The Museum That Feels Like Coming HomeWalking into the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum feels less like entering a building and more like stepping into a warm, well-loved story. The museum is dedicated to preserving the heritage and evolving traditions of the Core Sound Down East communities. Core Sound, Back Sound, and the iconic Cape Lookout Lighthouse all come into frame at once, like a painting you cannot believe is real. One of the most sobering and fascinating sections of the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum focuses on hurricane history along the Crystal Coast, documenting every major storm since 1933. If you only visit Harkers Island, North Carolina once, timing your trip around this festival would be a genuinely brilliant decision.