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Published: September 23rd 2008
Realtor's shot of house
Right on ocean with the outdoor pool.Well, it's been a while since we published, but we went on a NON-RV trip to the outer banks over Labor Day and folks kept asking, "Where's your blog?" So I decided to post. Here is the story and some pix of the trip.
My younger brother called in July and invited my wife and I, and our daughter, to join him in the outer banks. He often gets a rental house there, or Myrtle Beach, or somewhere else on the ocean, and has others join to share the cost. We had planned to go to Assateague a week later, but decided to see the OBX and have a mini-family reunion. My brother is 15 years younger and we have never had a chance to spend much time together, so it sounded like fun. AND it WAS.
First, we had to wait through his negotiations with various agents as he bargained the price down. We finally learned just a week before leaving where we would be staying. It was in Corolla, NC on the ocean. A 7 bedroom home with an outdoor pool, indoor play room with pool table, outdoor hot tub, and...an INdoor pool. Quite a package! We
had exchanged emails about food and eating, but decided to just go with the flow. We left Sunday, Aug 31 and drove down, meeting up with my brother at the NC line, and then headed to the house. I had never been to the OBX before, so was looking forward to new scenery and new experiences.
The first full day was spent exploring the area, enjoying the waves, swimming in both the outdoor and indoor pools, and shopping for groceries for a LARGE extended family. In addition to Trish and me, there was our daughter Kim from Martinsburg, WV with her boyfriend, Chris, brother Todd with his three kids, Kristin, Kori and Kelly, and Todd's fiancee, Sandy with her daugher, Natalie. It was a full house, but with 7 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms and 2 1/2 baths, it wasn't bad. We had fun getting to know our nieces and nephew better (we have been in Japan much of their lives) and spending time with Sandy and getting to know her and her daughter.
Tuesday, Todd and Sandy drove south to the fish docks to get seafood for the week. He came back with a bushel of crab, 6
lbs of shrimp, and 300 steamers for steamed clams. Our family drove into Corolla to explore and learn about the wild horses, see the town, and have some NC barbecue for lunch. We made reservations that evening to come back for a sunset trip into the reserve area to see the wild horses of Currituck.
After a quick trip to the house to swim, relax, and change, we headed back for our tour. The wild horses are over 400 years old and over time, have had their land encroached by man. They have been pushed back into a relatively small area where they are "protected" though the land continues to be developed with houses. These horses can trace their lineage directly back to the early Spanish explorers. DNA tests have confirmed their ancestry.
Just north of Corolla is a stretch of land that is reserved for the horses (and homes) but requires a 4WD vehicle to get around. It is perhaps 12 miles to the Virginia border and in this stretch the horses are free to roam, breed, and be free. We saw 2 stallions fighting over territory and the right to lead the herd, saw a one-eyed
House built in the preserve
The only way to get here is 4WD. But developers have built canals to the sound and the county is allowing all sorts of development to garner taxes. Never mind the impact on the horses. stallion (blind in the other eye) guarding his herd of mares and colts, and a mare with twins, rare enough when they are raise on a farm--exceptional in the wild. After driving up and down back roads, we finally headed to the sound side of the land to see a sunset and then hustled back to town and back to the house where Todd had cooked up a bushel of crabs! Between the views on the wild preserve and the huge amount of crabs, it was an altogether amazing day.
Wednesday was a great day to relax again at the pools and head to the beach. Kim and I splashed in the ocean and watched the nieces and nephew having fun with boogie boards. We took the opportunity to read, visit some local shops, and soak in the hot tub. We watched the Weather Channel for Tropical Storm Hannah appeared to be heading our way. That night we dined on steamed clams with lots of butter. Todd had brought various wines for each of the meals and each one seemed the perfect choice for the various seafoods or meats we had.
