-I'm in a destination that is an East Coast gem.

It's one of the few spots in the world where you can view a wild society of horses, and it's the only place on the Eastern Seaboard that protects its night sky.

It's a place where over half of its coastline is a national seashore, and just about everyone is on board with protecting and preserving what they love.

It's where the traditions are coastal, hand-carved and fine tuned.

I'm exploring the Crystal Coast in North Carolina.

♪ ♪ I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world, and I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my "Places to Love."

Samantha Brown's Places to Love is made possible by -- -Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel to the United States and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -Oceania Cruises is a proud sponsor of public TV and Samantha Brown's Places to Love, sailing to more than 600 destinations around the globe, from Europe to Asia and Alaska to the South Pacific, Oceania Cruises offers gourmet dining and curated travel experiences aboard boutique, hotel-style ships that carry no more than 1250 guests.

Oceania Cruises.

Your world.

Your way.

♪ -So right now we are headed to Shackleford Banks.

It's a part of the southern Outer Banks here in North Carolina, and it's just under like, eight miles long, about a mile wide.

No buildings.

There are no hotels, restaurants, schools.

Nothing.

But what we're about to see is one of the most civilized societies here in the United States.

Is that a good way to describe it?

-That's an excellent way to describe it.

Everybody knows the rules, and for the most part.

they play by them.

I'm Doctor Sue Stuska.

I'm a park ranger for Cape Lookout National Seashore, and I've been a wildlife biologist here for 24 years.

-Just in this little spot, you get a sense of what makes the Outer Banks really special.

You get to see the beautiful historic homes, the fishing fleets, and then, of course, where we're going to just wild islands.

What I'm about to see is, is really an unknown, wouldn't you say?

Or does everyone here in North Carolina know that this exists?

-I'm not sure everybody in North Carolina knows.

Several years ago, I was about two hours from here, and I never even realized that this society existed.

-And the society we're talking about?

Horses.

Wild horses, 118 of them.

And could they be anywhere?

Or -- -Absolutely.

-Is there a place -- -Absolutely.

No, no, absolutely.

They could be anywhere.

-[ Gasps ] Oh my God.

They're kind of looking at us.

-They're looking at us.

-Is that okay?

Yeah?

I've never seen a wild horse in my life.

And now I'm seeing four of them.

They're beautiful.

-They are.

Was there like a colony here, and they just left the horses?

-We don't, we don't know how the horses got here, which is really frustrating.

-You don't know how the horses got here?!

-Everybody wants to know.

-Should we just ask 'em?

-Right, right.

But back when there were people living on the island -- -Oh, there were?

-They used the horses, they owned some of the horses.

And when the park took over the land, we said, "Come get your horses if you want them."

And for the most part, people said, "No, they're happy here.

We'll let them live out their lives here."

-So there are 118 horses here on the island.

We're seeing four of them.

Where are the others?

-They're going to be dotted back and forth, up and down the island.

They're in their own home ranges.

So if you're on this part of the island, you're likely to see horses that live in this area.

-Do these four at all interact with the other 114?

-They do interact.

The stallion will defend his mares against other stallions.

So if another stallion comes up and wants to take one of these mares, or if the mare decides that she wants to go see the other stallion, he'll put a stop to that.

-Mm-hm.

So how much management do they require or how much hands off do you have to do just to let them be wild?

-Right.

It's entirely hands off.

-Entirely hands off?

-There's no interactions with the horses at all.

In fact, when I'm out here, I don't interact with them.

I don't talk with them.

-You don't name them?

-Right, they basically -- yeah.

Yeah.

I treat them like wild animals.

-But you've got the public coming, right?

And then the public has different expectations for how animals are treated or how they appear.

And so some might see that stallion who's limping and say, "Oh my gosh, why aren't we helping it?

Why don't you get a vet in?"

But you won't.

-Right.

These horses are managed as wild animals, and we feel like that's the best for them is that they get to live out here as they can in the wild.

There're certainly wild horses in other parts of the country and especially out West.

But these see people often enough that they're not worried about us.

And if we're respectful, we can see wonderful behaviors right here.

♪ ♪ -So I thought I'd spend some time in Beaufort, which has just about everything you could ever ask for in a coastal town.

It's historical.

