Anyone Been to Waves, NC?

[Couturier]

We rented a big beach house the first week in June! YAY! A vacation! Well since I am a Disney Addict and a Freakish planner, I am having problems with this vacation. I am trying so hard to just relax and figure it out when we get there. SOOO not working!

What can we do when we get there???? Help me please!

I plan on spending time walking on the beach, using our private pool, and just relaxing. But I need some kind of a plan or idea what else we CAN do.

This vacation will be Hubby and I, 13 yr old DD, 7 yr old DS, 4 yr old DD, and my mother.

What have you done while visiting this area? Has anyone seen any websites with REAL info? I am so spoiled with the Dis! LOL

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[jamounger]

Aquarium in Manteo, Hatteras lighthouse, ferry to Ocrakoke, charter half day fishing boat from Oregon Inlet. The Outer banks is a wonderful place to vacation. Stop at Kitty Hawk kites and get a few cool kites to fly while sitting on the beach. Get a travel book from the library or buy at BN.com. I know there is a good one because we got it for a vacation we took there several years ago.

 

[gillenkl]

Ditto everything PP said. This isn't much to do in Waves itself except relax. We took a day trip up to Kitty Hawk for the Wright Brothers Museum and loved that. Another day trip we go to Manteo and eat at Big Al's (http://themefifty.com/) and walk around Roanoke Island Festival Park and look in the cute shops. There's the N.C Aquarium (www.ncaquariums.com) in this same area. Haven't been yet but you could do the Lost Colony and Elizabethan Gardens.

 

[summersalt]

I love living here on the coast of NC. It's so peaceful, quiet, and beautiful. I enjoy walks on the beach, body surfing in the ocean, and fishing. So relaxing....

Make sure you take the ferry down to Oracoke. Oracoke is a very small and unique village. My family and I love to spend weekends there. We rent bikes and explore the whole island. My favorites food options are the Pony Island potatoes for breakfast, the drum sandwich from The Jolly Roger for lunch and a late dinner of oysters and shrimp at Howards' Pub. Howard's Pub usually have live music each evening.

I hope you enjoy your visit!

 

[Couturier]

Thanks so much! I am feeling better already!

So far I am thinking:

1 day to do the aquarium and dinner at Big Al's
1 day to go to Ocracoke Island

Now I am going to do the research on these things!

I would like to have 2 more activities planned so if anyone else has any ideas I would LOVE to hear them!

Thanks, Dana

 

[pantherlj]

I saw this advertised last night - looks fun for the younger kids

http://www.piratesobx.com/home/homeindex.html

Not sure your 13 yr old would like it - probably more geared toward younger kids. Maybe the 13 yr old could go jet skiing with dad? There are a few rental places just before crossing to Manteo where the pirate ship is.

Or, you could do a dolphin tour. Those are fun. I think this is the one my dad took my daughter on last summer. That would be good for everyone in your group.

http://www.outerbankscruises.com/

 

[pantherlj]

One more suggestion - you can order one of the Sunny Day guides to be shipped to your house. That way, you can look at all the things to do and have coupons

http://www.sunnydayguide.com/outer_banks/index.php

the site might give you ideas - click on the link toward the top that says FREE GUIDE

 

[Couturier]

One more suggestion - you can order one of the Sunny Day guides to be shipped to your house. That way, you can look at all the things to do and have coupons

http://www.sunnydayguide.com/outer_banks/index.php

the site might give you ideas - click on the link toward the top that says FREE GUIDE

Thanks! I sent for my free guide!!!!!

 

[shortbun]

We rented a big beach house the first week in June! YAY! A vacation! Well since I am a Disney Addict and a Freakish planner, I am having problems with this vacation. I am trying so hard to just relax and figure it out when we get there. SOOO not working!

What can we do when we get there???? Help me please!

I plan on spending time walking on the beach, using our private pool, and just relaxing. But I need some kind of a plan or idea what else we CAN do.

This vacation will be Hubby and I, 13 yr old DD, 7 yr old DS, 4 yr old DD, and my mother.

What have you done while visiting this area? Has anyone seen any websites with REAL info? I am so spoiled with the Dis! LOL

Thanks so much in advance!

