<P> Theresa Osborne, a former reporter, works as a researcher for the Chicago Tribune . On a trip to Cape Cod, she finds a mysterious, intriguing and typed love letter in a bottle in the sand, addressed to Catherine . She is fascinated by it and shows it to her colleagues . They print it in their newspaper without the knowledge of Theresa and get numerous responses . One of the response contains an attached letter which was addressed to the same person and written in the same tone . Later, they receive another letter of the same kind from one of the readers which was not addressed to Catherine, but typed on the same notepad . Eventually, they track him down with the help of the typewriter and the notepad used . His name is Garrett Blake and he lives quietly on the Outer Banks of North Carolina near his father, Dodge . </P> <P> Theresa goes to Outer banks to research it further but when she meets him, they are attracted to each other and start becoming better acquainted . She tries to tell him about the original purpose of her visit but fears that she might lose him and postpones it . Along with the literal distance between them--they live hundreds of miles apart--there is another problem: Garret cannot quite forgive Catherine for dying and leaving him . </P> <P> Theresa's career flourishes as the romantic "message in a bottle" tale is told in print, without naming names . Garret makes a trip to Chicago to visit Theresa and her young son . They seem very happy together for a day, but Garrett sees his letters, becomes furious and starts to leave . But when Theresa reveals that there are three letters of the same kind, he becomes intrigued as he only wrote two of them and comes back to see another letter . The third letter, which was not addressed to Catherine, was actually written by Catherine; in that letter, she reveals her love, her knowledge of her impending death, and how she was content with her life with Garrett, however short it might be . Garrett leaves with the letter, leaving Theresa in tears . </P> <P> Garrett moves on with his life and sets things straight with Catherine's family, who had been fighting with Garrett for the artworks of Catherine . He finishes his own personalized boat with the help of Catherine's brother and names it' Catherine', and sends an invitation to Theresa to visit . When Theresa goes there, she witnesses the passionate speech of Garrett about his late wife Catherine and understands that he still is in love with his late wife, and leaves him telling that he is welcome to call her when he thinks he is ready to start a new life . </P>

Where does the movie message in a bottle take place