It has beautiful architecture.

It's buffered from the Atlantic Ocean by these wild barrier islands that we have beautiful views of.

-It's right on this creek here.

And it's just a place that you come to when you want to have the most pleasant day.

♪ Beaufort is the third oldest town in North Carolina, and it's said to be one of the favorite haunts of the pirate Blackbeard.

And I think he would have loved perusing the Saturday arts market and strolling the dock to catch some live music on the water.

♪ Shooting stars out of bars ♪ Is not a bad way to get by ♪ Living here in the Crystal Coast ♪ ♪ Man, it feels good to be alive ♪ ♪ -Barefoot Wade, pleasure to meet you, Samantha.

-Wow!

You know, as I was watching you play, I was like, you've got all these great instruments, but your feet actually take a lot of the credit for what you do.

-They do, they do.

-And they get part of the namesake of who you are.

-My feet are just as busy as my hands are.

You know, I haven't worn shoes in 25 years.

Nobody cares if you go barefoot around here.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

-You can even walk into the shops and stuff?

-Yep.

No one cares.

-No one cares?

-Coastal communities, we're too laid back to have an issue like that.

[ Samantha laughs ] [ Applause ] Thank you, everybody!

-I would imagine that when it comes to North Carolina coastal traditions, boat building is one of the first.

-Absolutely.

The area that we're in now is a rich with the history of boat building from Harkers Island and around areas.

A place where everybody and their brother built boats, basically, Even if they weren't trained as boat builders, they had to because that was their work boat and their work, the tools that they use.

-This is the Watercraft Center.

It's a part of the Maritime Museum.

Does that mean what we're seeing here is sort of a nod to the past, or are you building boats presently to use out in the water tomorrow?

-Well, everything we do here in the boat shop is usable.

I mean, it's not just, you know, it's not just for window dressing.

And the boat shop is primarily an educational platform.

So everybody in here that's building boats or taking classes and doing, they take the boats home at the end of the day.

-Any visitor can sign up in advance for the Build a Boat in a Day project, with a maximum of four people, one has to be an adult.

You'll have assistance from the volunteers here as you assemble a 12 foot flat bottom plywood boat that, yes, is suitable for the water.

Tim is of the belief that boat building isn't as hard as one thinks and he feels, well, just about anyone could build one.

-I mean, these guys are a perfect example.

These guys came into the shop and Nick and Kelsey.

-Hi, how are you?

-They're a married couple.

Came down from Alaska, just moved to Morehead down here.

They realized they need a boat.

And I said, "Why don't you build a boat?"

And so these guys started this boat three weeks ago, and here it is.

We're putting paint on it and varnish.

It goes that fast.

You should help these guys.

You should get in there and assist.

-Permission to come on board?

-Yes.

-Welcome aboard.

-You need to get this boat out of here one of these days.

-It's all good.

-You all built this!

-Yeah, it's really rewarding.

-Is this the first boat you've ever built?

-I've never built a boat before.

-Just because it's something anyone can do, doesn't mean it's not a lot of hard work.

This boat needs to be sanded and coated in varnish 5 to 7 times.

When you are done, do you just push it out the doors there and then you go?

-They can certainly do that.

-Yeah?

-Smash a bottle of champagne on the bow.

Pull it -- what's the name?

- Vichyssoise .

-Vichyssoise?

- That's the name of the boat?

- Vichyssoise , yeah.

-So we're gonna christen it.

And then we open the big doors and put it right in the water.

And off they go.

-What is it going to feel like when you finally get to put Vichyssoise into the water?

-It's gonna be pretty special, I think, for sure.

-Yeah.

Every day has been rewarding, but that will feel really, really good.

-A big accomplishment and something that we'll have for a long time, if not forever.

-I do have to say, though, with all this talk about getting out on the water, I knew I needed to do that, too.

[ Water splashing ] Did you grow up near the water?

-No.

-Was your family in farming?

-No.

-Was your family in the food business?

-No.

-I'm just going to need a few lemons.

[ Ryan laughs ] -You know, I became an oyster farmer because I really wanted to work in this beautiful environment.

And I really wanted to promote our state.

I'm Ryan Bethea, and I'm an oyster farmer here at Harkers Island in the Crystal Coast.

