Outer Banks?

[mmbrad02]

Anyone vacation here often? Or just a few times but have places/things you highly recommend? We are going to the Duck/Kitty Hawk area in June with my DH's family. The rental house is taken care of, and obviously we will spend a lot of time at the beach (and pool), But are there any must see's/do's that you would recommend? We have a range of kids from 4-13 but primarily my immediate family is myself, DH, and our DD10. Any particular restaurants?

 

[mjkacmom]

It’s been a while, but you definitely need to buy kites for the dunes at kitty hawk. We’ve stayed in hatteras, nags head and duck.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

The highlight of our trip last summer was the dinner we had catered by Outer Banks Boil Company. If you like seafood you will love it! They bring everything to your house, cook it for you, then clean up after. It’s a perfect setup for a large group.

https://www.outerbanksboilcompany.com/

 

[firefly_ris]

We typically stay in Corolla and sometimes Duck. We'll be in Duck this July. My kids like visiting the lighthouses, driving on the 4x4 beach, and getting donuts from Duck Donuts.

I normally also buy live crabs to steam for everyone (I'm a native Marylander) but last year it was a bit more driving to find a decent batch and half the people I go with (DH's family, Buffalonians) have no clue how to pick crabs so I don't think I will bother this year.

 

[RUDisney]

My BIL's family used to go to his brother's house every year in Cape May. There were a lot of siblings with their kids, plus their parents.

They chose themed meals that would be prepared each night by one of the families instead of going out each night. They are very competitive and they would vote and rank the meals at the end of the week and the winner got the trophy until the next year.

One year, my sister and BIL got Italian night. They started the evening on the front, wrap-around porch with Negronis and other Italian drinks. Everyone was asked to dress for the evening. The men were in wife beater t-shirts and the women did their hair up big. Dinner was an Italian feast, followed by Limoncello. Italian music was played throughout the night.

Other nights were Mexican, Greek, etc., and the grandparents had surf and turf night.

They would invest about $400 in the entire meal, but that was all they had to pay for the entire week's meals and they only cooked once and it kept the family together at mealtime.

 

[pens4821]

In kitty hawk spankys (well priced burger type place) and high cotton bbq (meat by the pound then sides at the house) are our must do’s. We also always get some fresh seafood (we go to Austin’s) and bring it back to the house for dinner.

The ducks boardwalk has great sunset views. Jockeys ridge is a fun time with nice views at the top.

 

[person]

It’s been a while, but you definitely need to buy kites for the dunes at kitty hawk. We’ve stayed in hatteras, nags head and duck.

Oh we were in the Carolinas more than once; great trips!

 

[moericus]

Duck and Kitty Hawk appear close on the map. However, they are connected by a thin one lane road traveling north and south. Expect very long delays from the bridge north to Duck on the weekends. On weekdays it's much better.

 

[MrsPete]

I've been to the Outer Banks a couple times. Random thoughts:

- North Carolina is a long state, and it's a long drive to the Outer Banks.
- The drive between towns is longer than expected, even if they appear close on the maps. Most of the towns are connected only by one two-lane road, and traffic is heavy.
- It's an upscale and fairy expensive place to visit -- don't expect inexpensive meals.
- Lots of super delicious seafood. Many places offer "family meals" that you're meant to take home rather than eat in the restaurant -- you can order, for example, flounder and shrimp for 5 people. It's an unusual method, but quite practical for us today in Covid times.
- Another thing that's unusual: they have arched tunnel drink-drive throughs. Without leaving your car, you can pick up a coffee or a soda or a Slurpie or a 6-pack of beer (to take home, obviously). Kids are oddly enchanted with these places.
- We climbed the lighthouse -- can't remember its name, but it was fun.
- Definitely visit the Wright Brothers Museum.
- Duck Doughnuts are a must -- expect a bit of a wait if you go first thing in the morning.
- The Lost Colony outdoor theater is a must-do.
- The Elizabethan Gardens are a fun, quiet afternoon.
- Wild horses wander about in some parts of the Outer Banks -- you can take a tour to see them /learn about them.
- The boardwalk in Duck is a nice place.

 

[Adventureland]

Love OBX! I really enjoyed the pizza the Black Pelican served, and my family loves Roadside Cafe. Duck Donuts is very good for kids as they are made hot and to order so everyone can pick their own icing and topping.
Aside from just enjoying the beach, the Waterfront Shops and Scarborough Fair shopping centers are our favorites.
If any of you are big on beachcombing, if you want to make an early drive over to Pea Island the day after a rainstorm, you might find some nice stuff. My mom found two bits of seaglass last time. Brown, but seaglass nonetheless. Tons of shells.
The Elizabethan Gardens are so fun and the area of Manteo is very vibe-y. If anyone wants fun picture spots-that's where to go.
We did a horse tour on one of our more recent visits. I would have loved it more if I was younger, but it was really neat and the tour guide was entertaining (Even if one of the Chincoteague horse tour guides told us they were hamming up the horse origin story!). There's actually quite a few horse-themed things around the island if you have some horse lovers.

