North Carolina: the bounties of Blackbeard's playground Is a family suburban OK? I asked the rental house official. No, sir. There are no roads where you are going. You drive there on the beach. She sounded as though she meant it, so we rented a Jeep in Kill Devil Hills, picked up the house keys (and a tyre pressure gauge) from the rental company in Corolla and, after stocking up on groceries, water and cocktail mixers (there are no shops, bars, restaurants or petrol stations, either), hit the, er... sand. It's an impressive sight: a swathe of off-white beach, 100 yards wide, million-dollar mansions behind dunes to the left, grey-green ocean to the right, and dozens of 4x4s racing rally-style on it in either direction. Driving on a beach is like skiing - in a bus. I lowered the tyre pressure, hit the gas and watched out for sunbathers. The fear is that you will get stuck, and on the eight-mile slalom to our house we passed two vehicles - family suburbans - axle-deep in sand. "That's two ruined holidays right there," my wife said. Such isolation is a reminder of what Corolla, the northernmost town in the Outer Banks - or OBX as locals refer to it - used to be. Until 1986 there were only 20 houses, a Ramada Inn, and a single dirt road here, the only residents being fishermen, duck hunters and employees of Currituck Beach Light, Corolla's 1875-built brick lighthouse. Now there are several hundred houses on 4x4 Beach alone, development encroaching uneasily on parkland and horse grounds. Sand dunes at Pea Island Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina Like all the other modern beach homes in the area, ours was on a raised stilt platform (the OBX has not yet been directly hit by a major hurricane, but it's only a question of time). It had five bedrooms, and could have slept 20. It also had all the mod cons: cable television, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, sleek open-plan kitchen and a wraparound sea-view deck. We unpacked bags and groceries, while our children, Madeline, six, and Whitaker, four, played in the games room; then we hit the beach. I had half expected hulking rocks offshore; instead, the danger is the shallow, ever-shifting sandbanks; more than 3,000 ships have run aground off this coast since the early 1500s, and treasure hunters still dive the waters. Shallow has its advantages, though: the children could stand waist-deep about 20 yards out. From the waves we looked back to shore and saw horses walking between the houses, grazing on the marsh grass of the dunes. On our second morning we took a horse safari, driving the 20 minutes back to Corolla village to join Bob's Wild Horse Tours. There are roughly 2,000 horses, and it is illegal to feed them or approach them on foot. Our open-air Jeep tour explored the park between the beach and Currituck Sound on the bay side. The horses were easy to spot; we saw about 30 in all, in several groups, including two that were shading themselves in the garage of the house next to ours. Apparently, not all the original horses were shipwreck survivors. "The Spanish used to come in at low tide and beach the animals," our guide, Corey, explained. They liked to settle livestock before people. The horses, abandoned on an ocean sandbar, adapted and became feral. On the way back we came across two black stallions in a vicious fight. Hooves flying, biting each other's necks, they vied for the attention of a chestnut mare. She ignored them completely. Currituck Beach Light Back in Corolla we visited Currituck Beach Light, now part of a park and wildlife centre. From the top, 214 steps up, we had a spectacular salt-scented view of the open Atlantic, the Banks, and the mainland across the Sound - alternating strips of blue, white and green. I could just make out the forests of Roanoke Island in the Sound to the south. Forget Jamestown (1607) or the Pilgrims at Plymouth (1620): Roanoke was the first English settlement in the New World; some 107 men and their families landed there in 1585, part of an expedition sent by Sir Walter Raleigh. What became of them no one knows; when an expedition returned five years later it found the settlement abandoned. Roanoke is now known as "the Lost Colony." Perhaps they moved to Corolla or Duck? With their neat hedgerows, winding lanes and genteel air, both towns are almost Home Counties in their refinement, and attract fairly affluent holidaymakers. Far more touristy are Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, an hour south, popular with the student Spring Break crowd. We spent a morning at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, just south of Kitty Hawk, walking the now grassy field where the Wright Flyer took the first powered flight into history on December 17 1903. A replica of the plane is in a museum on the grounds. To the south of us, as if in tribute, dozens of colourful hand-held kites flew over the giant sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge. Our children, it must be said, were far more taken by the adventure parks of nearby Nags Head, and the pirate-themed Pamlico Jack's, a popular restaurant on the Sound side. The Sound is a bounty of oysters, crabs, clams and line fish, and we tucked into juicy Roanoke clams and jumbo lump crab cakes wherever we went. We broke up our stay at the end of the week with a two-day jaunt to Ocracoke, accessible by ferry from Hatteras, the southernmost Banks town, two hours south of Corolla. The ferry, free of charge, takes 45 minutes and leaves on the hour. We arrived early enough to miss the long queue of day trippers, and were soon on the Pamlico Sound, heading to the island of Blackbeard. Blackbeard fought to the death in the Outer Banks in 1718 And what a sight! Unlike other towns in the Banks, Ocracoke is set around a busy working harbour, and has homes dating from the early 18th century, when it became a "pilot" port - local sailors would pilot big ships through the hazardous shoals to the US mainland. Descendants of original English settlers from 1759 still live there, and locals putt around the cedar-shaded lanes on golf carts, giving off the air