The Outer Banks Round One

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Corolla, Duck, Kitty Hawk 

I've been aching to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Whenever I find free time in our schedules though, it's usually so last minute that the hotel prices are ridiculous and I feel like I don't have enough time to plan a family trip up and down the North Carolina coastline. But fortunately for us, North Carolina really isn't that far away, and who says I have to see it all in one go? One early Friday morning, I packed up my family (early so that I could maximize on Jellybean sleeping time) and off we went to make the 2 hour drive to the northern beaches of the Outer Banks. 

First stop? DUCK DONUTS. Apparently it's the thing to do and who am I to turn down a good donut recommendation? I'm so glad I wasn't disappointed. I splurged on half a dozen and even got a maple bacon donut (yuck btw). Even their plain donut was pretty good! 

We then planned our tour of the wild horses on Corolla. These colonial Spanish mustangs are the only non-domestic horses on North America. You need a vehicle with 4-wheel drive to get on the beach and navigate the dunes, and while my little CRV with AWD might have managed it, I didn't want to risk getting stuck so I booked a tour instead! We booked our tour for right around Jellybean's normal afternoon nap time so he wouldn't bother the other passengers with any whining or crying from a cranky baby sick of being in a car seat all day. 

After our tour we grabbed lunch at a seafood joint right on the water. It was a gorgeous 70 degree with a light breeze and clear skies kind of day. Perfect for a meal loaded with shrimp. What I would have given for a bloody mary or a pina colada. We let Jellybean run up and down the pier for a little while to expend some energy since he had been such a good sport on the drive down and then riding around the beach searching for wild horses. This kid needed to run around! 

After lunch we toured the site of the first flight. We are in the Air Force right? I'm all about paying homage to history, especially one so near and dear to our hearts and our livelihood. Gotta love that National Parks are free to active duty military! I was surprised at how short that first flight actually was. But we all have to start somewhere I guess. When we had our fill with exploring the grounds on Kitty Hawk, we once again let Jellybean run around in the fields. I was trying to teach him how to pick flowers and give them to me. We're still working on that...... he takes the flower I put in his hand and he swats the other flowers with it. This kid cracks me up sometimes. 

We made it back by dinner time, and more importantly to Matt, by the time the Cavs game started. I was hooked from the moment we crossed the bridge into the official "OBX" while Matt still teases me about wanting to come back to vacation there. I'm determined to do it though! His thinking....we live on the beach. Why drive two hours to go to another beach. My thinking.....it's a new beach! New restaurants, lighthouses, HISTORY....and I'm aching to make that drive from Hatteras back up north again. My drive to explore and see EVERYTHING is pretty strong and that husband of mine is just going to have to deal with it because he's known that about me right from the beginning. For years now I've been dragging him to new adventures, taking lots of pictures, and I always catch him looking at those pictures later fondly remembering those locations I "dragged" him to. He did point out that perhaps he's not as excited about new beaches as I am because....well he grew up on the beach. But I grew up near a big city and I still want to see all the big cities out there! Our yin/yang is what makes us....us. 


So excited..... :/ 

Wild horses! 


Picking flowers for mom





Good thing his head can't fit through those rails 

That face gets me every time. 

Running down the pier 


My happy boy









That stomach! 

I love his expressions. I will never have enough pictures of him at this age. 



Flower are food right? 




Going on a horse tour! 




My sweet tooth is pretty bad! 

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