Outer Banks?

[got2sammies]

Make sure you get a coupon book for discounts on restaurants and activities! you can find them pretty much at any gas station or WINGS store. For souvies, you MUST go to a WINGS store- they are all over the place Also I have read they are going to do the Lost Colony play this summer (closed last summer for COVID) it is an outdoor theater and its pretty cool plus the town Manteo is great. If you have all day- take the ferry to Ocacroke Island.

 

[tcrandal]

Just got back from a stay right near Kill Devil Hills in OBX three weeks ago, and it was fabulous. We rented a jeep for a week and drove the beach quite a lot. We've seen the wild horses two other times, and had a lot of luck in the past. This time we had to resort to following the guided tour vehicles, and ended up seeing two younger horses in a yard. We ended up driving the more deserted beaches in Cape Hatteras, but you need to get a permit for the week that runs $50, so you don't get a ticket (We did pass park ranger once on beach). The beaches there were empty for as far as the eye could see in parts, yes it was early season, but we hit upper 60's three days, and 70 one day! Collected mammoth shells on the beach, and just had an amazingly opposite to Disney trip in terms of relaxation. You can check out the light houses, Jockey's Ridge Park, fly kites, ghost crab hunt at night, and just kick back and enjoy the sounds of the ocean! Have fun!!

 

[3boymthr]

It's been a couple of years but my do not miss breakfast restaurant is Duck Donuts. There are two locations, Kitty Hawk and Duck. Amazingly fresh donuts, made to order. You get to pick the toppings for each donut. Go mid week to avoid some of the crowds. You can look up the toppings menu ahead of time to save angst in line. Pre-covid you could actually stand there and watch the donuts being made, not sure how they are handling that with Covid restrictions.

If you like the movie Nights in Rodanthe and are looking for a road trip to fill some time take a drive down to Rodanthe to view the house. I'm not sure about visibility from the road but I know you can see it from the beach. We stayed in the house next door so I only had to stand on the deck to see it. The house we stayed in was 2 back from the beach and literally side by side with it.

Another must do is go see ALL the lighthouses. They are iconic and totally worth the drive between. Great Christmas card material. Pre-covid you could climb to the top of all of them not sure how that is working these days.

If you have a rainy day and need a you're going to kill the relatives if you spend one more minute cooped up inside activity in addition to the Wright Brothers museum there is also the pirate museum. It's way down at the tip of Hatteras but if you like museums it's worth the trip.

 

[firefly_ris]

It's been a couple of years but my do not miss breakfast restaurant is Duck Donuts. There are two locations, Kitty Hawk and Duck. Amazingly fresh donuts, made to order. You get to pick the toppings for each donut. Go mid week to avoid some of the crowds. You can look up the toppings menu ahead of time to save angst in line. Pre-covid you could actually stand there and watch the donuts being made, not sure how they are handling that with Covid restrictions.

There is one in Corolla also.

 

[sandam1]

This thread came up at the perfect time as we are renting a house in Duck in a little more than three weeks.

Does anyone have any recommendations for take-out/delivery pizza near Duck. We'd like to get pizza on our arrival night (Yes, I know that we are going to have plan for a wait), but I'm not finding anything with great reviews online.

Also, has anyone done a supply delivery or pick-up from the Walmart in Kitty Hawk? How did it go? We'd prefer to not shop in person if we can avoid it.

 

[brevebelle]

We visit the Outer Banks every summer with our kids! We love it. My little list of things I recommend..

-Coffee at Front Porch Cafe
-Duck Donuts (It's our "we're here!" tradition of getting donuts on our way in)
-Ice cream/yogurt at Surfin Spoon, Booty Treats, or Big Buck's Homemade Ice Cream
-Lunch at Bonzer Shack
-Aquarium on Roanoke Island
-Exploring the lighthouses (My fave is Bodie Island)
-Brew Thru on our way out to grab sodas and snacks for the ride home

 

[jccarney]

I’ve been going to the OBX since the late 70s. We have an expensive kite that never gets used because it is too difficult to operate. As for meals in our family it’s typically the guys who do the cooking. We grill fish, shrimp, steaks, burgers, etc. As a kid my mom doesn’t like seafood so she would just heat up large pans of Stouffers meals like lasagna or turkey tetrazzini. In fact one of the family memories is how my mom got so upset because another family got crabs and then no one wanted to eat the turkey tetrazzini she had made. We still laugh about it 25 years later.

 

[Figaroo]

Dockside n Duck seafood market has excellent seafood and sides for dinner at home. They also prepare a take home low country boil which is nice.

Tuillios Bakery is delicious. When I was there a few years back they made fresh French toast bagels in the morning. SO good!

