OBX 2012

June 19, 2012

Anna kicked off her summer vacation with a week in the lovely Outer Banks of North Carolina. We made our way to the beautiful beaches of Duck, NC where we rented a condo for the week. Theresa watched the weather forecast for the entire week before the trip and it showed sunny skies with temperatures around 80 degrees. Like most trips, things do not always work out exactly as planned.

Upon arriving at the condo, it became readily apparent that the air conditioning was not working. Joe, having flashbacks to the trip two years ago when the air conditioning was not working for 5 of our 7 day trip (the rental company brought us a window air conditioner after they moved us to another unit and that ac was not working either), was ready to take hostages at the rental office until the AC was fixed. Fortunately, the problem was fixed within a few hours rather than days. According to the repairman, AC units in the Outer Banks only last 4-5 years. Yikes!

In the meantime, Anna had a great time swimming in the pool and playing on the beach. Joe took her into the ocean swimming for the first time, which she was very excited about.

The weather was great the first couple of days with sunny skies and 80 degrees as forecast-ed. Day 3 it rained (we can handle one rainy day). What we were not repaired for was the wind. Apparently a storm was off shore and kicking up 30 mph winds - for 3 days. The beaches were closed to swimming. The surf was high. If you wanted to attempt to walk on the beach, you were nearly blown back to the dunes. It definitely was not good fishing weather.

Braving the windstorm - Day 3

Fortunately, there is plenty of other activities to do at the Outer Banks. One day we headed south to Roanoke Island and toured the Elizabethan gardens where Anna enjoyed taking photos of the flowers and scenery. We also toured Fort Raleigh and the area of the lost colony of Roanoke. Anna earned her junior ranger badge at the park. Another day we headed up to Corolla where we toured the Whalehead Club, a hunting club dating back to the 1930s. We also toured Corolla Lighthouse.

Finally, to celebrate Father's Day, we rented a jeep to tour the dunes and northern beaches where the wild horses are. Much to our surprise, the area for the ponies is no longer undeveloped. What we were driving between was dunes and large beach houses (there were no paved roads). The beach area itself was like a four-wheel drive highway. The horses were wandering between the houses. Despite no roads, the beach houses clearly had mail delivery (via four wheel drive) and trash pick-up. It was quite a sight.