For postcard-perfect long weekends, or full week stays that have exceptional access to indoor and outdoor pools, restaurants, and amenities, there's nothing quite like the convenience of a stay at a local hotel or motel. A number of area hotels have been welcoming guests for decades, and as a result, vacationers have come back year after year for the fantastic service and the million-dollar views.

Visitors are often surprised at the number and variety of weekly vacation rentals throughout the area.. Vacation rentals are, in fact, an increasingly popular accommodation available to vacationers, and visitors will find that the sheer number of rentals available allows them to find an ideal retreat to fit their crew, from quiet condo complexes to brightly colored oceanfront sand castles.

In the midst of the metropolitan area known as Hampton Roads, Virginia, and extending well into North Carolina, there is a unique primeval forest inhabited by a variety of mammals, 21 species of reptiles, 58 species of turtles, lizards, salamanders, frogs & toads, and over 200 species of birds, as well as history, mystery and lore... the Great Dismal Swamp.

Two stories prevail as to how Hyde Countys seat got its name. One legend has it named for the thousands of swan that came to "quarter" in the this little village at the head of Swan Quarter Bay. The second, less romantic story, says it was named after Samuel Swann who settled in the area in the 1700s.

The western-most county in the Albemarle Region, Halifax bridges the coastal plain and the piedmont. The Roanoke River, a colonial trade route linking the interior of the state with the Albemarle Sound, brought the towns of Halifax, Weldon, Roanoke Rapids, and other Halifax County communities into the the vast river-town network of coastal North Carolina.

This Northeastern North Carolina county - surrounded by the Pamlico Sound, the Alligator and Pungo Rivers, home to North Carolina's largest natural lake --Lake Mattamuskeet--, and bisected by the Intracoastal Waterway - is known as "the land of many waters". Ocracoke Island, once home to the pirate Blackbeard and now a tourist Mecca, is accessible only by air or water.

The small town of Columbia, located approximately 45 miles west of the Outer Banks, is a rising star along the central North Carolina coastline. An anchor of the informally named "Inner Banks" region, this small community of less than 1,000 residents is slowly becoming a destination all its own, even landing a feature article in North Carolina's renowned Our State Magazine. The sudden growing interest is due to a number of features, not the least of which are breathtaking scenery, incredible wildlife, and a host of attractions, both old and new, that are ripe for exploring.