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Published: November 6th 2007
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Our View from the balcony
The view from our Balcony as the sun went down. For the past few years, my parents have been going to North Carolina's Outer Banks for a week of relaxation along with some action packed windsurfing. With 2 other couples sharing a large waterfront property, they rent their equipment conveniently next door, leave it assembled in the garage below, and wait for the wind gods to blow. Famous for its constant winds and shallow 3 foot waters, this amazing location is perfect for windsurfing, kite surfing, or just good old fashion kite flying. I have always been a fan of windsurfing and this year was determined to spend 3 days devoted to just that. So I grabbed my swimsuit and headed out to Avon, North Carolina for my next adventures on the Outer Banks.
Little do most people know, the Outer Banks are the outlying islands surrounding the northern coastal areas of North Carolina. If you ever look on a map, you'll notice a string of long, thin islands separating the Atlantic Ocean, Albemarle Sound, and Pamlico Sound. This outer region is best known for the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, but there are many other tourist attractions along these islands as well as a quiet beach resort
The Regulars
The 3 couples that found this gem, my parents, Alan and Susan, Karen and Bob. They come every year to this amazing house. I now know why. destination for many east coast natives. There are 4 islands making up this amazing location, Bodie Island, Roanoke Island, Hatteras Island, and Ocracoke Island. As I arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, the closest airport which was 3 hours away, I rented a car and headed down to Avon.
Heading down Route 12, I finally made it to the enormous rental house I was to stay at for the next 3 days. I met Susan, Alan, Bob, and Karen, had some desert and went to bed exhausted after a 14 hour travel day. The next morning, I was unfortunately told that there was very little wind today. We decided to do tourist stuff instead and headed south to see the Hatteras Lighthouse, the ferry, and grab some local BBQ lunch. At the end of the 42 mile island was a small ferry that took you over to Ocracoke Island. Also nearby was a small shopping center and a shipwreck museum called the
Graveyard of the Atlantic. You'd figure, that with a string of very shallow islands out from the mainland, that back in the day of exploration, you might have just a few come in too close. Hundreds, if you want to start counting
Island Thunder
Our enormous house on the water. Each had it's own specific name. them on this
map that I saw in a few shops there. We then continued over to the lighthouse and marveled at the story of how at one point, due to erosion, the entire lighthouse was actually moved 2870 feet inland. Built in 1803, this 900 ton move of 1,250,000 bricks was not an easy task, but was amazingly successful and the lighthouse reopened in 2000. The entire move can be read about
here. At the top of the 268 steps, we looked out over Hatteras Island and saw how thin it actually was from one side to the next. Off in the distance, rain approached, making for a nice colorful rainbow to photograph.
One thing I had heard about North Carolina, was that they had a unique style of BBQ. Within North Carolina, there are two regional barbecue traditions, both based on the slow-cooking of pork, served pulled, chopped, or sliced. In eastern North Carolina, the dominant ingredients in the sauce are vinegar and hot peppers. The tomato-based sauce, called "dip" by some, can be made with ketchup and is thinner and less sweet than most bottled barbecue sauces available nationwide. A common side dish includes their famous
The house
This was the huge house we stayed in. 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms! hushpuppies, which are balls of cornmeal breads and deep fried. After stopping at Bubba's BBQ, I ordered my ribs and waited. As I bit into the first one, I knew I was going to be very pleased. The red BBQ sauce was definitely thinner and much more vinegar based. After dipping pretty much everything on my plate in the sauce, I was happy to say, it definitely passed my taste test.
Over the next few days, we got a chance to windsurf when the wind was blowing, but I also got to take photos when the wind was not. I walked around the property, bought funny pirate slogan t-shirts, and ate, ate, ate. One thing I also have to mention was that the crab in the crab cakes was the freshest I'd ever had. Where most places in LA make a crab cake with about 60% crab and the rest bread filler. North Carolina made their crab cakes with at least 80% tasty, fresh, falling out of the patty, crab meat. This was definitely a nice treat for anyone who enjoys crab. The restaurant right next to the rental house, Coastal Blue, was our last nights dinner. After a
Stairs on side
The Stairs leading to the top deck. The house was surrounded by lovely porches for viewing the waters and windsurfers. warm welcome by the wait staff, the chef himself later came out and talked up a storm with us. They were very friendly there and accommodated my request for a small side ceasar salad that was excellent. All three of our meals were excellent, including my last taste of freshly caught Atlantic fish. I told my parents that we should have come here all three nights it was so good.
With some fun windsurfing, amazing meals, cool photo opportunities, and some intense card game playing, I enjoyed everything about this trip. The scenery was truly as breathtaking as my parents had said and I am definitely ready to go back again. I packed up my things, drove back up to Norfolk , and was ready for my next adventure. I thought, being on the East coast and all, that I might as well take advantage of this cross continent location and see some more areas within a quick plane ride. So with a few friends in New York City, I decided I should finally see what this large east coast metropolis had to offer.
UP NEXT - NYC
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Allison
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Great pics
Okay, so now this is another destination spot I absolutely need to visit before I die. I love the sunset view from the balcony. You should sell these pics to the resort you stayed at! :D