The Museum of the Albemarle invites you to join us on Saturday, July 13, 2024, for the grand opening of our newest exhibition, Where the Waves Break: Surfing in Northeastern North Carolina. Surfing has been around for centuries, with roots in Polynesia, particularly Hawaii and Tahiti. Along North Carolina’s southern coastline, early forms of surfing activity were first documented in 1909. Surfing was introduced to the northern coast of North Carolina in the 1920s. What began as a sacred activity for Indigenous islanders has become a mix of cultures all own. For more than a hundred years, many surfers have ridden these waves. For some, surfing is a profession; for others, it is a hobby, a therapeutic activity, a community to join, or a mechanism to raise awareness for causes.
The Outer Banks, where waves meet shifting sands, is known to have the best waves on the East Coast. The region’s geography of a curved coastline, along with ocean swells from the north to the southwest, creates excellent surfing conditions. High-pressure systems, hurricanes, and nor’easters bring favorable surfing conditions. Hatteras waters are a mixture of the Gulf Stream’s warm waters and the Labrador Current’s cold waters. Shifting sands craft sandbars, affecting the breaking points of waves. Great surf spots include the S curves in Rodanthe, the jetties at Hatteras, near shipwrecks, and along the piers.
The exhibit will feature objects including surfboards, trophies, competition jerseys, a wet suit, life jacket, surf jacket, and surf wax. View images and surfboards from local surf shops as well as regional surfers. The Museum of the Albemarle thanks the surfers, surf shops, photographers, board making companies, and other organizations and individuals who contributed research, artifacts, quotes, and images for the exhibition.
Saturday, July 13 will be a day of collaboration for educational programming highlighting the opening of Where the Waves Break: Surfing in Northeastern North Carolina. Stop by the Museum of the Albemarle from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. to view the exhibit, participate in a scavenger hunt, and participate in hands-on activities. Meet author, filmmaker, surf tip guru, and Elizabeth City native Laurel Senick from 12:30 until 3 p.m. Laurel will be available to sign her book FOAM: Waves aren’t the only giants Cass must face to survive… View Any Given Morning, a story about separate souls with a common passion, directed by Laurel. MPAA rating: NR; run time: 30 minutes. To highlight the opening of the museum’s newest exhibit, Port Discover: Northeastern North Carolina's Center for Hands-On Science located at 611 East Main Street will provide visitors with a Second Saturday Science at 11 a.m. exploring sea shells. Visitors will learn about shells and their different characteristics, build sandcastles with Kinetic sand, and learn about seashell buoyance.
Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – 2 p.m., the museum will host Summer Fun Day: A Day at the Beach. Spend the day enjoying fun activities that relate to the beach, from guest presenters to hands-on activities. Educational programming will be provided from the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education Currituck County, Author Hannah West, Save Our Sand Dunes, YMCA will talk water safety, and Lighthouse Keeper Madison Phillips of the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse. Take a minute and dive deep into the history of surfing in Where the Waves Break: Suring in Northeastern North Carolina. Guests can enjoy all this fun while sipping on a sample of lemonade from Brookie B’s Lemonade.
Tuesday, July 30 starting at 6 p.m., grab your lawn chair or blanket and have dinner in one of the downtown restaurants or pubs or bring a picnic to the park to enjoy the evening of free music and a movie. The museum will collaborate with Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc., RCE Theaters, and GSN Global Surf Network. Starting at 6 p.m. to enjoy live music provided by Luck 757 of Portsmouth, Virginia. Take a trip back to the days of hot rods, drive-ins, sock hops, poodle skirts and pompadours with Lucky 757. You’ll be dancing and singing along to all the hits you know and love by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Bobby Darin, Sam Cooke, Dion, The Drifters, Smokey Robinson, The Surfaris and so much more! At 8:30 p.m. guests can enjoy the 60th anniversary of The Endless Summer. A Bruce Brown documentary highlights the adventures of two young American surfers, Robert August and Mike Hynson, who follow this everlasting summer around the world. Their unique expedition takes them to Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, and California. Share their experiences as they search the world for that perfect wave which may be forming over the next Horizon. MPAA rating: NR: run time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes). In the event of inclement weather, the event will be held on the portico of the Museum of the Albemarle.
This exhibit, which will close in June of 2025, is free and open to the public.
About the Museum of the Albemarle
The Museum of the Albemarle is located at 501 S. Water Street, Elizabeth City, NC. (252) 335-1453. www.museumofthealbemarle.com. Find us on Facebook! The hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Closed Sundays and State Holidays. Serving Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties, the museum is the northeast regional history museum of the North Carolina Division of State History Museums within the N.C.
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural, and economic future. Information is available 24/7 at www.dncr.nc.gov.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the North Carolina Symphony, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.