The dunes, Wright Bros monument, aquarium, and Corolla lighthouse are nice places that we’ve been to on past trips.

 

[alliedee]

my husbands family has a house out in kitty hawk, they would go for weeks every summer since the early 90's.

three places to check out - "surfin' spoon" is a local frozen yogurt place, super popular, tasty, and reasonably priced. would get really hard to get in in the door, it was in a tiny building. they're moving to a new, bigger store this season, so it shouldnt be as much of a cluster as it used to be.

if your looking for cheap eats and a cool location, check out "fishheads bar and grill." its on a pier, so you pass thru the tackle shop to get there. right over the water, good food, nice people, and they have live music at night. very chill vibe. good spot to get lunch if your having a beach day, as you can pop up, then pop right back down.

so, this is something you could go pick up, and if you did, i would leave the kiddo in the hotel. there is a gas station that makes THE BEST BISCUITS. they sell out almost every morning. its the place the locals hit up before work or fishing. you'll know its the right place by the sign- "biscuits and porn." the line for the biscuits runs right past the adult magazine section. but these biscuits, ya'll. just google it, hop out early while everyone is in bed, divert your eyes if needed, and have the best, cheapest breakfast youll get on the obx.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I am very tempted. If I drove from WDW to the Outerbanks where would you suggest staying enroute? Ocracoke looks pretty. I am reading ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ at the moment.

 

[polynor]

We did a big family reunion there precovid - highlights
- lighthouses (one of the nieces/cousin became obsessed with seeing all of them)
- ocracoke — we were disappointed in the beach in front of our unit at kill devil. Ocracoke visit was what we were more hoping for. It was beautiful and so many shells. The whole trip there with the ferry was just wonderfully relaxing.
- Wright brothers memorial.
- jockey ridge — kids loved it so much we went several times. sunset was beautiful
- one family did a crabbing/fishing excursion
- wild horse tour
- we also enjoyed the piers ( fishing and just going out on them).
- collecting National park stamps there are several to get in the area

i had wanted to do hang gliding, but it was too windy the entire week.

for food it was all pitch in, some for family favorites, grilling and then a boil.
we were supposed to repeat a trip last year but....

 

[sandam1]

I need some last minute advice for people who have been to the Wright Monument. The two week weather outlook has two days that look like they are going to be a bit rainy (not a washout, but on and off showers). Since they aren't likely to be good beach days, is it reasonable to do the Wright Monument? I can't get a great feel for how much is inside versus outside.

 

[_19disnA]

There is an indoor area that explains the history of the Wright brothers, shows some tools, workshop and a replica of their first plane. The indoor area is actually smaller then I was expecting and certainly not anything where you would spend a lot of time. We were there a few weeks ago. Due to covid, an employee at the entrance made sure to limit the number of people inside at any one time and everyone was following social distancing guidelines, you had to wear a mask which was good to see. There is also the typical giftshop you see in most museums. The outdoor area has a replica of their storage building, some markers on the ground about their first flight and there is a monument you can climb up a hilly incline to see. There is a fee to go there, don't recall if per person or for the entire vehicle. While it is interesting to see once, not sure we would ever go there again.

If looking for something to do when the weather isn't good for the beach, might try to visit some of the many shopping areas. There are a lot of them and many have covered areas where you can walk between the stores.

 

[polynor]

I need some last minute advice for people who have been to the Wright Monument. The two week weather outlook has two days that look like they are going to be a bit rainy (not a washout, but on and off showers). Since they aren't likely to be good beach days, is it reasonable to do the Wright Monument? I can't get a great feel for how much is inside versus outside.

When we went it was also rainy. It’s by no means an all indoor activity and we just decided to bring rain jackets and go for it. All of the interesting stuff (to me) is outdoors.

 

[mmbrad02]

Thanks everyone for all you input! We just returned today from our trip to OBX, and had a lovely time. Here are a few of my wrap up thoughts:

*When we first arrived the beach wasn't very pretty. The water was rough and choppy from an off shore storm. I honestly was feeling pretty meh about the beach as a whole BUT it truly improved and ended up so pretty, improving more and more each day.

*Traffic was busy at times but overall manageable. Today (Sunday) we left at 7am and zero issues getting out of town/across the bridge. Last Sunday we arrived in town at 3:45pm and zero issues crossing the bridge but traffic getting to Duck was congested. It kept moving though.

*Some offsite things we did (specifiically my DH, myself, and DD10): The Wright Brothers Memorial (I really enjoyed this!), The Bodie Island lighthouse (again, enjoyed. Did not go up inside as I didn't really read the ticket sell rules till the last day. But honestly not sure I would have had the endurance!). DD survived both things, she found things to keep her entertained enough, but not sure she was overly thrilled. So after the last venture we made a run to Sugar Kingdom and that of course was a hit (and DH and I loved their taffy). Really thought we would do Jockey Ridge but as the week went on and we all got more and more tired, fewer and fewer were interested in making the trek.

