Portuguese man-of-war are washing up on North Carolina beaches, forcing officials to issue a warning to beachgoers along a 150-mile stretch of sand from Cape Lookout to the South Carolina state line.

Surrounded by steaming swampland rife with 20-foot pythons, man-eating gators, and marauding skunk apes, our station at the end of the continent is a certified hot spot for the dangerous, deranged, ...