Thursday morning Trish, Kim and I got
Sunset over the sound
We got here just as the sun was going down. What a view! up early. Chris had left the day before to go back to work, but the three of us were off Corolla to head out in kayaks to explore the sound. We had our inflatable and rented a 2-person kayak which Trish and I tried. We hiked out a 300 yard boardwalk to where we put the kayaks in, and with a rough map from the rental agency, headed out to see the birds, fish and wildlife. We found the going a bit difficult as the sound was only 8-20 inches deep in spots to start. We paddled and poled our way to the break and emerged from rushes and reeds onto the sound. We spied osprey, pelicans, gulls, Canadian geese, as well as turtles, fish, and a wide variety of other marsh birds. After paddling for about an hour and a half, I took the single kayak back in and Kim and Trish paddled the 2 person kayak back around the marsh to the inlet and then wound through the tall reeds to eventually come to the dock where we had put in. After all that hard work, we headed off to a local eatery for a big breakfast, then
back to the house for swimming, soaking and relaxing. That night, Todd made a great shrimp pasta and we preceded that with shrimp cocktails. The next day Hannah was due to start impacting us, so we planned to be up early again to head to Kitty Hawk.
Friday morning we were up early because the National Parks were going to shut down at noon due to Hannah roaring in. Trish, Kim, Kori and I headed down to Kitty Hawk to see the site of the first controlled heavier than air flight. Kori was so excited he was up almost before I was. That's pretty good for a 10 year old! We got to Kill Devil Hills and walked to the actual site of the first 4 flights in December 1903. It is amazing what a short distance the 1st 3 flights were. Then we walked to the top of the dune (now covered in grass so it won't move) and looked over the ocean and sound, felt the constant wind, and marveled at what the Wrights endured over 100 years ago. We came down and toured the museums and learned more about the efforts and the history of flight.
Finally, we bought our books and souvenirs and headed for home, hoping to keep ahead of the wind and rain. That afternoon we saw the red flags up on the beach warning all to stay out of the waves. It began raining before we got home and continued with intermittent spatters and squalls until dark.
Saturday brought 50-60 MPH gusts that actually shook the house. We've been in typhoons in Japan in an old Japanese house so we weren't worried. But watching the rain go sideways and the wind howl is a real thrill. The sea was dark with huge rollers of waves crashing on shore, birds were being pushed sideways (why were they even out there in the wind?) and the rain came down in drenching downpours, would let up a bit, then come down even harder. We waited until late in the morning then Trish and I went to the indoor pool and did some exercising (yes, water aerobics) and after about 30-40 minutes, came out, went outside and up onto the 2nd deck, and got in the hot tub. It was still blowing hard and the rain was coming down on the upper deck and dripping
Crane resting on a post
Notice the tall reeds we kayaked through. There were channels, but it was easy to get confused. down on us in the tub, but we loved it. We could see the ocean from the hot tub and relaxed and enjoyed the fury of nature. By late afternoon the storm had passed (rain anyway) so we donned our "Jim Cantore" beach goggles and went out in the wind to wander the beach. (We saw Jim on the Weather Channel wearing something similar during Gustave and realized what a great idea it was to protect the eyes in high wind.) Sand was blowing so hard it could clean rust off of metal. We were glad for the glasses and had fun looking at the changes in the dunes. Trish got really excited when she found a "glass" rock formed when lightening hit the sand and crystallized it. No, it doesn't look like the glass works in "Sweet Home, Alabama", but it is different. They often appear on the sand after a storm. That evening we began packing as we had to vacate by 10 am the next day. Kim and I packed her car and kept the suitcases until the last.
Sunday morning Trish, Kim and I were up early packing, having breakfast and saying good-bye and thanking
Kids with the boogie boards
Kori, Natalie, and Kirstin enjoy the wave action. We kept a close eye on them as Hannah was kicking up rip currents in places. my younger brother for a great idea and a super week. We were off by 8 AM and on our way home. After unloading everything in Fredericksburg, Kim took off for home in Martinsburg, WV and we started to put things away. But the fun wasn't over. Todd and family were passing only 2 miles from our house, so they stopped for a rest break, lunch and a chance to see our house before heading back to Cleveland. What a great week we had!! It was my first trip to the outer banks and I'd love to head back in the spring, this time to camp. And who knows, with Todd's skills, maybe he can find a couple of places where we could get the whole family and have a big family reunion next year!
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Carole
non-member comment
Sounds like a WONDERFUL trip! A family reunion someplace like that sounds great. That house you stayed in looks like it could just about hold us all!