While this part of the state is normally somewhere that I would consider to be too far away I do have fond memories of the times that me and my family would visit there. Like a lot of coastal areas in North Carolina most of this place is all about villas, mostly ones that are dangerously close to the sea and built on stilts, that are available for rent for tons of money and are likely owned by some sort of conglomerate. I have no idea who owns these places but before AirBnB there was a ton of them suspiciously rentable from the same real-estate offices.
Let's leave my conspiracy theories aside for a minute though and just look at what makes this place unique as far as NC is concerned as well as just the country in general.
There aren't many dunes in the United States that I am aware of and there certainly aren't a lot of them on the coast, yet we have that here in North Carolina in an area that not many people go to called Kill Devil Hills.
Now I'll admit that walking on a giant sand dune isn't exactly the most enjoyable experience because you can't really get a good foothold and it is really taxing to walk up it. Despite this rather senseless exercise they are nice to look at and I recommend going to see it if you happen to be in the area. There are a lot of folks that hang glide off the top of it but I was cool with just watching them.
It normally stays pretty windy here for reasons that I don't understand but that can be a lot of fun provided you don't have sand blowing in your face which well, if you are on the dunes you are probably going to have sand blowing in your face. At the beach though there are a bunch of people always flying kites which is something I enjoy and there are also a bunch of people kite-surfing, which is something I would like to try but I am older and breakable.
Getting to Duck, Nags Head, or Kill Devil Hills is pretty difficult, and that is likely why this isn't some place that just everyone goes to. There is an airport here but it is really small and flights to / from it are seriously expensive. So therefore most people that visit there are either ultra-wealthy and don't mind the cost, or they are people like me that simply drive there. For me this drive takes about 3 hours but I don't know about you but I do not like to be behind the wheel for that long in a row. Since I already live at the coast I kind of make my way there even though Kill Devil Hills is certainly nicer than where I live. The area near here is kind of "ghetto" in comparison but hell, I never claimed to be high-class so it is fine with me.
If you do find yourself in North eastern North Carolina you would be doing yourself a massive disservice if you didn't go to this area. It is a national park because of its very unique landscape. The beach also tends to not be to terribly crowded and I think that appeals to most people. This is a family getaway and when I do go, I tend to go with multiple families so we can split the cost of the normally $500 a night minimum villas that they have right on the beach. There are probably other options such as with an RV, there are a ton of people that go there with one of those and perhaps I should look into getting one some day.