We were at Ocean Hill from 9-28 to 10-5. Like others we had a great week. Only damage to the house was a few shingles missing. The steps down to the beach had been rebuilt. Ours were one of only a few that had been. One morning we walked from the ramp at Ocen Hill down into Whalehead. Most of the properties did not have any steps coming down. Saw people using ropes and ladders. The dunes were eaten away at and in a few cases there is no dune at all.
Our weather was great, one day it was too windy and cold for the beach but the cool nights and sunny days were enjoyed. We usually dont travel to far and I did not want to be a rubbernecker so I did not see lots of damage. We did go to Nags Head to check out a property friends of ours rent and it and the beach were fine in that area.
We ate dinner one night and lunch another day at Red Sky Cafe in Duck which is now my favorite OB restaurant.
Visited with Leslie at Salty Paws who is one of the nicest people around. Our dogs love her treats as well. Also enjoy Outer Banks Coffee in Whalehead, John is also a great guy. Lighthouse Bagles gets a doff of the skimmer as well. Great bagels and nice people as well. And as always we enjoy dealing with Carolina Designs. I have had lousy times with some other realtors but CD ia aces with me. For us, a wonderful trip. i know many folks are still suffering effects of Izzy and to them i can only say I hope you don;t take our trip as an effort to underplay your hard times. Good luck to all. This post has gone on long enough but thanjs to Kimco, Steve and everyone else that kept us in the loop when information was hard to come by

I was in Duck the same week, have never stayed in the northern beaches, had a house in south Frisco for the week, no damage to house but of course that part is still closed until this Thursday. Anyway my question to you is, are the northern beaches always that hilly and the dunes really looked beat up to me. How much of dune do you think they lost there, since I never was up there I didn't have anything to compare them to? It was very nice there but I prefer Friso area, I think the sand there is so much smoother and the beaches are not hilly. The weather was wonderful, could have been a bit warmer but you get what you get. I did take a drive to Hatteras Island, since we go there all the time and it really was sad to see so much destruction and the sand clear to the soundside in places, I can't even imagine what Hatteras Village is like, other than the pictures I have seen. Good luck to all you guys down there and I sure hope you all get your lives back to normal in the upcoming months.

We are arriving on 10/26 for a week in KDH and Salty Paws in definatley on our list of stops also. In fact I'll probably take my pooch over there a few times. He just loves those Salty Paws biscuits!

My mutt loves Salty Paws biscuits too!!! He doesn't join us on our trips to the OBX, but I make sure that I stock up on biscuits for him to take home. I e-mailed Leslie to see if their shop was o.k. after the hurricane. She said that business was slow, but that everything and everyone was o.k. Have a good trip, obxgrlinva. I'm in Ch'ville and am going down for a long weekend on the 17th of this month. I can't wait. We were down last in July for a week (family vacation). This will be a girls only (no husband or kids) weekend!

How much of dune do you think they lost there, since I never was up there I didn't have anything to compare them to?

We were in Ocean Sands that week. It looked like about 10 to 15 feet of dune depth had been washed away based on stair bases that were still in the sand. Heightwise, there dunes were affected little. It also appears that the beach was "rearranged" as at extreme high tide, the surf came up to just about the dune line. Given the estimated width of dune removed, this would have meant that at high tide, the surf would have been up against the dunes, and this was not the case previously.

Outer Banks Coffee is a daily destination during our trips to Corolla. Every morning my wife and I ride our bikes down from Corolla Light and get our morning Joe. If you stop in, say hi to the "coffeeman" and the "coffeegirl".

We are going to Corolla next week for the first time ever with our two babies(cocker spaniels).Where is Salty Paws? I would like to give them our business while there vacationing!!

Salty Paws is located in Kitty Hawk over on the by-pass. Here's their website: Click to follow link...
Hope your two babies enjoy their treats!