Blackbeard boards the Disney Ship

No pirate is more associated with the North Carolina coast than Blackbeard, the latest villain in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

To other ports and islands Blackbeard was just another buccaneer, come to pillage and plunder.

But in North Carolina, he settled down, got married (some say to as many as eight women), and hosted barbecues for his neighbors and friends, including the colony's royal governor.

In North Carolina, Blackbeard lost his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, and finally, his head.

Now Blackbeard lives again, this time on the movie screen as the foe of Jack Sparrow in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Three towns along the North Carolina coast are closely associated with the Blackbeard story: Bath, Beaufort, and Ocracoke.

In Bath, Blackbeard received his pardon and met his bride. In Beaufort, he lost his largest ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. Off Ocracoke Island, the pirate suffered the ultimate loss - his head.

Finding Blackbeard

Bath, once the capital of the North Carolina colony, today is a sleepy quiet village with many historic houses. Well worth a visit, most of the town is preserved as a NC Historic Site. A ball of light, presumed to be Blackbeard's severed head, is sometimes seen near the mouth of Bath Creek, where the pirate and his bride had a house, during stormy weather.

Ocracoke, an island off the North Carolina coast that can only be reached by boat or ferry, has many places where you can explore the life and times of Blackbeard.

• Take a sail aboard the Schooner Windfall out to Teach's Hole where the final battle took place.

• Stroll down to Springer's Point where Blackbeard reputedly held his pig-pickin' parties.

• Check out the exhibits at the Teach’s Hole Blackbeard Exhibit.

• Plan a stay at Blackbeard's Lodge.

But Beaufort, NC, hit the Blackbeard lottery. The Queen Anne's Revenge (QAR) went down at the mouth of the town's harbor, and after its remains were rediscovered in 1996, the NC Maritime Museum on the Beaufort waterfront became the designated depository for artifacts recovered from the famous 1718 shipwreck.

In June, 2011, the Beaufort branch of the NC Maritime Museum opened a new exhibit featuring artifacts from the QAR never seen before.

You can take a ghost tour of Beaufort, featuring the reputed ghost of one of Blackbeard's "wives"' at the Hammock House, Beaufort's oldest surviving home, and the reputed headquarters of the infamous pirate.

If you prefer a much livelier time, visit during Beaufort's annual Pirate Invasion in August. The town comes alive with sword-fighting, jig-dancing, horn-piping, cannon- firing, and plenty of grog drinking, as Capt. Horatio Sinbad and his pirate friends take over the town.

For more on the career of Blackbeard and the Pirate Way of Life, try these links:

• A guided tour of Blackbeard's voyages

• Blackbeard's homepage, hosted by Beaufort, NC

• NC Underwater Archeology Unit's website listing artifacts found in the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

• National Geographic Channel's page on its Blackbeard: Terror at Sea special, includes several games and downloads

• Links to pirate and film sites

• Pyracy.com - pirate reenactors, festivals, etc.

• Soundclips of Pirate songs

• No Quarter Given for an excellent link page.