Well, it’s only been over six weeks since our Outer Banks, Duck, NC, vacation. Clare and I joined my sisters, Kim and Julie, and my brothers-in-law, Don and Ed, for a week at the beach at the end of April. We had a massive house w/ pool and hot tub for a decent price but not as good as last year. First-world problems.
The first few days were in the high 70’s / low 80’s so Clare and I did get out and sit on the beach. I got in the water up to my neck the first two days and fully submerged on day three. The water was cold. My feet were oddly numb when I got out of the water and sat down. The following days were mostly sunny but cooler so the beach was less of a draw.
We ate well doing one lunch out at a place in Corolla, Fat Crabs Rib Company that we like and having dinner at the Blue Point which is somewhat of a tradition. The ownership had changed but the overall vibe and food seemed to be consistent with previous visits. We’ll see how that plays out over the years to come. We cooked for ourselves the majority of the time eating some old favorites and trying some new things. The night of our arrival, we had takeout pizza that was good albeit salty. I did a tenderloin on the BBQ that turned out nicely. Clare made a very tasty Malaysian chicken peanut satay that I cooked on the BBQ for us. Julie made an awesome spaghetti with slow-cooked meat sauce. and Kim made her famous low country boil. After all that cooking, we had plenty of leftovers to finish up on our last night there.
We were not too adventurous overall preferring to relax and stay around Duck. We did get up to Corolla for a walk we like to take at the end of the road north before it becomes 4-wheel only. The walk takes us out to the sound where the views are good and creature sitings interesting if not always plentiful. the highlight this time was the two cottonmouth snakes we saw swimming along the edge of the creek. Fortunately, we were up on a walkway.
After having BBQ for lunch at Fat Crabs Rib Company we stopped at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse area where Clare and I paid the $15 to go up to the top of the lighthouse. The views from the top are spectacular as you will see in my photographs. The rest of the gang meandered around the park while we journeyed skyward.
One day, Clare and I headed south down Beach Road to Nags Head through Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Clare’s family had vacationed there when she was young so she was interested in seeing the area and looking for any reminders of places they might have spent time on their vacations. Alas, there wasn’t much to be found. I had never been down through there and do not need to do it again. Ten miles of houses on and off the beach about 8 or 10 deep just does not do it for me. I am much more fond of places like Duck, Corolla, and points south like Salvo. One disturbing part about the beach road was seeing how the beach crept up to the road requiring daily sand removal to clear up the road. Houses are being relocated further up the beach from the ocean otherwise they face being wiped out by the water during storms. It isn’t a pretty future.
On the way back up from Nags Head to Duck, Clare and I stopped to walk in Sandy Run Park and on a nice walkway through part of the Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve. In the park, we saw huge gatherings of turtles in one spot by a lookout on the water and spotted lizards basking in the sun on wooden railings. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and just felt good to be out. Fortunately, it was like that for our whole vacation! We all took many walks on and to the beach and into Duck mostly taking advantage of the boardwalk on the sound which is much nicer than walking along the road. We had sunsets, Nutria, Green Herons, Red-winged Blackbirds, etc. In Duck, we visited our favorite places to shop, eat and have coffee including Tommy’s Market and Duck’s Cottage & Downtown Books. Of course, we took a million pictures a few of which are available here on my website for viewing.
Of course on the way down to Duck, we had to stop at Morris Farm Market (and more) to get fresh fruit, veggies, pies, pretzels, nuts, salsa, jams, honey, etc., some of which we used over the week and some of which we brought home with us. I always love stopping and shopping there but it can get expensive. Morris Farm Market has evolved over the years to include an outdoor bar with craft beers on tap and often live music. I don’t indulge in the beers but the overall atmosphere gets me set for the coming week.
Browse through our pictures here.