We were there this past July. I'm not sure if they added games and puzzles back into the rental houses, but they may still have those + chairs and other sand stuff still not back yet. Check and make sure before you go! I was surprised to see so much taken out.

 

[person]

I've been to the Outer Banks a couple times. Random thoughts:

- North Carolina is a long state, and it's a long drive to the Outer Banks.
- The drive between towns is longer than expected, even if they appear close on the maps. Most of the towns are connected only by one two-lane road, and traffic is heavy.
- It's an upscale and fairy expensive place to visit -- don't expect inexpensive meals.
- Lots of super delicious seafood. Many places offer "family meals" that you're meant to take home rather than eat in the restaurant -- you can order, for example, flounder and shrimp for 5 people. It's an unusual method, but quite practical for us today in Covid times.
- Another thing that's unusual: they have arched tunnel drink-drive throughs. Without leaving your car, you can pick up a coffee or a soda or a Slurpie or a 6-pack of beer (to take home, obviously). Kids are oddly enchanted with these places.
- We climbed the lighthouse -- can't remember its name, but it was fun.
- Definitely visit the Wright Brothers Museum.
- Duck Doughnuts are a must -- expect a bit of a wait if you go first thing in the morning.
- The Lost Colony outdoor theater is a must-do.
- The Elizabethan Gardens are a fun, quiet afternoon.
- Wild horses wander about in some parts of the Outer Banks -- you can take a tour to see them /learn about them.
- The boardwalk in Duck is a nice place.

The Wright Brothers' Museum sounds like it would be v. interesting...

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

We live in Maryland and one trip we decided to skip 95 and drive to the eastern shore and went through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. My brother in-law live in Virginia Beach and he often uses the route when he comes up to visit to avoid the traffic around Richmond and DC.

 

[mmbrad02]

Thanks everyone! Ive really enjoyed these ideas and Google has been my friend as I look up more details! I'm 40 and my last trip to Outer Banks, I was 18 months old (and zero recollection obviously). I'm excited to try a new area; I grew up going to Myrtle often, an in recent years we tend to go toward the Panhandle of Florida.

My BIL's family used to go to his brother's house every year in Cape May. There were a lot of siblings with their kids, plus their parents.

They chose themed meals that would be prepared each night by one of the families instead of going out each night. They are very competitive and they would vote and rank the meals at the end of the week and the winner got the trophy until the next year.

One year, my sister and BIL got Italian night. They started the evening on the front, wrap-around porch with Negronis and other Italian drinks. Everyone was asked to dress for the evening. The men were in wife beater t-shirts and the women did their hair up big. Dinner was an Italian feast, followed by Limoncello. Italian music was played throughout the night.

Other nights were Mexican, Greek, etc., and the grandparents had surf and turf night.

They would invest about $400 in the entire meal, but that was all they had to pay for the entire week's meals and they only cooked once and it kept the family together at mealtime.

This sounds like what my MIL has in mind but if I'm being perfectly honest the idea of spending a day at the beach, probably getting a sunburn and ending up slightly dehydrated, chasing kids, and then coming in and cooking sounds miserable to me! I'm all about eating breakfast and lunch in our rental, but I don't particularly want to mess with dinner. MIL has suggested we have date night (where she and FIL watch the kids and us adult kids go out), group night dinner out, and then cook the rest of the week. Sigh.... BUT I am not one to go against the wishes of the group and I am not confrontational, so when we discussed this at Christmas, I already put DH and I down for pizza night (carry out of course ) Also, I am very appreciative that they paid our lodging and a night of babysitting so if we truly need to cook, then cook we will! One of my other SIL's and I suggested we eat in twice and then we go out as individual families other nights. Part of vacationing to me is eating at local places so I do want to go out some! I do like the Boil Company and BBQ idea, or any other to go style meals, that might be a good compromise for not going out but not cooking.

For the wild horse tours, are those done on foot, 4x4, horseback? Do you always see a horse (or multiple) or can you end up with a completely dry run? I think that seems fascinating but I didn't quite know how that worked.

Is there a specific spot for kite flying? Or just like on the beach itself? That sounds fun for the kids!

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Haven’t done it yet, but I hope to go hang gliding. They do it over the dunes.

 

[Adventureland]

For the wild horse tours, are those done on foot, 4x4, horseback? Do you always see a horse (or multiple) or can you end up with a completely dry run? I think that seems fascinating but I didn't quite know how that worked.

