OBX: The Outer Banks or Bust!

We're back from our week-long vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  The Outer Banks (also called "OBX") is a string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina--in all there are over 200 miles of pure beach.  This was our first trip to OBX--and we had an amazing vacation!  

We were a little nervous about the 5-hour trip down there, but the kids really did great in the car.  We planned to leave at 5 am so both kids would be asleep in the car.  That plan kind of back-fired when Tess came bounding in our room just seconds before our 5 am alarm went off.  She was raring to go!  Still, we made it down in good time and Drew slept most of the way, while Tess entertained herself mainly by coloring and acting goofy.  (In Ryan's words: "She's her own biggest fan, isn't she?")

We rented a beach house for the week in Nags Head.  I spent a lot of time looking at rentals online, and this one seemed like a good deal.  And it was, even if the owner stretched the truth a bit in her description of the property.  

The ad mentioned that the house was located next to a "small transformer" station, and then went on about the amazing sound and ocean views.  When we drove up to the house, Ry and I fell on the floor laughing.  The huge transformer station was practically touching the house and totally dwarfed any scenic views.   We loved the welcoming warning signs at the bottom of the stairs.

 

And did I mention the go-kart race track across directly across the street?  Actually, Tess loved watching the cars on the track.  We were having dinner on the deck one night, and she actually prayed that the cars would start going again.

Still, the views of Albemarle sound were nice.  We had fun watching kiteboarders from our deck.

The rental description also touted that the beach was a "4-minute stroll across the street."  It didn't mention that the street was a major 4-lane highway with no crosswalk.  It took four minutes for us to pull out on the busy street in our car!  In the end, it wasn't a big deal because free parking was plentiful right by the beach, and with 2 kids and all our gear, we needed to drive anyway.  But we joked about our "4-minute stroll" every time we tried to cross that street!

The house itself was great, though--and for the price it was a steal.  Most of the rental homes there are huge and pricey--meant for multiple families to share.  This house was brand new with 3 bedrooms.  Everything in it was new and nicely decorated (which, I can attest, is not the case in a lot of the rentals!). It's so nice to have a kitchen and washer/dryer on vacation!  The location in Nags Head was centrally located--I'd be happy to rent there again.

On the way down, Tess kept talking about the beach house we rented last year and her "bedroom with the seashells."  She LOVED that bedroom and I remember how relieved we were that she actually slept in that room by herself.  So I was nervous about how she'd do this time around.

Turns out that she loved this room too and slept just fine.  Phew!  She loved this sign on the wall that pointed to the beach across the street.  I managed to find one of the signs that matches her room in a gift store, and she made me put it up in her room before she went to bed tonight. 

The "ocean view" from Tess' window.

Drew slept in the middle of the big bed in the 3rd bedroom, since he isn't rolling yet.  He did great there too.  Still up once a night, but that's not too bad.

On our way into town we were amazed to pass by a kite festival held on a huge sand dune at Jockeys Ridge State Park.  There is a hard-core kite store across the street, so we got a kite and took it out for a spin.  It was a blast!

After kite-flying, we headed down Highway 12 to the nearest lighthouse.  It was funny because we thought we were headed toward the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  When we got into the visitor's center, I saw signs that we weren't where we thought we were and I whispered to Ryan, "This isn't it.  This isn't the Hatteras lighthouse!"  Turns out we were at the Bodie Island Lighthouse (pronounced "body," not "bow-dee," as an insistent park ranger corrected me).

Tess can now distinguish between the Bodie Island and Cape Hatteras Lighthouses.  Now that I've seen both, I think I actually like the Bodie Island one better.

Towards sundown, we headed to "our beach" back in Nags Head.  Actually, we spent most evenings at the beach--it's so beautiful and relaxing.

Our beach baby got his first exposure to the seaside.

Fun times!  More to come!