that they live somewhere secret and special. Which they do. We checked in at Blackbeard's Lodge, a rustic timber-built hotel from the Thirties, and toured the village. It is dotted with small graveyards, and in a stand of trees near the water we found the British Cemetery, Union Jack flying. German U-boats were such a menace off this part of the coast that the British Navy sent armed trawlers to patrol it. On May 11 1942, HMS Bedfordshire was torpedoed and sunk, all its crew killed. Four British sailors washed up on the beach at Ocracoke and are buried there, the immortal words of Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" marking the point: "If I should die, think only this of me; that there's some corner of a foreign field that is forever England." But it was another naval skirmish, 225 years earlier, that had drawn us. If anyone knows Blackbeard on Ocracoke, it is Rob Temple, a crusty North Carolinian in his fifties who leads cruises and charters into the Sound on his schooner, Windfall II. We joined a group of second-home locals for a sunset cruise and Captain Rob recounted the Blackbeard story as we set off. Born Edward Teach or Thatch in Bristol, Blackbeard frequently hid out in Ocracoke inlet. In 1718, he arranged a pirate party on the island, attended by the likes of Israel Hands and Calico Jack Rackham. When the Virginia governor got word of it, he sent two navy sloops under Lt Robert Maynard to get the brigand. They did - but only after Blackbeard miscalculated his escape and stranded his ship, Adventure, on a sandbank. "It happened right there, Springer's Point," said Captain Rob, pointing to a tree-lined point east of the harbour as we sailed by. The battle was brutal. Blackbeard had 20 sword wounds and five gunshot wounds. They chopped his head off. Some say his headless body swam around the ship five times. Captain Rob looked sceptical. I doubt it. Three, maybe. The second annual Blackbeard's Pirate Jamboree in Hatteras and Ocracoke, a weekend of pirate re-enactments, lectures, sea shanties and drinking, runs from October 25 to 27. The annual Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival (wingsoverwater.org) in the OBX, with activities ranging from guided kayaking and birding trips to wildlife and art photography courses, is from October 22 to 27. Getting there The Outer Banks are four to five hours" drive south of Washington-Dulles airport, or two hours" drive east of Raleigh-Durham. Plan your trip at uk.visitnc.com and visitcurrituck.com. Also see outerbanks.org. When to go June to September, midsummer, although it can get humid, and house rentals are pricier. Locals swear by April-May and October-November, when the crowds have thinned but the days can still be warm. Twiddy (twiddy.com) has more than 960 rental properties in OBX, ranging from two-bedroom homes to seven-bedroom mansions. A four-bedroom, two-bathroom property costs from $1,900 (£1,220) a week in summer, $500 (£320) in autumn and spring. Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage.co.uk) and America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com) offer fly-drive packages incorporating the Outer Banks. Blackbeard's Lodge (111 Back Road, Ocracoke, blackbeardslodge.com; doubles from $110/£71 in summer; $69/£44 in autumn and spring), a five minutes" walk from the harbour, is a rustic, pirate-themed hotel run by Chip and Helena Stevens. Chip is a descendant of one of the early Ocracoke settlers. If you can't stay a week, or would prefer someone to cook your meals, The Sanderling (1461 Duck Road, Duck; 001 855 412 7866; sanderling-resort.com) is the most stylish resort in the OBX, a chic orange-hued property with three pools, a spa, two restaurants and private access to the beach. What to see and do Bob's Corolla Wild Horse Tours (1066 Ocean Trail, Corolla; 252 453 0939; corollawildhorsetours.com): two-hour, open-top Jeep safaris with expert guides who not only show you the horses but recount stories of shipwrecks and whalers and early settler history. See Corolla's famous lighthouse (currituckbeachlight.com), then climb the 248 iron spiral stairs of the black-and-white Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (hatteras-nc.com/light), overlooking one of the most hazardous sections of the Atlantic Coast. Wright Brothers National Memorial (1000 North Croatan Highway, Kill Devil Hills; 252 473 2111; nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm) commemorates the famous first powered flight. Ocracoke Sunset Cruise (Silver Lake Harbor, Ocracoke; 252 928 7245; schoonerwindfall.com). Rob Temple, sailor and pirate historian, runs 90-minute sunset cruises (from $40/£25) and private charters on his schooner, Windfall II, and the skipjack Wilma Lee. Where to eat and drink North Banks Restaurant & Raw Bar (794-G Sunset Boulevard, TimBuck II Shopping Village, Corolla; 252 453 3344; northbanks.com). Vintage seafood tavern and cocktail bar serving imaginative line-fish specialities, and classics such as grilled lobster tail and steamed clams. On hot days make a beeline for Big Buck's home-made ice-cream parlour (TimBuck II Shopping Village; 252 453 3188; bigbucksicecream.com) for its superb malts and sundaes. Steamers to Go (798 Sunset Boulevard, Corolla; steamerstogo.com). This tiny place is famous for its takeaways, which include steamed Alaskan snow crab legs, Eastern Shore mussels and spiced shrimp with barbecue ribs. You can also dine in, sitting on a deck overlooking Currituck Sound. Pamlico Jack's (6708 South Croatan Highway, Nags Head; 252 441 2637; pamlicojacks.com). A popular pirate-themed seafood restaurant and grill with a rum cocktail bar set in a replicated pirate ship. Howard's Pub (1175 Irvin Garrish Highway, Ocracoke; 252 928 4441; howardspub.com). Much-loved tavern and raw bar with a sprawling deck lined with Adirondack chairs - perfect for sipping an Outer Banks Hurricane, or snacking on Oysters Rockefeller. For your morning latte or smoothie, join the locals at Ocracoke Coffee Co (226 Back Road; 252 928 7473; ocracokecoffee.com), an island institution with porch seating and outdoor tables under trees.