The one I took was like an open-air jeep. With a larger group, it'll probably be similar to this:

We saw multiple horses, there are quite a few! Sometimes they're not super scenic spots, but they are still fun to see. I think the tours will usually scout out where the horses are beforehand and will refund you if they cannot find any, but you might have to check the terms of a specific tour company.

Is there a specific spot for kite flying? Or just like on the beach itself? That sounds fun for the kids!

We've always just flown right on the beach, but there are some dune areas that are popular for kite flying. I think Jockey Ridge is the place where I see most of the kites flown, that's in Nags Head if you wanted to make a day out of it. KittyHawkKites has a lot of fun kites if you wanted to make a souvenier out of it, too.

 

[_19disnA]

It is more of an upscale beach/ocean type of place then many other areas we have seen. There are only 2 roads that lead to the island, so traffic can be an issue during peak times. Usual variety of places to shop & eat, just depends on what you like. A lot of the area has built up over they years and if you haven't been there in a long time will probably be surprised how much has changed. Several of the prior posts have listed the main tourist sites.

 

[mjkacmom]

The one I took was like an open-air jeep. With a larger group, it'll probably be similar to this:

We saw multiple horses, there are quite a few! Sometimes they're not super scenic spots, but they are still fun to see. I think the tours will usually scout out where the horses are beforehand and will refund you if they cannot find any, but you might have to check the terms of a specific tour company.

We've always just flown right on the beach, but there are some dune areas that are popular for kite flying. I think Jockey Ridge is the place where I see most of the kites flown, that's in Nags Head if you wanted to make a day out of it. KittyHawkKites has a lot of fun kites if you wanted to make a souvenier out of it, too.

Jockey Ridge is so cool, kids would love it.

 

[firefly_ris]

I've never done the paid horse tours, we would just get up early (in the summer that's very early like 5am) and take our truck down to the 4x4 beach. On our October trips since sunrise was later we could get out there later. We also typically saw many more horses in the fall than the summer. I don't know that they can guarantee you'll see horses but I bet the tour guides are well aware of some favorite exact resting spots so odds are probably high.

We also do similar to another poster... we are usually with a very large family group (this year 2 houses worth of people) and going out to eat together every day doesn't make sense (plus $$), so each family is typically assigned a dinner to cook for everyone and then there are nights where each or a few families takes a turn eating out for dinner. Everyone is on their own for breakfast and lunch. Usually a bunch of the men do the grocery shopping at the beginning of the week and everyone splits the bill. We often bring some stuff like alcohol from home. When we go in the fall, it's obviously way easier to find dinner seating since it is off season. Plus when we go in the fall its usually just a few of us so we can all go out together more easily.

 

[RUDisney]

This sounds like what my MIL has in mind but if I'm being perfectly honest the idea of spending a day at the beach, probably getting a sunburn and ending up slightly dehydrated, chasing kids, and then coming in and cooking sounds miserable to me! I'm all about eating breakfast and lunch in our rental, but I don't particularly want to mess with dinner. MIL has suggested we have date night (where she and FIL watch the kids and us adult kids go out), group night dinner out, and then cook the rest of the week. Sigh.... BUT I am not one to go against the wishes of the group and I am not confrontational, so when we discussed this at Christmas, I already put DH and I down for pizza night (carry out of course ) Also, I am very appreciative that they paid our lodging and a night of babysitting so if we truly need to cook, then cook we will! One of my other SIL's and I suggested we eat in twice and then we go out as individual families other nights. Part of vacationing to me is eating at local places so I do want to go out some! I do like the Boil Company and BBQ idea, or any other to go style meals, that might be a good compromise for not going out but not cooking.

If it comes to you having to cook, I suggest the following menu, if no ethnic theme is involved. Cut as many pork tenderloins, as needed, into medallions and marinade them in teriyaki and scotch for about 10-15 minutes. These will be grilled. Take bags of small sweet peppers (like you can buy in Sam's or Costco) and throw them right onto the grill to roast them. You don't even need to coat them with oil... just right on the grill. They will wilt into deliciousness and you can bite them right off their stems. Finally, some home fries made with presliced potatoes, like Simply Potatoes, found in the grocery store. The only thing you'll have to slice for this is some onion so you can fry these up in a pan with butter and oil and then add the potatoes until they are done.

This is a simple and delicous meal that only causes one pan to clean after. Bonus if the grill has a side burner so everything can be made outside. This was going to be our dinner last night until my DH decided that he'd prefer a fritatta. So, this is what we will have tomorrow night since Friday night is a take out night.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

We absolutely love Miller's Waterfront Restaurant in Nag's Head. The food is great, and it sits right on the sound so the atmosphere is perfect. We like to get an outside table around sunset.
It's a little bit of a drive from Duck, but there is an aquarium on Roanoke Island. It's really fun, and there's even a sea turtle hospital.
I've never actually been to the Wright Bros Memorial because it's like $14/person and we're too cheap We just admire the monument from the road.