Winter Vacation on North Carolina’s Outer Banks
by nutuba on 08/01/09 at 4:00 am
North Carolina’s Outer Banks is a great place to vacation all year round (yes, even in winter). With uncrowded beaches, surf fishing, great rental prices, and sights to see such as the Wright Brothers Museum, Jockey’s Ridge, the NC Aquarium, the Lost Colony, and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, it’s the perfect ticket for that affordable getaway.
My family just returned from spending Christmas week at North Carolina’s beautiful Outer Banks. When most people think of a winter vacation on the beach, they typically think of places with warm water such as Puerto Rico, Cozumel, or Hawaii. We were looking for something economical, interesting, beautiful, and fun. We did some research and decided that the Outer Banks would be worth a try, and BINGO we got it right.
Picture taken by me with my Nikon Coolpix at the Outer Banks at sunrise.
First off, I should point out that it is too cold to swim unless you want to freeze your buns off; that being said, one can do just about anything else that is normally done at the beach … whether it’s surf fishing, playing football or frisbee, or just hanging out. There are many places to sight-see in the winter, and it’s the best of both worlds because there’s so much to do but there are so few people around.
Picture taken by me with my Nikon Coolpix on the Outer Banks.
First, let’s talk about finding a place to stay. I googled and found a realtor (Surf or Sound), and we rented a house in Salvo, NC, just north of Cape Hatteras. The price of the house was approximately one-sixth of what we would pay had we rented it in July instead. The realtor was pleasant and very easy to work with, and we had no problems in our dealings with them. This spacious house managed to hold all eleven of us, with room to spare. In fact, it was easy to find a quiet corner for some alone time. The house was within easy walking distance to the beach, and we saw beautiful sunrises, found pretty shells, and had convenient access for fishing. This house had a hot tub that we enjoyed; it had a television and DVD player in every room (including a big screen in the living room and another big screen in the rec room); it had a pool table; it had an outdoor shower and footwash facility; it had two outdoor charcoal grills; and it had a basketball hoop. The kitchen was equipped with all the appliances we needed. The house even had an elevator to make it easy to haul groceries from the ground level up to the third floor.
Liked it
CutestPrincess
Jan 8th, 2009
wow… beautiful place!
Glynis Smy
Jan 8th, 2009
That looked like an amazing family fun holiday! lovely pictures, thanks for sharing.
Jennie
Jan 8th, 2009
Nice pictures! We got a Nikon Coolpix for our middle child, who is an excellent photographer. We’ll probably end up getting the same for our other 2 kids.
MN CUKE
Jan 10th, 2009
Great Vacation. I would like to do a family vacation on the Outer Banks! I bet my daughter would too!
Paula Brehm
Apr 9th, 2009
Nutuba,
Another informative and well written article. I’m actually planning on going to North Carolina this summer. We’re staying in Atlantic Beach at the Windjammer Inn, which was quite economical and is right on the beach. We’re going after the kids there are back in school, but my kids are still out for the summer. How was the aquarium? I’m looking forward to the trip even more now that I’ve read your article.
Best,
Polly Lu
SW
Jul 30th, 2009
Fantastic pics!!
A word of warning to those using a rental agency: be careful who you rent from. I am in the middle of my vacation as I type this in the morning with my coffee. This was the 5th year we stayed in the same home dealing with Surf or Sound, but this is the last year we will consider any house they manage.
The house is great; we love it. Unfortunately for us, Surf or Sound took nearly three days to get someone out to replace a light bulb. It wouldn\’t be a big deal, but it\’s the only light on the porch. Their statement to me was why couldn\’t I simply change it, but since I don\’t have a ladder, it was no-go. So the next evening, at 1:00 in the morning, I had to take my dog to the emergency vet. There\’s no light on the front porch and the light from inside was not enough to illuminate the porch for me, and I fell while going through the front door. Thankfully I didn\’t hurt the dog, and my elbow will probably not suffer permanent damage.
The other major problem for us was that the main shower was disassembled (I am not making this up). How can the house be marked ready with an obvious issue like this? Does the-turn around team look to see what\’s going on?
No house is perfect (nor do we expect it to be), but when the management doesn\’t care about safety issues it\’s time to go elsewhere, which we have already done.