-These should be ready.

-Okay.

-We're going to go through these and we're going to kind of find the ones that you think you would want to eat.

[ Samantha guffaws ] -All of them?

[ Both laughing ] -Easier to say just the ones I don't.

-Right?

We're gonna be looking for maybe some misshapen oysters, Oysters that, um, I don't think they're ugly, but maybe some people at the raw bar might.

Oh, I see, so you're going for appearance as well?

-We're going for appearance.

-Oysters are big business, right?

It's all about look, taste, feel the whole thing.

So you farmed these oysters?

These were from babies?

-These were from babies.

We put them in that bag that we just dumped these out of.

And you put them out in the middle of the bay or the river, and you just let them grow.

You don't feed them or anything like that.

You just keep them clean, keep them happy, and keep the density right.

We touch all these oysters about eight times before they come to market.

These right here are going to be some of the saltiest oysters in the whole country.

-Oho-ho-ho!

Now you're speaking my language.

-Let's eat some.

There's one for you.

-Yeah, yeah.

Grown by you, in North Carolina.

♪ That's a double layer of salty.

[ Ryan laughs ] -Lots of salt.

-Yeah, that had, like, the first layer, like "You're gonna enjoy this" and then, "Oho-ho, I've still got surprises!"

-I'm so glad you like it.

-That is beautiful.

-Oh, that's great.

-So you got these oysters right here.

-Right out of the water.

-Is this where you farm most of your oysters?

-These were out a little bit further.

-And how did that add to their taste, their salinity?

-Really, it's the water that's going to affect how they taste.

-Okay.

-So if we have some oysters right here, these are going to taste a little bit different.

And if they go deeper out or in the inlet of the river or anything like that, the term is technically merroir.

And so it just-- -Oh, wait a minute.

I've never heard that term.

So there's terroir.

-There's terroir.

-Which is like the wine -- -Of the earth.

-Of the earth, and merroir is -- -Of the sea.

Crazy.

We really want North Carolinians to have access to North Carolina's seafood.

So when we harvest the oysters, we will deliver them anywhere in North Carolina for free, because we want people that maybe have maybe lower income or maybe have transportation issues to have access to the same healthy seafood.

It's something that everybody in the state can access, and I think it's something that they deserve.

-When I was exploring the arts market in Beaufort, I couldn't help noticing the number of vendors selling duck decoys.

Not only that, at nearby Harkers Island, there is a full museum dedicated to arts and crafts centering on waterfowl.

And not only that -- one of the founders of the Core Sound Museum was a man named David Lawrence, and a Lawrence decoy was always known as something special.

And not only that, his legacy continues at this workshop, where his son, Corey Lawrence, has developed his own reputation for the past 40 years.

So when you're carving a decoy, are you making that as a tool for a hunter, or are you creating a piece of art?

-I think it's considered more of a art now, but all the ones that I make, if they, if I know they want to hunt it, you make it a little, a little more durable, because it needs to withstand the, the rigors of a ride in a boat and the water and all that.

-Mm-hm.

As a hunter, do you need one decoy duck or do you need a lot of them to hunt?

-You need a lot of them.

-You do?

-There's been times where I've had a spread of decoys out that might be -- 200 in there.

-Whoa, what?!

-So it takes a lot of decoys.

If you notice around here, this is just a handful of some of the ones I've got.

I've probably got 3- or 400 now.

But the reason for that is, there's a saying -- that if you go by a restaurant, there's no cars there, you kind of don't want to go.

-Yeah.

-But if there's a lot of cars there, there's a chance that it's a good place.

Same theory.

You put out a lot of decoys and all the ducks flying by go, "Hm, this must be a good spot."

-I never thought of it like that.

-It's a lure, is what it is.

-Yeah.

-Corey began with two blocks of white cedar that he laminated together to prevent cracking.

After drawing a basic pattern on the wood with a template, he used a bandsaw to get it into a general shape.

But after that, it's all handwork.

-I normally go -- it takes like two laps going around this.

I say laps, but I don't know what else to call it.

I almost use this as a plane.

I'm holding it really flat because if you do this -- -It goes too deep into the wood.

-It's taking way too much off.

So you want like paper thin, and if you do it enough, you can see how smooth it's getting already.

