We recently took a little trip over to the Outer Banks (OBX) for a couple days. I’d planned on making another music video about this trip, like our Charleston vid, and we even finally settled on a song and captured lots of pix and vid…but my free trial version of the cool movie making software expired and until I scrounge up some dough to make the purchase…well, you’re going to have to settle for the old-fashioned way: digital photos via your (probably) wireless high-speed Internet. I know — so old-fashioned! Sorry.
Anyhoo. The day we arrived, there was a wicked, wicked wind blowing. As you know, OBX are barrier islands along the NC coast. Islands = bridges. High winds + travel trailer + bridges = wheel-clenching, sweat-beading drive. ‘Nuff said there.
We stayed at Camp Hatteras, down in Rodanthe. Great campground in typical beach setting. The people here couldn’t be nicer — very helpful, friendly, attentive. One funny: When we checked in, the kids came into the office with me. No one really addressed them; didn’t strike me as odd at the time. Then, later, when the kids were waiting to go in the pool, I happened to be in the office again when a couple with a dog checked in. The office gal whipped out a jar filled with specialty dog treats. I think she may have even said, “We just baked these this morning!” Hm. I love me some “furry kids” but…how about a little jar of lollipops for the human kiddos? You know…the ones we have to pay five bucks extra per?
We got a really wonderful site, on the end, directly across from the path over the dunes:
You see that? We got a tree! At the beach! And every morning the birds would fight over who got to sit in it and chirp. Regular tree-dwelling birds, not the screaming gull types, either. Those stood on the streetlight next to the tree, screeching. There are quite a few really nice sites at this campground, plus a huge lounge, an indoor (as well as outdoor) pool, a reasonable game room, and of course the friendly staff. The bathhouses are pretty tired and could use a makeover, but that can be forgiven.
So, the kids are excited to go to the beach. Grab their skim boards and go racing over the sand path to the dunes. Then suddenly Sir Buffalo Sushi drops, clutching his foot. “I’ve got a pricker in my foot!” he yelled. Ah…not exactly what I was expecting to see sticking out of my kid’s foot:
So, after the cactus extraction and some skim boarding, we headed up Route 12 to check out Jockey’s Ridge State Park. We’d briefly been here before, years ago, but hadn’t been able to stay past a few minutes (don’t ask). I knew we had to get back here. It’s like nothing else on the East Coast — huge dunes. Mister Steel was disappointed that we’d just missed the time frame to sand board on the dunes (October through March), but we did get to climb them.
Just like photos of the Grand Canyon, this pic really doesn’t do the dunes justice. It’s hard to get a sense of the depth and size. I have some video of the kids rolling down them (they did about a dozen times — I could barely make it up once!), but you’ll have to wait for that (see: no video software, above). I wanted to take a hang-gliding class, but I got vetoed.
Next up was the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island. I really love the NC aquariums. The one closest to us is the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, which I adore (and we’ll be visiting in a couple weeks; yay!). Apart from being accosted by a photographer, it was a great visit. They have the happiest otters I’ve ever seen. I know; otters are usually happy. But these otters are constantly being entertained by the staff hiding food, or giving them otter challenges. Come to think of it, their “touch me” ray tank is full of very happy rays, as well. There was one in particular that would follow you around, coming to the surface and flapping her “wings,” like a Labrador shoving its head under your hand for petting. Nice “sunken boat” shark tank (although after the Georgia Aquarium, nothing still quite compares!).
About that photographer. You know the kind — you stand in front of the blue-or-green screen, they snap your photo, and then sell it to you later. I HATE that. I have never and will never buy those photos. Maybe I’m frugal, maybe I’m a grouch, but it drives me nuts. I always try to wave off the photographer — “No, thanks; that’s okay. Thank you, though.” — but no dice. They’re persistent little buggers, and I don’t want to hurt their feelings or not let them do their job, but…NO.
To wrap up our speed tour of OBX, we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It’s normally four bucks for adults, kids 15 and under are free. Pulled up to the gate — surprise! It was National Parks Week — no charge. Yippee!
This was a surprise hit of our visit. It’s extraordinarily well done. There’s a small visitor’s center that has loads of pictures and information about the brothers, their dream, and their adventure. And there’s a fairly good-sized room for talks and presentations. Outdoors, there is the monument itself (above), off in the distance on a hill. It’s definitely worth the walk to get there and climb the hill — breathtaking. The inscription alone gave me chills.
On the long field below the hill are four large markers that indicate the distance of each of the first flights. It’s one thing to read about how long each flight lasted and how far they went — it’s another thing entirely to walk that distance yourself. Loved this. Go visit.
So, with the four bucks I saved on admission, I figured we’d head over to Dairy Queen for some cones. Um. Four dollars? Didn’t even cover the cost of ONE CONE. Apparantly, the Dairy Queen figured it’d be hilarious to jack up their prices for the beach crowd. I’d already promised my kiddos a cone, so they got theirs, but I refused on principle. My hometown DQ is always happy to have us — and they’re reasonably priced. Just a heads-up if you’re craving a cone in OBX.
I think that’s the overview of the trip. There’s so much more we didn’t get a chance to do, but I guess that just means we’ll have to make the journey again some time. Okay by me.
I’ll pull together some of the beach activities/projects inspired by the visit over the next week or so, so stay tuned!
Sounds like you had an awesome time! Can’t wait for the video (after you scrounge up enough $$$.)