Outer Banks...Oh, Yea!

Buxton Lighhouse

Ahh, the Outer Banks, or the OBX by those in the know. To me it was a mythical place, like Paris or Australia, and I would hang on the words of anyone lucky enough to visit such a far off spot and listen with wonder to the tales of miles of beautiful beaches, quaint towns, towering lighthouses, interesting historical details and hidden eateries that only the locals knew about. Words like Blackbeard, and pirates, and seashells, and lighthouses and Lost Colony were so intriguing I couldn't wait to go and see for myself. So, on Erik's first long weekend, we loaded the kayaks, packed up the dogs and headed for the OBX and, boy, it didn't disappoint!

Cape Hatteras

Of course, after hitting the beach, one of the first things we did was check out the lighthouse in Buxton. It's gorgeous and it just begged you to climb it...so we did. First, we loaded up on coffee and pastries at the Orange Blossom Bakery (Oh, don't judge me. When you're faced with climbing 268 steps before 9A, you'd do the same. Let's just call it "carbo-loading"). Going up wasn't so bad and the views made it worth the effort but I will admit I clung like a monkey to the rail and wall as I made my way down. Whose bright idea was it to put in narrow metal steps that you could see through with a black and white checkerboard floor wavering beneath? As I was going round and round and round, I was sure my pastries were going to abandon ship and beat me to the ground level. Erik, on the other hand, had a great time sprinting up and down, snapping pictures, peering out the porthole windows and acting as if scaling lighthouses with rickety metal steps and a psychedelic flooring choice was as normal as walking in the park. I'm betting his pastries were having a rollicking good time.

Down, down, down

One of the towns that we really enjoyed exploring was Manteo which is on Roanoke Island. It's near the site of the Last Colony's settlement and is a mix of Cape Cod charm and beachy vibe. We hit a farmers market at the downtown park and ate breakfast at the marina as sailboats and pirate ships paraded past. Can't wait to go back for more!

Downtown Manteo

Manteo Waterfront

Though we did get out and explored the towns, most of our time was spent in or on the water (or swallowing it, in my case). The really cool thing about the OBX is that you have the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Pamlico Sound on the other so if you want to body surf like Erik or get a good exfoliation and collect sand in your suit like me, you head for the ocean side. The water's warm, the surf is rough and the sand is soft and white. Lovely. But if it's peace and quiet you want and would prefer not to have another layer of skin sloughed off by being drug along on the ocean floor (I'm just saying...), you head for the Sound. The sand is just as soft and white, the water is warmer (though a bit smelly, I must say) and the waves are almost non-existent. The dogs thought they had died and gone to heaven and it was when Riley's legs finally gave out on him that we had to call a stop to the fun. At that point, we dried them off and dropped them off in the air-conditioned room to sleep like the dead and Erik and I grabbed our paddles and hit the water once again.

We kayaked at sunset and watched as scores of beach birds (yes, that's the technical term) from gulls to terns to plovers came flying in to roost and nest for the night in the shrubs and grasses along the Sound's shoreline. The music of their nightly serenades was like an opera with everyone chiming in and it was so serene to glide past them as they went about their nightly ritual. Heaven.

And then the sun set and it was time to head for home. Why do all good things have to come to an end? Oh, well, until next time and now I know firsthand that the Outer Banks are as magical as I imagined them to be....