-Yeah.

-And when I say laps, I just go around and I take off that first corner, and then I go to the next one and the next one and the next one.

And when you keep doing that, you only have to go like two times around the bird before it starts shaping up to something like that.

-I have a feeling that carving a duck is a little more complicated than carving a turkey.

-Don't be afraid of it.

-Okay.

-Oh, I know I'm taking a lot of wood.

Maybe it's this way.

-No, that actually wasn't bad.

-Wait.

And I'm gonna go here -- -I've tried to estimate how many times I'm doing things to a decoy.

-Yeah?

-And to give you some ideas, if you can see all of these shavings on the floor, every piece of that is an individual stroke.

It's thousands of strokes on one decoy.

-That really puts it in perspective.

-Yes.

-It's so true.

-It's a lot of time.

You've got it to a point where we could go to one of the other tools and start fine tuning that.

-It's like a vegetable peeler.

-Yeah, it is.

It slices, it dices.

It makes julienne fries.

[ Samantha laughs ] And then that's like two more laps around.

And it's ready to be sanded and sealed and painted.

Some pieces mean different things to me.

-Yeah?

-Like, for instance -- -That is a stunning work of art.

-Well, thank you.

-That is beautiful.

-Let me tell you why that one's important.

And that one will never be sold.

-Okay.

-When my father, before he got sick, well, this was a body that he had done that had never been finished.

-Uh-huh.

-So my son carved this head, and then I sanded out the body.

And then we put the head on and I painted it.

-Beautiful.

-So that's three generations of David Lawrence decoys.

-Wow.

If I want one of your hand-carved decoy ducks, could I buy one or you don't have enough or you only work on -- -There's people that's been waiting like, three years for some things I've probably got, um -- -So the answer is no.

-So, yeah, the answer, the answer is no.

-Got it.

-No right now.

-Well, then I'll take this one, thank you.

-Okay.

[ Laughs ] -So Crystal Coast has 85 miles of shoreline, and over half of that is a national seashore.

-Mm-hm.

-And we're standing in it right now.

-Yep.

So if you look towards the south, you'll see Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

-Mm-hm.

-And from there, if you go up towards the north end of the island, it's about another 26 miles, but the whole park is about 55 miles long.

-Wow.

And totally protected?

-Mm-hm.

-And that's what makes this area, I think, so special, is that there won't be a massive resort built here.

-Right.

-A casino down here.

It'll maintain this integrity for decades and decades, hopefully centuries, for everyone to enjoy.

But this park, this national Seashore, has a day job -- -Right.

-And a night job.

-Right.

-And what is the night job?

-It's certified as an International Dark Sky Park.

We come out here for our dark sky events.

We set up our telescopes so people can come out and look at the stars and look at the Milky Way and all the other deep sky objects, but it's also protecting it for the animals that live here, the habitat for the animals.

And if there's too much light, then there are predators that will come and eat them.

The sea turtles that come up to the beaches and they lay their eggs along the beach, and we don't want to have any light along the beach to distract them from getting back out into the water.

-How rare is it to be an International Dark Sky Park?

-It is very rare.

We're fortunate.

We are the only one along the eastern sea coast.

From Florida to Maine, you won't find darker skies.

♪ ♪ In 2019, I became a NASA Solar System ambassador.

It's a volunteer program.

I typically will go and talk to libraries or schools or other public organizations.

You don't have to have a telescope.

You don't have to be in a science field.

You don't necessarily even have to be an astronomer.

You just have to have a love of being able to share space and science education to the public.

-I love to show the moon to people.

-Oh!

Oh, my gosh, yes.

Oh, my gosh.

Wow.

How do stargazers feel about the moon?

-To astronomers, the moon is actually light pollution.

When the moon is out, it washes out the rest of the sky.

We want to go out when it's a new moon, when there's no moon.

-Right.

♪ So there are about, I don't know, six other, seven other telescopes here.

Are you essentially, then, individuals looking at the sky yourselves or do you become a group?

-We kind of become a group and, you know, we'll all be looking at something different and we'll say, hey, I've got, you know, the Orion Nebula in my scope, or I've got this double star or, or some other object, and we'll just go hop from scope to scope.

-So what are we looking at?

