We took our first family vacation last week. We rented a house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was, in one word, fabulous!
Coming from New Engand where people had CCs for Cape Cod, MVs for Martha's Vineyard and NAKs for Nantucket on folks cars, we wondered when we moved down here what the OBX on people's cars was for. We shortly learned that it was for the Outer Banks. So we figured (nearly 4 years later) we'd better check it out. ;)
We decided to rent a house on the beach. And of course once Chad saw that we could rent a house that was only accessible by driving on the beach (4x4 vehicles only) we had to rent one of those! Plus we were able to bring Quincy. :) We stayed on the section of OBX called Corolla. It is the northernmost part of OBX, and our house was on Swan Beach. It took us 5+ hours to get there. We stopped at the rental office to pick up our keys, let the air out of the tires and headed to the beach. Let me tell you, it was an adventure. It was initially a neat idea to me. But I'm not sure I'd want to do it again. It was so bumpy and kind of a pain if we needed to go out. Oh yah, and it totally sucks if you get stuck. Yah, we got stuck. The first day when we were trying to get to the house. Luckily we ended up getting help. But really, it was a cool experience. We were so close to the beach, and there were wild horses on the beach--that was pretty awesome.
The house:
Wild horses on the beach:
We spent the first couple of days relaxing and going to the beach. We drove onto the beach, parked the Explorer and got settled. We set up our beach shade, took out the beach toys and had a good time. We brought Quincy the first day, but it really ended up being too much for him. Lots of sand, water and it was kind of warm for him. We got home after the first day at the beach and Quincy was wiped out. He ended up throwing up some sand and was sluggish for the rest of the evening.
Quincy at the beach:
Owen on the beach:
Quincy after his day at the beach:
On Wednesday we went to the Currituck Lighthouse. We had a picnic lunch (forgot to pack mine and Chad's sandwiches though--doh!!!) in the park and then climbed the lighthouse. Its the same one that Jon and Kate Plus-8 visited. We did 214-steps worth of climbing. It was very worth it. The view was really nice.
Owen enjoyed his picnic lunch:
Me at the park:
Chad and Owen inside of the lighthouse:
Us on the top of the lighthouse:
A view from the lighthouse:
Owen and I making our way down the lighthouse:
The lighthouse:
As great as the beach was one of my favorite things was the food. We found a BBQ restaurant called Sooey's. They had the BEST southern fried chicken, and I fell in taste bud heaven with hush puppies. Oh. My. God. I made Chad take me there twice, it was so good. Owen enjoyed it too. He really liked Chad's pulled BBQ chicken, the macaroni and cheese and the hush puppies. In fact, he liked the mac and cheese so much so that he was nearly crying on our second trip when I got my meal and I wasn't sharing quick enough! He didn't even see the macaroni and cheese. Somehow he just knew that it was in the little dish. Smart boy.
So between the food, the beach, the relaxation and quality family time we had an amazing time and can't wait to go back.
Here are some more pictures from the trip.
Owen munching on his puffs while we were trying to get the Explorer unstuck. He was a happy boy!:
Owen and I eating breakfast:
Chad and Owen on the hammock:
Owen and I. He's holding on for dear life because he was a little scared of the waves:
Owen napping with his noodle:
