VACATION OF THE YEAR

There's nowhere on earth quite like the Outer Banks, a string of wild but well-loved barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina

- BY TARA MASSOULEH MCCAY

DAWN IS JUST BEGINNING TO BREAK as my husband, Matt, and I hang a left off State 12 and the pavement quickly dissolves to dirt. When we dead-end at a gate, Joe O'Grady, who has been conducting excursions in the Outer Banks for more than 25 years, is waiting to take us out on the water. His business, Coastal Kayak Touring Company, leads paddlers all over the islands, but the trip from Pine Island Audubon Center, a former duck-hunting camp that is now one of the last untouched places in the northern Outer Banks, is a favorite for O'Grady. The spot preserves 2,600 acres of marshland, beaches, and upland maritime forest. We've come to explore its miles upon miles of meandering water trails that zigzag around tiny islands in the Currituck Sound.

By the time we're situated in our boats, the sun isn't quite up, but twilight is in full swing. The sky resembles a layered cake: dark gray and light blue near the top with a marbling of peach, pale yellow, and orange-pink dipping down to meet the trees. The water rolls along in silent ripples, the breeze almost undetectable. When all goes completely still, the reflection of every last cloud is mirrored on the water's glassy surface. A mullet flings its scaly body into the sky, causing a snow-white egret to swoop down to check out the commotion. Like us, the wildlife is just waking up to greet the day.

Sunrise here is more than worth the early call time. And despite my 5 a.m. alarm and getting only 3 hours of sleep the night before (thanks to a last-minute flight change), I finish my paddle feeling more refreshed than I have in weeks.