-Uh, right now we're looking at the Orion Nebula.

-Okay.

-It's in this area right here.

-Wow, that is awesome!

-Yeah.

-You have all the toys.

You really do.

-So where is it?

-It's right around here.

-Okay.

-So when you look at Orion, you see the three stars in his belt.

And then right below that is where the Orion Nebula is.

-There's a star up there going, "Could you turn that thing off?"

So can we look in?

-Yeah, absolutely.

Go right on.

You want to look right through here.

-Is that what I want to do?

-Yep.

Just step right up there.

-This looks nothing like the telescopes I know.

-Right.

And then I just go -- [ Gasps ] -So you should see the core of the four stars, and, uh-- -I sure do.

-A little bit of a cloud of gas around them.

-Oh, wow!

♪ I'm walking on Oceanana Pier, which stretches 1,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean, like one big giant wooden exclamation point.

And that's fitting, too, because we are on Bogue Banks, which is the southernmost outer bank.

exclamation point!

And right now we're in the town of Atlantic Beach with these wide, windswept beaches, exclamation point!

And the surfing is exceptional, exclamation point!

But I am here to have an amazing seafood dinner, exclamation point!

At the Oceanana Pier House restaurant, I'm helping Executive Chef Kevin Davis prepare a classic shrimp boil for a dining experience right on the pier, and it couldn't be simpler.

Take high quality ingredients and toss them into boiling water.

Is this a favorite dish here in these parts?

-I have been eating it since I was probably five years old.

So, yes.

Yes.

-And I mean, we're here on, this is the shoulder season.

-Yeah.

-So this place is not inundated yet?

-No, it isn't.

-With anglers.

But this pier would be lined -- -Yes, it would.

-With people fishing.

-Yes.

-I knew this was a serious restaurant for fishing when, I believe you like, sell fishing rods.

-Yes.

Yes, we do.

-There's a whole little area in the restaurant.

-Yes.

There's a freezer full of bait in there, too.

-That's so great.

[ Laughs ] A special touch that Kevin adds to his shrimp boils -- Five beers.

-Next will go in our potatoes.

-Mm-hm.

-And we'll cook those for about ten minutes.

Then we're going to throw in our corn, then our sausage, then our shrimp.

And we're ready to eat.

♪ -Yeah.

Yep, yep.

[ Chattering ] -All right!

-Oh, wow!

Whoa!

-Oh my gosh.

Well, one of those is mine.

-Yeah, right!

[ Laughter ] [ Applause ] [ Glasses clink ] -A traveler who comes to the Crystal Coast, we'll be able to show them some things that they may never have been able to see otherwise.

-Oh, look at all these guys behind me.

Oh my God.

Where have you been?

-It's important for people to come out here and learn what we are potentially losing through light pollution.

-It's a little bit unique about our beach is that we're south facing.

So we're getting this sunset sooner, then in the morning it's going to rise in the ocean as well.

-Yep.

-This is the place to be.

-A traveler to the Crystal Coast of North Carolina is going to be able to experience great seafood, excellent music, some really fun bars.

There's wild horses.

-It's enough off the beaten path that it's a little difficult to get to.

But this is such a wonderful opportunity to see horses interacting with each other and living out their lives on this narrow stretch of barrier island.

-And you're gonna have a lot of fun.

-When you get to enjoy food that perfectly fits the setting -- when you gaze up at a dark sky and a million stars look back -- when you feel pleasantly remote and meaningfully connected -- that is when we share a love of travel.

And that's why North Carolina's Crystal Coast is a place to love.

[ Ocean waves lapping ] -For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

"Samantha Brown's Places to Love" was made possible by -- -Since 1975, we've inspired adults to learn and travel to the United States, and in more than 100 countries.

From exploring our national parks to learning about art and culture in Italy, we've introduced adults to places, ideas, and friends.

We are Road Scholar.

We make the world our classroom.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -Oceania Cruises is a proud sponsor of public TV and "Samantha Brown's Places to Love," sailing to more than 600 destinations around the globe, from Europe to Asia and Alaska to the South Pacific, Oceania Cruises offers gourmet dining and curated travel experiences aboard boutique, hotel-style ships that carry no more than 1250 guests.

Oceania Cruises.

Your world.

Your way.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