Archaeologists Discover Anchor from Blackbeard’s Flagship
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. – Archaeologists recovered the first anchor, weighing more than 2,500 pounds and measuring more than 11 feet tall and 7 feet wide, from the wreck of Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, two miles off the coast of Beaufort, N.C., on Friday, May 27, 2011. The timing corresponds perfectly with the release of Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” featuring both Blackbeard and his notorious ship.
With the recent release of Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, a pirate craze is in full force across the nation and adventure-seekers experience an authentic pirate haven on the Crystal Coast. In the new thrilling Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Captain Jack Sparrow is forced aboard Captain Blackbeard’s Ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The Crystal Coast played host to Blackbeard and his swashbuckling crew in the 1700s and remains the final resting place for the Queen Anne’s Revenge. From exploring Blackbeard’s ship and seeing Blackbeard’s Hammock House, to paddling kayaks in pirate-drenched waters and searching for hidden treasure at the haunted Fort Macon, bustling buccaneers embark on a journey that retraces Blackbeard’s nefarious ways.
North Carolina Maritime Museum
Treasure-seekers discover bountiful booty with a firsthand look at exhumed relics from Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, from 24-pound colossal cannon balls and a small-shot brass blunderbuss barrel to an extensive array of vessel anchors.
Beaufort Historic Site
Treasure abounds in North Carolina’s third-oldest town and past stomping grounds of Blackbeard, with double-decker bus tours of the old jail, courthouse, apothecary, art gallery and Old Burying Ground.
Old Burying Ground
As one of the oldest cemeteries in North Carolina, the historic site offers ghostly pirate excursions where discoverers stumble upon grave sites from a little girl buried in a rum keg to the cannon covered tomb of a privateer.
Dangling like a delicate strand of pearls off the coast of North Carolina, this favored Atlantic beach destination of generations represents one of the only remaining natural barrier island systems in the World. The Islands are strung together with 85 miles of silken coastline along the southern Outer Banks, 56 miles of which are in the protected Cape Lookout National Seashore. Comprised of the seaside towns of Atlantic Beach, Beaufort, Emerald Isle, Harker’s Island and Morehead City, the Crystal Coast is home to one of the oldest cemeteries in the state, Fort Macon State Park, Blackbeard’s legendary ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge and is the setting for several of Nicholas Sparks’ best selling novels.
For more information on the Crystal Coast call (800) 786-6962 (800) 786-6962 or visit www.crystalcoastnc.org or www.facebook.com/crystalcoast.