*We loved the house my MIL rented, and spent a lot of time beween the beach and pool. We saw a deer and fox both on property Never experienced that at the beach before!

*We personally didn't buy a kite but my two BIL's did and my DH and DD got a chance to experience it that way. They enjoyed it. It was fun to see all the kites from the front deck of our home.

*Places we ate (just our thoughts and opinions):
NC Coast Grill & Bar - Wait time was fair for a party our size (13) and food was good, but to start with the week with a $118 bill was a hard pill to swallow (with no adult beverages...and obviously we can read the menu and knew what we were getting into; this was a suggestion from another member of our party)

Coastal Cravings - Well, again, perhaps we should have read more. The atmosphere was fun upon arrival and the kids loved playing with the hoola hoops and darts and stuff. Again, fair wait for a party our size (for reference we left for dinner each night around 4:00-4:30). was a little caugh off guard with the inattentive wait staff and the way they present the food. Wasn't expecting cardboard boxes Food was decent, at least what I had, but don't know that anyone in our party would beg to go back.

Arts Bar and Grill - Loved this place! Seemed like a dive but we loved sitting outback at the picnic tables. Made it especially easy for those in our group with smaller kids. Truly a wonderful burger in a laid back atmosphere!

The Black Pelican - We tried to eat here the night before but it was a 2-3 hour wait so we went to Art's. This night we left at 3:30 for dinner, was an hour wait, by the time we were seated it was back to a normal eating time. Our party had mixed reviews. DH, DD, and I all enjoyed our food but some were saying theirs was just okay. Seemed like a very popular place though! DD got the kids steak and it was the same size as the one DH and I ordered!

Max's Italian Restaurant - So by now we had eaten ALL dinners together. And I love my extended family but I was ready for a break They all love seafood and my 3 don't eat any at all, so we just really wanted something different. This place was awesome! We all 3 loved it, our waiter was amazing. It wasn't beachy at all but it was perfect for us! DD got the adult fettucini since they didn't have a kids version, and she ate half for dinner and gobbled down the leftovers the next day for lunch.

Backyard Bernie's - We had tried to go to Awful Arthur's but were met with a 2 hour wait so we called BB and they had zero wait so we headed there. Most of us youngrer folks enjoyed this meal a lot and even declared it might be our favorite meal of the week. I don't think my inlaws were super impressed but I think they were just looking for something different for the last night. Overall we had a good experience there.

We had Duck Donuts one morning(totally lives up to the hype!), PIzzazz Pizza for lunch one day (seems like chain there but we thought it was good pizza), and Weezy's Ice cream one night after dinner.

 

[luvsvacations]

Can you provide the link to the home you rented. thanks

 

[person]

Kitty Hawk is certainly convenient also for a visit to the Wright Brothers' historic aviation site...

 

[mmbrad02]

Can you provide the link to the home you rented. thanks

Sorry, just noticed this request. I can't pull it up at work, the site seems to be blocked, but search Brindley Beach Grogan and it pops right up. Brindley Beach was the realty company used and Grogan was the name of the house. Thanks!

 

[itsdisneytime]

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?

I dont know if I saw this too late in the game for you being that it is almost the end of June I HIGHLY SUGGEST that if you are in the Outter Banks that you drive a little bit just to the end of Hatteras and take the free ferry over to Ocracoke Island -- the last known spot of the infamous Blackbeard the Pirate! The Island is Full of so much wonderful shops and things to look at not to mention the most prestine beaches you will ever come across. The ferry ride is a short 45 minute ride but get on to the Dare County Website and check out Ferry times to Ocracoke Island from Hatteras ... trust me - you will thank me 100 times over if you actually do this. Its a very short 1 hour drive to the Ferry from Kill Devil Hills

 

[itsdisneytime]

I am very tempted. If I drove from WDW to the Outerbanks where would you suggest staying enroute? Ocracoke looks pretty. I am reading ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ at the moment.

Oh my gosh! Please go visit Ocracoke! It is simply unbelieveable! I grew up spending my summers there - and when I tell you that there is not even a stop light on the island ... I mean, it is fantastic! no Mcdonalds on every corner, no 7-11's ... this is just pure natural beaches and good eats that are local and not "chain" places... fantastic shops, friendly people --- a gorgeous Lighthouse - fantastic historical graveyards (there used to be a Coast Guard there during the war) ... lots of history about Pirates and the ol Alfred Teach aka Blackbeard!