For as long as I can remember in our relationship, David and I have wanted to visit the Outer Banks. Seeing them in TV shows and movies placed them on our bucket list. So, we decided to head toward the coast of NC for our 5th anniversary!
Road tripping with my favorite person? heck yea!
On a Wednesday at lunch, while Henry was safe and sound in SGa with his grandparents, we set out for Wilmington, NC. My trip planner extraordinaire (David) had all the plans made - which made for a lot of fun for me! Just pack my bags and go! :))
Here's a map of the Outer Banks - small barrier islands that follow along the coastline of North Carolina. See the one near the bottom? Ocracoke Island? We began there and ended in Kitty Hawk. We covered a lot, and want to go back to our favorite spots!
I think Wilmington is best compared to Savannah - a beautiful old port town on the coast.
That's the view from our hotel room on the top left. Bottom left is the fabulous restaurant we visited that first night -
Caprice Bistro, a delightful French restaurant within walking distance from our hotel.
The next morning, after a breakfast at Port Java, we set out for our first ferry, passing through Beaufort, NC. See the beautiful old house in the top right, below? Well, those are all along the edge of the water in Beaufort. Just so charming. And the dockside photo is our lunch view there for David's Happy Birthday lunch at the
Spouter Inn - absolutely wonderful!
Another shot of Wilmington from our hotel room
Our first ferry ride was the longest one. It was so fun though! And super convenient to drive our car right onto the ferry. At one point, we couldn't see any land at all. Ferry pics below, on the right.
After exiting the ferry, we headed to our bed and breakfast, the historic
Castle on Ocracoke. That's us in front of it, bottom left, biking to dinner.
We absolutely loved Ocracoke. Its a sleepy little fishing island with the nicest people and wonderful roads to bike. Everyone is outdoors and there's incredible fresh local seafood at every restaurant. We had a delightful dinner at
Dajio during our stay on
Ocracoke.
We definitely would like to go back here one day! Everything about the island was so charming!
Our room at the B&B was awesome! I love the quirkiness that accompanies B&B's....like the shower in our room!
The view from our second floor room at The Castle
And shots from biking around the island
Growing up on the Gulf of Mexico, we are accustomed to deep, white sandy beaches. Here, the shorelines are dotted with rocks and grass grows right up to the edge. It's really pretty!
And while we are used to condo complexes and high rises along the beaches, here there are nothing but houses....and they're all magnificent.
Next up, a shorter ferry ride to Hatteras Island.
Here's my handsome driver!
Once in Hatteras, we took our time riding around the island and stopped for a late lunch at the delicious
Harbor Deli.
Hatteras is incredible!
There is beach house after beach house after beach house.....and they are these gorgeous gray shuttered and pastel Victorian inspired beach homes...tons of them!
From Hatteras, we traveled to Nags Head, stopping along the way at the miles and miles of protected shoreline to see the beach and climb a lighthouse.
Here are a few scenes from that day:
Ps. the beach in Nags Head (top right, below) is more like what we're used to. We hung out on
Jennette's Pier and watched the fisherman.
We ended up at our next B&B, pictured below. It was on the shore of the bay, and so beautiful! Later that night, we had dinner at
Owens, a long-standing local restaurant.
On our last day/night, we would be staying put at this B&B as we were able to scoot between Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, and Kill Devil Hills. These are the more populated spots of the OBX. More beach stores, convenience stores, etc. But, there is no fast food on the OBX islands, except an occasional Dairy Queen. We thought that was kinda funny!
After breakfast at
Stack Em High, we headed to the
Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. It was such a fun experience and really fascinating to learn about their endeavors toward aviation, just over 100 years ago! The NC parks are really amazing. Their tax dollars are really put to work with each and every park, lighthouse, pier, beach access boardwalk, monument, etc. At every one, there are the nicest park rangers, gift shops, museums, and (best of all!) bathrooms! We were truly impressed, and the Wright Brothers Memorial was no exception.
Later that day, after shopping and a bit more exploring, we had lunch at
Tortugas Lie....a local dive and we LOVED it!
Dinner at
Brine and Bottle was one of the best meals we've ever had and a bittersweet end to our wonderful trip!
Hope you take the time to visit this part of the good ol' U-S of A sometime....it's worth it!
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