Kayaks and paddles at North Duck Watersports in Duck, a community named for the plethora of waterfowl in the area, in North Carolina's Outer Banks, a 200-mile-long string of barrier islands and spits off the coast that locals like to call the "OBX." One of the state's newest communities, Duck has fewer than 400 year-round residents, but its string of large seasonal condominiums and apartment buildings fill in the summertime, raising Duck's population to 20,000 or more. Photo by Carol Highsmith