I should have asked for good places in the Outer Banks worth visiting. We hit a few spots, but we spent a lot of the time at the beach, and a bit too much time lounging around indoors waiting to go out to the beach again. We went to Ocracoke for a day, which was fun, but overall we lacked activities to do (as a family) besides just going to the beach.
Please don’t rag on my spelling/grammar. It sucks, and I really don’t feel like staring at a screen any longer than I have to (I already spent awhile typing it up). So spelling nazi’s be warned.
My family and I went to the Outer Banks in NC, Hatteras Island to be precise. Had a great time on the beach - just playing with my younger brother (he’s turning 3 in about a week) in the waves was great fun. And it was very relaxing, as my current schedule is very hectic.
Weather was wonderful. It rained about an hour one day, but for the most part it was sunny out. However it was never too hot, and the cool ocean air was constantly blowing around, making it just perfect. I got an ugly sunburn on my back, though. Not enough sun screen, or just out there for too long.
We stayed at pretty large beach house, which was a first for us. Usually you’d find us campining, or if we’re lucky at a hotel (two rooms). This was a lot cheaper and a much more relaxing (renting an entire house for a week), and we were able to go out and do more things, but still have fun at home (had a movie / dvd player, great for having fun at night). Usually when we’d camp we’d kind of rag on the people who rented houses. But it’s a lot less of a hassle and a lot more comforatable, so it ended up being a great choice and we’d probably never go back to camping out. And for a $800 a week for a 6 person family, it evened out very well.
Best part of the beach was making your own fun. We had skim boards, but we didn’t use those too much. Just jumped in the waves, which were a lot bigger than I’m used to - a few even took me out which were about 5 ft high (at the shoreline). Made a few sandcastles, which are really fun to watch them take on a few waves before they are decimated by the larger waves.
Best part was watching my 2 (nearly 3) year old brother sort of progress. First two days at the beach the waves scared him senseless, ended up leaving after about 30 miuntes of crying. Finally after enough convincing he started having fun in the waves and on the sand, and at the last day he never wanted to leave.
Food was also pretty good. We went to a few pretty bad places, though, however we also went to a few good ones. Sadly, none of the seafood I ate was any good, which I usually eat a lot of while I’m at the beach. Too bad, really, because I love a good plate of seafood.
Worst part was the long drive. About 6-7 hours in the car is never fun, and it was huge pain in the ass. Overall, though, it was a ton of fun and I’m glad we did it.