The Outer Banks Experience

Duck, North Carolina Family Vacation

Welcome to our annual family vacation. We have vacationed in the Outer Banks for 7 years now and it never gets old. We typically stay in the newer parts of the island in Duck, and Corolla North Carolina though our very first visit was to  Kitty Hawk. All wonderful places to stay. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed our time here.

Our home for the next seven days

Don’t they look like their giving each other a high five?

Surrounding beach homes…

Beach Sunrise

Beach Days

These are a few of the shells we found. The tide was super high! Some of the waves were high enough to go over our heads. Mind you me and my sister aren’t super tall so that’s not saying much, but we had to wait for the waves to dissipate before we could move in to grab the shells before they washed away. We stood there for a good while before I spotted one and yelled to my sister “there’s one!” The moment I said those words a wave that looked to be a 7 foot wall was coming our way as my sister was running towards the water to get the shell, I quickly yelled “never mind, no no no, I don’t want it, save yourself!” out of fear for her life. I mean they did have the no swim signs up which should tell you how vigorous the water was that day. But not my sister….she is ALWAYS up for a good challenge. She was able to run down, grab the shell and run back to shore in time to avoid the great 7 foot wall. My Shero…..Lol!

Currituck Beach Lighthouse – Corolla, North Carolina

Random Path we found right outside of the light house…

The Cookout

Duck Boardwalk

The Kitty Hawk Pier

Vacation down time…we do a puzzle every year that’s at least one thousand pieces. The one we chose this year was pretty cool. I say I’m not good at puzzles but I must say my contribution this year wasn’t too bad at all.

Great places to Eat

Duck Donuts – have one….make it happen! I’m not a big donuts but these donuts are delicious!

The Salad Bowl – There aren’t many places in the Outer Banks who sell healthy food. If you are looking for somewhere that’s tasty, fresh, has a nice variety, and wonderful enthusiastic staff….this is the place for you!

Blue Point – listen to me when I tell you…if you go nowhere else while you are here, make it a point to go to this restaurant. You will have a phenomenal meal along with spectacular sunset views. They have a patio with chairs and a doc where you can go to enjoy!

STEAMERS – We look forward to coming here every year. This is a family owned restaurant.  It has never let us down. They use to be a smaller carry out spot with an outdoor area to eat and now they are a full blown sit down restaurant in a great location. It’s a beautiful place and they still offer an upper deck where you can eat outside and catch a view of the water between the beach houses. One last thing,  you would be missing out on life if you didn’t try their cheesecake. Don’t say I never told ya anything….Lol!

 Places to shop (Scarborough Faire Shopping Village) 

Diana’s Lavish Linens – This place had all the natural smell goods, cute little keepsakes and more. You must stop by!

The Spice & Tea Exchange  – What a treat! We knew we had never seen this place before and we were correct as it was confirmed they had only been there for 4 months.  The yummy goodness all over this store was overwhelming. They sell seasonings that smell absolutely decadent along with peppers, teas, sugars, grains and more. All I can tell you is stop by for yourself and take a look. You might even catch them in the mix of things like I did. Literally…

I was too overwhelmed to take pictures at the craft show, but I wanted to make sure I shared a couple of the vendors we truly enjoyed.

This women’s photography was so inspiring to me. Her work bought meaning to some of the things I’ve photographed. People use to always ask why I took pictures of branches, or brick walls, etc…my response was because it’s a picture to me. It goes along with what I have always kind of used at my motto “Everything is a picture”. 

We come to this shop every year. They have beautiful jewelry! The we always see there is so peaceful and calming. Maybe it’s the stones…

We just could not walk past this one led alone make a decision on what we wanted to buy. She creates canvas art, but out of each piece of canvas art she creates jewelry, clothing, pillows, etc. She shells the initial canvas as well. I loved her concept!

This particular vendor  uses a technique called “Kumuhimo” to make gorgeous pieces of jewelry among other things. She showed us how she gave us a short demo on how she created her jewelry. Another display we just could not tear ourselves away from.

Anything all natural is something I’m interested in. From this vendor, I purchased a nice little bundle of natural bug repellent, lip balm, and a soap that is suppose to tone down your body chemistry to be less intriguing to mosquito’s. I’m also a sucker for lemongrass which she had plenty of. That scent is heavenly!

See you next year Outer Banks!!!