A Week in the Outer Banks (Journal Included)

OBX family vacations are the greatest. 19yrs and 14 of us 7-grandkids (9to21yrs) When you are baked and waterlogged enough. there is something for everyone. Minigolf bumper cars and biking for the kids. Shopping for some. Bacchus Wine tasting is a great experience. and for the very brave KARAOKE oh yeah!!!The week goes by so fast and at the end we are all smiling for the family pix and making plans for a return trip....Just wonderful

stayed in Avon with our whole family 12 of us. ranging from 5 yrs to me grandma. It was a great relaxing and fu n time. We were right off the beach and it was great. Kids played in water and we jumped waves. Also kayak'd right from the beach. My family goes every year for a week but this was my first time and I will go back with them.

My family and I go to OBX every summer. At least for the last seven years (and once we went twice in the same year!) We actually live in the western part of NC, and travel to the coast takes us about 15 hours travel time, including a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride from Cedar Point Ferry Landing to Silver Lake Inlet on Ocracoke. We are avid campers and really enjoy the fact that even in July, the southern beaches around Hatteras, Buxton, and Ocracoke are not crowded at all! Plenty of campsites available at Cape Point Campground operated by the National Park Service and easily within a five minute walk of the water. Add to that the nearby locations of beach OHV access and it's just about perfect. Aside from the huge controversy over OHV access, this makes the beach perfect for access for folks like myself with disabilities! (Do you guys realize how HARD it is to get a wheelchair through SAND even if you're equipped with the big inflatable 'beach' tires??)

Anyway, as an experience OBX vacationer, I hope that you find our NC beaches as wonderful and relaxing as myself and my family. Keep comin back! ;)

Mollie: I am going to assume you mean the area near the base (not the neighborhood near Edenton).

The area around New Bern, Morehead City, and Beaufort is very nice. I like U.S. history and lighthouses, so the two highlights of that area for me are Tryon Palace, in New Bern, NC and the Cape Lookout lighthouse.

Have a great trip. Please consider posting a travelogue. I would love to read it!

HEY I AM GOING TO THE OUTER BANKS THIS SPRING WE"RE STAYING IN the area around Cherry Point. but got advice for this area?
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Brenda: I have never stayed in Duck, so I don't have a point of comparison. Having written that, I will note that I thought the waves were rather big. There were plenty of people with boogie boards and there were adults doing some surfing near the pier a little ways to the south. I think it depends a lot on what the weather is doing. No, the water did not come up to the grass/sand fences. It wasn't even particularly close to the dune. The beach was quite wide there. A nor'easter went through the Outer Banks since I was there, though. That reportedly caused a lot of beach erosion, so the amount of beach in front of the townhouse could have changed. Anyway, my SIL has vacationed in the OBX many, many times. She specifically chooses this place in Southern Shores now, because she likes the beach at that location and she thinks it's a family-friendly spot. Although there are several rental units, most of the people she has met in that neighborhood are either the actual property owners or frequent renters of the same place.

My biggest complaint about this particular subdivision is that the entrance to it is rather close to a larger intersection. Making a left out of the subdivision to go south to Kitty Hawk can take a while, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. But, if you are used to the slow traffic through Duck, then the traffic in front of this neighborhood might not bother you.

Whenever you go, have a great trip! Please consider posting your travelogue. I am sure I would enjoy reading it. :)

Terps Travel:

We are considering this same place for vacation this summer - would you mind answering a couple questions?
How was the beach in front of the house? In pictures the waves look smaller than I'm used to in Duck. Was it good for boogie boarding and playing in the waves? Also did high tide come all the way up to the grass/sand fences? Basically I'm wondering if the beach at the house is suitable for the family/kids/teens to spend the days, rather than going to a bigger beach.

Thanks so much!!

cool i live not to far from where u visited

Brian V: Thanks for your comment. I have been to Ocracoke and Howard's Pub in years past. The trip there and the island are very nice. I agree that Howard's Pub is a great restaurant. I also recommend it.