Just get out a calendar and write: beach day/relax on every other day, then on the opposite day, write: explore island. We go there every year, we stay in Rodanthe or Avon or Frisco. We've had some wonderful days just wandering. One of the really great things we do every year is reserve a couple National Park Service programs on the beach or in the sound or about Pirates or shipwrecks. We love Chicamacomico Life Saving Station. We love going to Oden's dock around 3:30pm(it's south of Frisco) and watch the charter fishing boats come in with their catch. Pelicans floating on the air above the docks waiting for scraps. Take your camera and it's all for the price of a soda for everyone while you wait. Right there at Oden's dock is Risky Business Seafood. You can buy precooked and spiced shrimp there by the pound, the best crabcakes I've ever had to take back and cook and many other seafood delicacies. For the kids, there are a few minature golf spots, there is the Dairy Queen(only fast food on Hatteras) and some other ice cream sellers. We love to hit the surf shops, my son and husband always rent boards-they've taken lessons. Hot Tuna in Rodanthe has the best fresh fish of any of the restaurants, imho. It's kind of a dive. On the sound side at Rodanthe and at Canadian Hole in Avon there are loads of kite surfers and board sailors if conditions are good. It's another free show late afternoon or mid morning-amazing acrobatics and just beautiful to watch. Take a ferry to Ocracoke, we love it there. Go very early, very early as the ferries fill up. We always have lunch at the Jolly Roger on Silver Lake. It's outside and right on the water, great beer and good sandwiches. Ocracoke has incredible beaches, they are windy so take long and curly umbrella anchors or have hats with tight neck ties. Surf fishing is wonderful around the piers-rodanthe, avon, frisco and just about anywhere on the beach. Rental equipment is abundant. We now own ours. This is a quick 10 minute thought process and there are so many more wonderful adventures to be had. Find your own.

You do not need to go to Manteo or Kitty Hawk for anything. Hatteras is wonderful and to be appreciated on it's own. If the Wright Bros monument needs to be seen, do it on your way in or out -do not mess with a day on Hatteras to cross the bonner bridge.

 

[blessedmom4]

Bring some Bug Spray, if you can use it. The mosquitos can be TERRIBLE! It IS a very peaceful, restful place. Have fun and RELAX!!

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Ohhh this thread has me missing the Outer Banks soo bad. Haven't been there in 10 years. We used to stay in Waves, in the "St. Waves" subdivision, right by this little lake. We would take drives up or down the Outer Banks, to see the 4 lighthouses, to the Aquarium, or to Ocracoke. Or just relax in the house!

I don't know if the OP is a fan of the movie "Nights in Rodanthe" but the house the movie was filmed at is located right in that area, a few miles north of Waves in Rodanthe. This house (name is Serendipity) was quite an icon and a bizarre sight in the area for a notorious reason - due to severe erosion, the house (as of January) was pretty much standing IN the ocean. But the house was saved and moved from falling in the ocean, and is currently being restored in a new location in Rodanthe. I hope to see it on my next visit there!

My family is kicking around the idea of going to Waves or Salvo this summer, but so far no one will commit any money. And the house I was eyeing is gone now for the week I wanted. Ugh. May not be happening for us. Maybe next year!

 

[blana]

On your Manteo day, you may want to consider going to the Lost Colony outdoor drama. http://www.thelostcolony.org/ We always went as a child when we hit the beach for the summer.

 

[Couturier]

Thanks so much for all of your help! Anyone else planning a vaca there this summer?

 

[vsimeone]

Thanks so much for all of your help! Anyone else planning a vaca there this summer?

YEP! I'll be checking into our house in South Nags Head on June 7th. We typically go to the Outer Banks every year but we missed last year (as we went to England instead ). This thread is making me so anxious to get back to the beach this year!

 

[Promomx2]

Don't forget a walk up and then down at jockey's ridge, a ride through "Brew Thru", and if you have a 4wheel drive vehicle you can go on the beach and look for the wild horses. And the lighthouses.

 

[jillianml]

Buy a steamer pot from local market or restaurant and have a seafood feast in your beach house!Go to wings and get big blow up whales for your pool,they will blow them up for you,adults and kids love riding them in the pool!

 

[jillianml]

If you want something to do for a day trip.Drive to corolla and take a wild horse tour on the beach!We did this last yr and it was the best!You can rent a jeep and do it yourself or ride on the back of an open air 4wd trolly thingey!LOL! Also you can drive on the beach in some areas!Dont forget to let some air out of your tires 1st!

 

[Charitycase20]

Thanks so much for all of your help! Anyone else planning a vaca there this summer?

Ooo ooo me!! We check into our house in Avon on 7/31!! CAN NOT WAIT!!! We try to get down there every year, we have even spoiled my in-laws from Oklahoma with weeks in OBX!

 

[Couturier]

YEP! I'll be checking into our house in South Nags Head on June 7th. We typically go to the Outer Banks every year but we missed last year (as we went to England instead ). This thread is making me so anxious to get back to the beach this year!

Same time as us! We check in on the 5th! YAY! I hope the weather is nice! Do you usually go at this same time of the year? What has the temps been?

Dana

 

[Couturier]

Ooo ooo me!! We check into our house in Avon on 7/31!! CAN NOT WAIT!!! We try to get down there every year, we have even spoiled my in-laws from Oklahoma with weeks in OBX!

This year I am going to check out all the areas so that when we go back again in a few years I will have a better idea of where we want to stay! I pretty much just eieny mieny moed! LOL

Dana