Beautiful Currituck OBX Beach, right outside the Hampton Inn, Corolla NC
The weekend after Labor Day we decided to give summer 2011 one great big, last hug in the Currituck Outer Banks, known affectionately as the OBX.
Our um, stuff for the weekend. A small avalanche may or may not have occurred during this photoshoot.
We headed out from Richmond after work Friday night and were there by 9pm, just in time to check into the surprisingly-lovely Hampton Inn Corolla. I say surprisingly because typically I’ve known Hampton Inn’s to be comfortable and relatively “no frills.” Not this one.
We immediately threw on our swimsuits and headed for a dip in the inside pool & hot tub (it was a bit chilly at night for the two outside pools). It was the perfect way for the kids to work out some of their “energy” and for us to talk about our plans for the weekend. We’d checked out the VisitCurrituck.com site so we had a bunch of ideas.
After our swim and a great night’s sleep I got up for a morning run on the beautiful OBX beach and quickly realized how out of shape I am, but the view overshadowed my huffing and puffing.
When I got back, the hubs and kiddos were wolfing down a fabulous breakfast complete with make-your-own waffles, scrambled eggs, and bagels topped with cheese and bacon.
what me, sleepy?
Once everyone’s belly was full we headed out to check out some of what the Outer Banks has to offer. We’d visited several times before by renting beach houses, and admittedly only enjoyed the beach, pool, and shopping, so we were determined to take in a bit of Currituck history and lore while the sun was warming up the beach and pools.
Our first stop was the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. Admission is free, and the bear pictured here will happily receive any donations visitors would like to throw into his bucket.
watch your fingers!
The kids loved the huge 8,000 gallon aquarium in the center of the exhibit where we read about the fishermen and duck hunters who made the Outer Banks famous.
We enjoyed a movie about how duck hunters used to flock to Currituck County, and “Currituck Duck” became a 
delicacy around the world in the 1800’s, and how The Whalehead Club was one of the first lavish hunting homes to put The Outer Banks on the map.
The kids were pretty impressed with all the animals and asked lots of questions, and I was wishing we had more time because they have a pretty impressive calendar of events, but we wanted to get to the lighthouse and meet some friends who happened to be in the OBX the same weekend.
Our daunting view to the top
Just a few steps away was our morning challenge: The Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We paid our admission price, $7 each, and started up the 214 steps to the top of this amazing 136-year-old structure.
Thankful for signs like these to rest along the way
It was starting to heat up, so we knew we had to get cracking to get to the top of this amazing place. Built with one million bricks, it was the last lighthouse built along the Outer Banks.
We did it!
me, taking it all in
The view from the top did not disappoint. The questions were flying out of the kids faster than birds overhead: “How did they BUILD this so tall? A million bricks, did ya see that mama, a million bricks!? Ooh, look over here, I can see the ocean all the way around!”
our princess atop the lighthouse
We could have stayed up there a good while, but as usual the kids were excited about what else this day had to offer, so we began the descent, 214 steps down.
Currituck Lighthouse casualty
The kids were getting a little worn out after a trip to the neighboring gift shop, where my little gal, four, found a perch to rest her weary little legs.
We headed up to the famous Winks Market to grab a few snacks to tide the kids over and took in our lunch options, which were plentiful.
We decided to grab some yummy take-out (chicken fingers for kids, crab cake sandwiches for us) from Smokey’s at the Pine Island Diner right next-door to the hotel so we could dine poolside before catching up with our friends.
whee!
The lazy river was the kids’ favorite hotel outside feature, and they quickly learned how to ride atop three tubes at
one time (recommended for daredevil kids only).
I even caught a fifteen-minute power nap while the hubs and kids were swimming: priceless.
We headed out to the beach for a bit, but there were red-flag warnings so we weren’t able to swim in the ocean. I did find a cool layout of all the beach access in the Outer Banks which will come in handy for future trips when rip currents aren’t such a problem.
The kids had worked up an appetite so we stopped off for ice cream before visiting friends I grew up with, who happened to text me on their way down to the Outer Banks wanting to meet up in Richmond. When
they found out we were headed to the OBX too they invited us over, so we took a dip in their amazing beachfront pool and had a blast catching up.
We’d been in a lot of beach houses there, but this one took the cake: the pool had a built-in hot tub AND baby pool and adorable little stone seats.
They had around twenty or so family members staying in that gorgeous twelve-bedroom castle, and estimated that it only cost their family around $75/per night. Not too shabby.
making new friends was a great part of the kids' trip
One of the coolest parts of the night was realizing how much fun our kids were having playing together in the pool, and how now two generations of friends were having a blast together at the beach.
How could this place not put a smile on your face?
We left there and enjoyed a noisy-yet-delicious dinner at Route 12 Steak & Seafood, which I’d highly recommend, just maybe not when our loud three children are there.
No one had trouble falling asleep our second night there: we were sun-kissed and tired out, bellies full.
The next morning dipped in the pool, did a little shopping and stopped by to say good-bye to our friends, and grabbed a last delicous meal out at The Tomato Patch Pizzeria which was a perfect choice. Even though we had to wait a bit for our meal, there were crayons and a mini-arcade so we could watch a little bit of football and the kids were entertained.
roadside debris after Irene
One of the coolest discoveries of this trip was that this area of the outer banks had very little damage from Hurricane Irene.
Apparently the southern part of the Outer Banks bore the brunt of Irene’s winds and flooding, so all that we saw were piles of debris like the one pictured at the left, in which mosquitoes were making their homes.
Thrilled with our end-of-summer trip, we headed back home to Richmond with nary a squabble in the backseat, as two of our three were sound asleep within minutes, visions of the beach surely swirling in their dreams.
Many thanks to WeJustGotBack.com for allowing us this opportunity and for reimbursing some of our trip expenses.
