Your Next Vacation Could Be in a Southern Lighthouse

Move over, luxury treehouse. Maybe next year, mountain retreat and lakeside cabin. This year, our vacation daydreams are filled with lighthouses.

The United States Lighthouse Society is a not-for-profit historical and educational organization dedicated to preserving lighthouses around the country. They help organize lighthouse cruises and tours, have a full slate of lighthouse education, stockpile lighthouse research materials, and, best of all, have a list of lighthouses that are available for overnight stays. That's right, you can stay in a lighthouse, including a handful in the South.

Lighthouse enthusiasts can book stays at lighthouses in Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Maryland

Cove Point Lighthouse Keeper's House

Just about an hour south of Washington D.C. and Baltimore, you’ll find the Cove Point Lighthouse Keeper's House in Lusby, Maryland. Built in 1828, the booking website states that it’s the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in Maryland and the fifth-oldest lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay. Aside the 40-foot original brick light tower is a keeper’s house that was enlarged in 1925, becoming a duplex for two keepers and their families. The keeper’s house can sleep 16 guests in 10 beds or you can also rent half of the house for eight or fewer guests. The booking site also states, “Proceeds from this beautiful rental site supports the Calvert Marine Museum located in Solomons, MD. In addition, a lighthouse endowment was established for its continued care.”

North Carolina

Frying Pan Tower

For a less luxurious, more realistic lighthouse experience, head out to the Frying Pan Tower Lighthouse, located roughly 32 miles offshore from Bald Head Island, North Carolina, and it hovers 135 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. The offshore Coast Guard Light Station, which dates back to 1964, has eight bedrooms way out in the ocean and they offer two different options at two different price points to book a stay in this exciting location. The first is to volunteer. Skillsets of all levels are welcome to sign up for a volunteer trip to the FPT. During your stay you can help to protect, restore and preserve this unique structure. Book this exciting voluntourism opportunity here.

Frying Pan Tower also offers an eco-tourism adventure weekend package. On this trip to FTP you can, per their website, take part in "activities like fishing from the tower, biodegradable clay skeet-shooting, corn hole, snorkeling or scuba diving the protected reef below. Golf lovers can tee off biodegradable golf balls made of fish food, enjoy indoor movie and game nights, shoot pool, and on occasion, firework displays over the water." When your adventures are done for they day, relax on the large helipad, sway in a hammock and take in the beautiful uninterrupted sunsets. Book your eco-tourism weekend here.

Virginia

Smithfield Station

Smithfield Station is a replica of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, which has been keeping ships safe in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay since 1879. Virginia's version, the Smithfield Station, gives lighthouse enthusiasts the opportunity to play keeper at an exact replica of a working Chesapeake-Bay-style lighthouse, albeit in a lighthouse overlooking the Pagan River in Virginia. The lighthouse has several options for accommodations including cottages along the boardwalk. But if you want the traditional lighthouse feel, there are 15 guest rooms in the original structure as well as the more luxurious option of the Captain Sinclair Suite at the top of the lighthouse structure. You can book your stay here.