There are also three self-guided trails in the park that discuss the three ecosystems of Jockey’s Ridge. OR student groups could enjoy some free time for the beach instead.

Dinner is included this evening at a local restaurant. (B,L,D)

Day 4 – Fort Raleigh National Historic Site – Elizabethan Gardens w/Program – North Carolina Aquarium – Roanoke Island Festival Park – Ghost Tour

This morning, visit Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and see where Sir Walter Raleigh’s explorers and colonists attempted to found settlements here on the north end of Roanoke Island in 1585. Also located here is the Roanoke Island Freedman’s Colony. The Freedman’s Colony is recognized as an historic National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site.

Next, visit the Elizabethan Gardens, designed as a living memorial to Queen Elizabeth and the Lost Colony. The Gardens include a collection of Renaissance statues and Elizabethan style buildings that let you imagine you are back in the time of Queen Elizabeth I.

Students will enjoy a one-hour “minty” adventure searching for and learning all about mint in The Gardens. Students will make mint rubbings and plant mint to take home as well as enjoy mint cookies and mint ice cream. (Program subject to change)

Next, visit the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Journey through coastal freshwaters to see river otters, turtles, and American alligators. Explore saltwater habitats from grass flats to Gulf Stream waters. Gently stroke a stingray or touch a hermit crab at the touch tanks. Watch fish and sharks cruise by the 35-foot-long viewing window of the 285,000-gallon “Graveyard of the Atlantic” tank containing a one-third scale replica of the USS Monitor. Make sure to check out the interactive exhibit called “Operation Sea Turtle Rescue.”  An educational program can also be added to your visit to the Aquarium if you wish.

Enjoy a boxed lunch today at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

Following lunch tour the park located in downtown Historic Manteo. Here you will see the Elizabeth II, a 69-foot sailing vessel representative of those that sailed to the New World in 1585. Also visit the Roanoke Island Adventure Museum and Settlement Site where you can see what life was like for those early explorers as they arrived on Roanoke Island.

Dinner is included at a local restaurant.

Following dinner, enjoy a Ghost Tour and discover what makes the Outer Banks the spookiest beach in America! Your guide will entertain you with thrilling stories on a walk around the downtown area. (B,L,D)

Day 5 – Corolla Wild Horses – Depart for Home

After breakfast, take a Wild Horse Tour.  On this narrated tour, you will learn the history of the Wild Horses and details about the area.  You will travel behind the dunes to the neighborhoods where the wild horses graze. There are usually three to six horses per grouping and they can be seen out grazing or cooling off by the water.

Following the tour, depart for home. (B)

Tour Map