Outer Banks, NC

Empty Glass

We have a summer vacation booked to the Outer Banks (OBX) this year. Yes, quite a few months away but it's pretty cold today and I'm thinking warm thoughts.

I've never been to the OBX, but have only heard great things. Question: what is there to do? I'm not a beach person, I could handle a day of nothing, but I'll need something to do. I'll have the wife and two kids, 6 and 3, with me.

I'll hit the Wright Bros. stops and a few lighthouses, but any help finding fun stops would be great.

conman

i only went there once when i was a teenager and i spent most of it on the beach so i can't really help you

Empty Glass

conman wrote:

i only went there once when i was a teenager and i spent most of it on the beach so i can't really help you

After driving 8 hrs to get there, I may not want to drive much and may spend my time there anyway

Cliffy6745

Not a whole hell of a lot to do and probably not the best area if you want to stay active and not just relax. There is a state park with some cool sand dunes for hiking up and around that are pretty cool, and give a good view, don't think it is too far from the Wright Brothers, It also has hang gliding off the dunes (i think they have a really small one for kids) . Corolla has wild horses on the beach that you can drive out to (if you have the right car, or you can rent a jeep), kids will probably enjoy that. It was pretty expensive but we also had a chartered sailing tour that was a lot of fun.

I loved it, had a house right on the beach, grilled, drank on the beach all day, swam, played bocce and chilled on the beach pretty much all night drinking. Good times, we'll be back this summer.

Empty Glass

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Not a whole hell of a lot to do and probably not the best area if you want to stay active and not just relax. There is a state park with some cool sand dunes for hiking up and around that are pretty cool, and give a good view, don't think it is too far from the Wright Brothers, It also has hang gliding off the dunes (i think they have a really small one for kids) . Corolla has wild horses on the beach that you can drive out to (if you have the right car, or you can rent a jeep), kids will probably enjoy that. It was pretty expensive but we also had a chartered sailing tour that was a lot of fun.

I loved it, had a house right on the beach, grilled, drank on the beach all day, swam, played bocce and chilled on the beach pretty much all night drinking. Good times, we'll be back this summer.

My mom talked about the wild horses. We may do that. We're going down with them. They rented a house from their family Dr., which is on the beach. If drinking on the beach is no problem, vacation may be set

We won't step foot in the ocean for swimming, the 6 year old caught Shark week this summer. He'll be on high alert

Cliffy6745

Empty Glass wrote:

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Not a whole hell of a lot to do and probably not the best area if you want to stay active and not just relax. There is a state park with some cool sand dunes for hiking up and around that are pretty cool, and give a good view, don't think it is too far from the Wright Brothers, It also has hang gliding off the dunes (i think they have a really small one for kids) . Corolla has wild horses on the beach that you can drive out to (if you have the right car, or you can rent a jeep), kids will probably enjoy that. It was pretty expensive but we also had a chartered sailing tour that was a lot of fun.

I loved it, had a house right on the beach, grilled, drank on the beach all day, swam, played bocce and chilled on the beach pretty much all night drinking. Good times, we'll be back this summer.

My mom talked about the wild horses. We may do that. We're going down with them. They rented a house from their family Dr., which is on the beach. If drinking on the beach is no problem, vacation may be set

We won't step foot in the ocean for swimming, the 6 year old caught Shark week this summer. He'll be on high alert

Yeah, the wild horses will be good and will take some time. A different thing to see too. Drinking on the beach is certainly not a problem, that was my entire week.

haha, yeah, that is pretty funny. That'll do it, I am sure.

JK_Livin

Depending on where you are staying, you may want to look into taking a ferry south to Ocracoke. Yearly, it's in the top 10 beaches of the world. My family has a place in the Southern OBX and it's a 2 hour ferry north for us but it's worth the trip. I'm not sure how long the south ferry would be, I've never done it.

THE LOOK

JK_Livin wrote:

Depending on where you are staying, you may want to look into taking a ferry south to Ocracoke. Yearly, it's in the top 10 beaches of the world. My family has a place in the Southern OBX and it's a 2 hour ferry north for us but it's worth the trip. I'm not sure how long the south ferry would be, I've never done it.

Ocracoke is super cool

bluesuedeitzrad

I use to live in Manteo, which on Roanoke Island. Nags Head and Kill Devils Head were just a short car drive away.


While you are there, check out the Jocky's Ridge and the Wright Bros memorial. Also, take afternoon trip to Duck, NC. The ladies tend to like that.

Manteo has the Lost Colony, Elizabeth II, the Elizabethan Gardens and a really small but cool downtown. There is also an aquarium on the island. There is also a good german restaurant and brewery called the Weeping Radish.

If you are into surfing, drive down to Buxton. That has always been the best location to catch waves. Just make sure you go there early in the morning. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is also located there.

There are a ton of restaurants all over the place. Mostly seafood. Stay away from any of the chains.

PureandEasy

I was just recommending the Outer Banks to someone at lunch. I had a blast when I went there. I did the Wright Bros. museum and even took the little four seater plane ride around the place, it was FUN.

There is a lot of miniature golf there and they have Brew Thrus - drive through beer places. They were AWESOME.

When I went there it was right before Hurricane Hugo and there were already water craft advisories in effect and we couldn't even really go into the water. We had a place with tennis courts, so we played some tennis, relaxed, DRANK, ate, DRANK some more and had a great time.

Enjoy.

Empty Glass

bluesuedeitzrad wrote:

Also, take afternoon trip to Duck, NC. The ladies tend to like that

I'll do better than an afternoon trip, our place is in Duck

I should have mentioned that. Thanks a bunch for the other info!