We thoroughly enjoyed a week at the Outer Banks with the Grooms’ side of the family over 4th of July week. We have more often than not found ourselves travelling over the 4th, with this year being no exception, but this time it was fun to be in the good ole US of A and see fireworks, eat hot dogs, etc.
I thought the Outer Banks were going to feel approximately like Charleston, just a few hundred miles north, but I am happy to say that I was completely wrong. The Outer Banks, or OBX as all the cool merch said, is a series of long, skinny barrier islands off the northeastern coast of North Carolina. Each island (and each community) had its own distinct feel, and all the parts added up to a very delightful whole.
On the way there, we drove up Highway 17 along the (mostly) beautiful South Carolina coast and spent the first night of our trip in Morehead City, where we met up with Thomas’ parents. The next morning we took a ferry from Oak Island to Ocracoke where after checking out a lighthouse and eating tacos, we took another ferry to Hatteras. The first ferry was fun and novel–“wow kids, we drove our car onto a boat! Let’s explore!” and the second ferry was more like “yep, here’s your Kindle. We’ll be there in an hour.”
At Hatteras we enjoyed climbing the first of the week’s three total lighthouses. We were impressed with Elliott climbing the 268 steps up to the top. From there we headed to Nags Head, the largest city in the area, where my in-laws rented a beautiful house. for the week
This was our launching point for a great week of adventuring. In no particular order, here are some things we enjoyed:
-Flying kites at sunset at Jockey’s Ridge state park, home to the tallest sand dunes on the East Coast. The first time was magical, the second time an attempt to recreate the magic…and it bombed big time. But that first time! The evening light; the soft sand; colorful kites all around; the ocean visible in all directions…incredible
-Wright Brothers’ Memorial. It was a billion degrees and also pretty pricey, but it felt like something we couldn’t skip so long as we were in the area. The best part? A model airplane the kids could climb on. Also the air-conditioned gift shop, which really says something because I generally regard taking kids in gift shops as the 7th circle of hell.
-Currituck lighthouse and Corolla. All the kids climbed this brick lighthouse which is privately owned and had a nice, quaint feel to it. Apparently up until a few years ago, the wild horse herd that is now a little ways up the beach used to come and graze next to the lighthouse.
-Wild Horse Safari. This was also in Corolla and was by far the priciest activity we did all week. High points: we did see wild horses; it was interesting to ride in a safari humvee and got us excited about our upcoming safari; and it was fascinating to learn about the history of the horses. The predecessors of these horses swam off of a Spanish ship in the 16th century and adapted to life on a barrier island, including how to access underground springs and how to subsist on a new diet, thus turning them into a unique group of horses whose existence is precarious given the pace of 21st century development in the area. Low points: we went in the afternoon and it was hot, meaning the horses were not that active.
-Town of Duck: we went to the original Duck Donuts here and I thought it was the cutest town. Also it’s called Duck. Quirky and endearing.
– Roanoke Island Festival Park contained a ship, an English settlement, an Indian settlement, a small but very well done museum, and living history characters out the wazoo. We had English sailors counting treasure with Isobel in the deck of the ship; we had pirates teaching the big kids how to swordfight; the kids got to make part of a chair leg with the carpenter; and each family got to take home a nail from the blacksmith. Given the light crowds, I think we were just extra lucky, but it was such a great spot. Until, of course, the gift shop at the end and see above comment about kids and gift shops.
-Island Farm (also on Roanoke Island). Another living history site (::pushes up glasses::) that had amazing actors and tons to do. I was expecting a lot of the traditional farm stuff (“look kids! sheep! chickens! an old farmhouse!”) but was pleasantly surprised by some of the variations: old-fashioned games to play; a lady sewing toy chickens who let Lillian help her stuff them with fluff; a man cooking spice cake over the fire who distributed the goods when it was finished (never have I ever seen all five kids sit waiting so patiently!); feeding watermelon to chickens; collecting eggs; laying in an old-fashioned crib; carding wool etc, etc.
-Bodie Island lighthouse. Not quite a “we came, we saw, we climbed.” More of a we came, we waited an hour to climb, we got caught in a crazy rain storm, we made friends with a lady watching birds, we climbed.”
-Seeing a dear friend from college. Alli and I hadn’t seen each other in years and it was SO FUN to finally meet her husband and kids and hear about their upcoming plans to go into ministry. Good luck in Williamsburg, Rei family–we know God has big plans for you!
-Beach/Pool. Generally we went out to explore any of the above places in the morning and ended up in one of these locations in the afternoon/evening. Since no one naps anymore, our schedule was pretty freed up.
-And in between all of these things, we enjoyed some good down time. Lots of card games were played and food was consumed. We ate almost all of our meals in the house as to cut down on $$ and the sheer terribleness of taking our kids into restaurants. The cousins also enjoyed a few movies like Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2.
All in all, it was a really fun week and we are so thankful to my in-laws for taking us there. I’d return in a second, though unfortunately the 8-9 hour drive adds up to a lot of seconds…
Team Grooms 