North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island

The waters off the Outer Banks have swallowed ships for centuries, and this aquarium, operating since 1976, keeps those waters honest. The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island holds a replica of a Civil War ironclad that sank off Cape Hatteras, and runs a Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation Center where endangered turtles — including those cold-stunned by winter waters — recover before returning to sea. Sharks, stingrays, river otters, alligators: the Outer Banks ecosystem, contained and legible, open daily.